There’s an old saying: “As above, so below.” Trends that impact and transform the greater world as a whole also affect the smaller scale: your city, your neighborhood, your home. When we talk about sustainability, you can see how that ‘the big and the small reflect each other’ principle plays out. Changes that we make to make the world a better place also make us healthier, stronger people. Through making the world more sustainable we make ourselves more sustainable.
This is especially true in the case of cars. The ecological impact of cars is well-studied, but did you know how much a driving-based lifestyle can affect your health? Consider leaving the car in the garage a few days a week and taking a walk, riding a bike, public transit, or carpooling with others. Not only are you doing your part to lower our collective carbon footprint, you’re also using alternative methods of transportation that could boost your mental and physical health.
Eases Anxiety & Stress
One of the biggest benefits behind driving less is that it can help alleviate stress, depression, and anxiety. Prolonged physical activity like cycling and walking can increase production of endorphins in your brain. Endorphins are neurotransmitters: chemicals that send feel-good signals to different parts of your body when they’re stimulated. When you’re experiencing the sudden and intense euphoria of a “runner’s high,” what you’re feeling is a rush of released endorphins circulating throughout your body. Endorphins lower stress levels by inducing a state of relaxation.
If you’re someone who’s already struggling with anxiety issues, driving could exacerbate that stress. Studies have found that people who are predisposed to anxiety experience significantly elevated heart rates and blood pressure levels while they are driving. Even a routine, uncomplicated drive can cause these stressors.
Enhances Lower Body Strength
Transitioning from a car-centric lifestyle to bicycle riding can do wonders for your lower body strength. Cycling actively engages a cluster of leg muscles that includes your quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. Regular bike rides will strengthen these leg muscles with the added benefit of it being a form of exercise that’s low-impact on your joints.
Improves Balance
An additional perk that comes from going car-free is that walking and cycling can also improve your sense of balance. Balance is one of those attributes that we may not be fully aware of its importance until we get older, but having a good sense of balance ties into your coordination, your gait, and your bodily awareness. Walking and cycling keeps you upright, which can help stabilize your body’s sense of balance over time. There are health benefits associated with good balance, which include improved coordination, reduces the risk of falls (which can be particularly dangerous as you age), and improves your proprioception. Proprioception is your awareness of your body’s relationship with its surroundings. Improving that body awareness helps protect you from injury and keeps your reflexes primed to react to sudden environmental changes.
Boost Brain Power With Reading
Taking public transit to get around can be a bit more time-consuming than driving your own car, but it does provide some benefits. In addition to saving money on gas and costly car repairs, you also get some extra time in the day to catch up on reading while you’re on the bus or light rail. Whether you’re reading a physical book or an ebook, research has found that reading helps reduce the risk for developing age-related cognitive decline, alleviates stress by lowering your blood pressure and heart rate, and increases brain connectivity (particularly in regions of the brain that are associated with physical sensations like pain and movement).
Get Your Daily Dose Of Vitamin D
Using footpower to get around means you’ll have plenty of outdoor time to soak up natural sunlight. While you want to take care to protect yourself with sunscreen, sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat while you’re out in the sun for prolonged periods of time, getting exposed to the sun’s rays stimulates the production of vitamin D in the body. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that plays an important role in maintaining our bone density by giving our body the ability to absorb and retain calcium and phosphorus. On average, it takes between 10-30 minutes of exposure to direct sunlight to get a good daily dose of vitamin D.
Article by Austin Brietta
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