Harvard researchers recently “discovered” that 20 minutes outside can wake you up just as much as one cup of coffee.
I’m not exactly sure how this study was conducted: Was it as simple as the control group being fed black coffee, and the other group being asked to walk briskly around the campus commons? Then both groups were questioned and tested about how alert they were?
Regardless of the methodology and the amount of grant money spent on the study, especially during winter months, it can be too easy to hibernate and to trade in natural pick-me-ups and outdoor activities for coffee and hot cocoa.
In last week’s issue, we provided “hot” ideas for staying indoors—gifts for the kitchen, for your craft-oriented friend and for your handyperson. This week, we provide “cool” ideas for getting outside—whether it’s gifts for your mom who likes taking mellow walks by the Deschutes, or your buddy who hammers out a few kilometers on the ski trails every day, or your office mate who heads out for swanky nights on the town.
This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2014.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
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