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Gill Buchanan's Blog

Are you getting enough Vitamin N?



I have been reading Julia Bradbury’s book: Walk Yourself Happy


For Julia, the profound impact of nature has helped her survive cancer and overcome infertility. For her, getting a daily dose of Vitamin N helps to reduce stress and anxiety and I have had the same experience.


Nature and Daylight for optimal Health – both mind and body


Whenever I see the sun shining through my office window I am propelled out of my chair, I put on my walking boots and drive just five minutes away to the wonderful Ickworth Parkland to get my dose of nature, my Vitamin N. A daily walk is so beneficial too.


There is also Vitamin D which comes from daylight. Your average lightbulb delivers 250-500 lux. Sunlight can give you 50,000 to 100,000 lux! Even on a dull day, the outside light is much more beneficial than indoor light.


The Healing Power of Nature


Robin Hanbury-Tenison contracted coronavirus in 2020 and was in intensive care for five weeks. He was given a 5% chance of living. The wonderful doctors pulled him through but it was when they wheeled him into the healing garden at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth that he knew he was going to live. He saw sunshine and flowers and felt the healing power of nature. Since his recovery, he has raised more than £150,000 and funded a hospital healing garden in his own county of Cornwall.


Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all hospitals had healing gardens?


Being in Nature brings me Calm and reduces Stress


At times in my life when I feel everything is out of control, I slip away to sit under the trees at the back of the Porter’s Lodge at Ickworth and sip coffee. No phone (there is no signal) and just my thoughts calming me and putting everything into perspective. Often a robin appears and sits near me.

Now, I take regular doses of Vitamin N and Vitamin D to help me manage my stress levels and improve my wellbeing. And it works!

The key is to prioritise this invaluable pastime. Julia recommends 120 minutes a week, so just four 30-minute sessions or however you want to divide up the time—it does not matter.


Morning Daylight helps you to Sleep


Getting out into daylight in the morning helps to set your Circadian rhythm which is the body's internal clock that regulates sleep-wake cycles.


Daylight tells your brain that it is time to be awake. By dimming lights in the evening and reducing blue light (from the screens of devices) you are sending a message to your brain that it is time to go to sleep.


If you think it might be difficult for you to get out into nature every day, maybe you could consider:

  • drinking your morning coffee in the garden

  • popping into a green space on your way from A to B

  • opening your front door in the morning and looking up to the sky for five minutes


Let me know in the comment box, how much Vitamin N you are getting.





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