Are You Getting Enough Fresh Air?
Important Insights You Need to Know
by www.SixWise.com

Americans are spending more time than ever inside. In fact, in 2006 the average employed American spent 7.6 hours at work on working day, then another 2.5 to 3 hours watching TV, according to the American Time Use Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That's over 10 hours of indoor time right there, and that doesn't include the time you're asleep. If you sleep for seven hours a night, that's at least 17 hours of indoor time every day.

Meanwhile, the numbers of visitors to the country's national parks are falling. And, according to "The Fresh-Air Fix" in Prevention magazine, every week kids are spending seven hours more on academics, and two hours less on sports and outdoor activities, than they did two decades ago.

Why is this concerning?

Because getting fresh air is great for your body and mind ... while indoor air is quite possibly hazardous for your health. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

"In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. Other research indicates that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Thus, for many people, the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors."

Last year DISCOVER magazine even reported that in your home you're breathing in:

• Chlorine gas from your cleaning products

• Pieces of cockroaches and other bugs

• Microscopic dust mites

Meanwhile, at work, a cubic meter of air in your office contains:

• Several hundred fungal spores

• 89 micrograms of ethanol

• 42 micrograms of acetone

• 16 micrograms of formaldehyde

• 1/2 microgram of chloroform

• Byproducts of your coworkers' flatulence

The Benefits of Getting Fresh Air

While outdoor air isn't always perfect either, you can do your body (and your mind) good by making it a point to get some fresh air everyday. What this means, of course, is that you're spending time outside, where you're not only more likely to be doing something active (i.e. getting exercise!) but you're immersed in nature.

Numerous studies show that spending time in nature leads to major health benefits. For instance:

1. Living in an area that gives you access to green spaces, such as trees and grass, may help you to live longer, according to a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

2. Children with access to nature are able to better cope with stress, while those with ADHD experience a reduction in symptoms when they can get outdoors, according to a study in the American Journal of Public Health.

3. 3Nature can ease stress and anxiety, help you recover from surgery and illness faster and even increase your mental "flow."

So as much as possible, get outside. For an after-dinner stroll, a picnic in the park, a night out under the stars ... and by all means, make sure your kids take advantage of the great outdoors, too.

For Those Times When You Must be Inside ...

You can minimize your risks of indoor air pollution by:

1. Purifying your indoor air. The PIONAIR Air Treatment System, which Sixwise.com highly recommends, uses photocatalysis, which is designed to oxidize organic odors, germs, and fungi. The PIONAIR technology creates ultraviolet light rays, safe levels of ozone, and passive negative ions as part of your air treatment. This is not just any old air filter -- it is an air purifier that duplicates Nature's own methods of air cleaning and revitalization.

2. Cleaning properly. A significant amount of toxins in your indoor air may come from dirt and dust that, through everyday living, end up on almost every surface in your home. Cleaning these surfaces is therefore necessary to reduce the toxins in your air, as when you walk around you stir up that dirt and dust into the air you breathe.

   However, if you use ordinary rags or mops, you will simply push dirt from one area to another -- NOT pick it up and eliminate it like you intended. That's why we recommend PerfectClean mops, cloths and dusters to give your home a microscopic level of clean. Every item is built with PerfectClean's revolutionary ultramicrofiber construction that enables them to reach deep into microscopic crevices (NO other cleaning tool available even comes close!) and remove everything in their path: all forms of dirt, dust, hair, dander, and the biological contaminants too small to see with the naked eye.

3. Leaving dirt outside your doorstep. 90% of all dirt in the home is tracked in from the outside (and much of it becomes dust inside the home). Doormats not only add aesthetic appeal, but the right doormat (one designed with fibers that truly capture dirt and liquids, such as Waterhog Grand Premier Mats) is an important health and wellness tool!

Wiping your shoes thoroughly before entering not only keeps the home visually more appealing, but far more important, it really can dramatically reduce the amount of dangerous dirt and dust in the home.

Recommended Reading

The Crucial Health Value of Play ... for Kids AND Adults

What Exactly is in Every Breath You Take? Pieces of Bugs, Stars and Much More

Sources

Bureau of Labor Statistics: American Time Use Survey

U.S. EPA: The Inside Story

Prevention.com