Uitwaaien - the Dutch answer to stress

When I take my dog for a walk on a windy day, she goes bananas. And it's not the usual bananas. It's a very special type of bananas. A banana's bananas. While my dog is an idiot at the best of times, it turns out she's dealing with stress in a way the dutch like to do.

In the Netherlands, people have been seeking out windy exercise for more than a hundred years. Today, the practice is so common that it’s known as “uitwaaien.” It “literally translates to ‘outblowing,”explains Caitlin Meyer, a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Dutch Linguistics.

“It’s basically the activity of spending time in the wind, usually by going for a walk or a bike ride.” While this wind walking sounds like a bunch of psychologists with way too much time on their hands, a growing body of evidence points to genuine benefit in being outside.

“Every group of people benefits from being outdoors in the presence of nature,” says Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex. “It takes us out of the stresses and anxieties of the rest of life.”

Over the last 15 years, he’s explored how a range of outdoor activities affect human psychology, including walking, cycling, and even farming. He’s found that people from all walks of life can increase their well-being after spending as little as five minutes amid natural settings, with positive impacts on sense of self-worth, mood, and sense of identity.

I have so much to learn (from my dog).