#181 How Outdoor Living Spaces Improve Health, Calm & Connection

What if one of the most effective ways to improve your mental, emotional, and physical health was already right outside your door?

In this episode, Julie Beckwith explores the often-overlooked health benefits of outdoor living spaces and how they can play a powerful role in reducing chronic stress and supporting overall wellbeing. As modern life becomes increasingly indoor-focused, many people are unknowingly disconnecting from a natural source of regulation, calm, and healing.

Julie explains how chronic stress impacts the nervous system, mental clarity, emotional resilience, and physical health—and why spending time outdoors can help counteract these effects. Drawing on lived experience and practical insight, she breaks down the science-backed benefits of nature in a way that’s easy to understand and apply.

This conversation goes beyond aesthetics or expensive renovations. Julie shares simple, no-cost ways individuals and families can gain the benefits of outdoor living, regardless of space, budget, or lifestyle. From intentional pauses outside to creating small outdoor rituals, this episode offers realistic strategies that support wellbeing without adding pressure.

Listeners will walk away with a renewed understanding of how outdoor environments support emotional regulation, connection, and restoration—especially during periods of overwhelm or fatigue. Whether you have a backyard, balcony, or access to shared outdoor spaces, this episode invites you to rethink how you engage with the outdoors as part of everyday health.

This is a gentle yet empowering conversation about slowing down, reconnecting with nature, and using what’s already available to support a calmer, healthier life.

 ✨CONNECT WITH JULIE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Livingonthepatio/100090906502437/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-beckwith-aa0686315

Website: https://www.livingonthepatio.com

📌 PROMOTION: https://livingonthepatio.com/learn-the-surprising-health-benefits-of-an-outdoorliving-space-with-simple-easy-no-cost-ways-to-boost-good-health/

♥ ♥

Transcript

Intro | 00:00
The Healing Through Love podcast with Sharlene Lynch and Rose Davidson. 

 Sharlene | 00:09
I'm Sharlene Lynch and welcome to the Healing Through Love podcast where we're shining a light on hope, resilience and transformation in the journey to end domestic violence. Each week we share with you powerful stories, practical tools from survivors, advocates and experts. Together, we create a safe place for healing, inspiration and change. And I'd love to welcome to the virtual stage, Julie Beckwith from the other side of the world. And she, yes, she is a visionary founder of Living on the Patio. And we're going to dive in deep and find out How we heal in that space of living in the patio. A lifestyle brand dedicated to enhancing outdoor living experiences. With a passion for blending nature and wellness, Julie educates on the transformative power of outdoor spaces. Drawing from years of experience, she offers practical insights to creating outdoor sanctuaries and boosts mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Hello, Julie. Welcome. 

 Julie | 01:13
Hi, thank you for having me. It's so nice to be here. 

 Sharlene | 01:16
It's such a privilege i love this green space is one of my it's one of my go-to healing spaces whether it's taking my shoes off and just sticking my feet in the grass or in the dirt as it is just to get that grounding hugging a tree i'm always hugging trees and and just getting out and pottering around there's some sensation about Getting my fingers into the dirt. It just, for me, it's always been a place of healing. But, you know, obviously, now, Julie, you're going to help us here by explaining that this is actually backed up with research, isn't it? It. 

 Julie | 01:52
Is. It is. Actually, the sensations that you are talking about, Charlene, is called earthing or grounding. And it is a... It's a way to reduce inflammation that we get in our bodies. What it does, that direct skin contact actually... Helps us with the negative electrons, if you will, and neutralizes the damaging free radicals that run around in our blood. 
 So earthing or grounding, it happens when you stick your hands in the dirt, as you said, or you have your bare feet on the grass. And we actually encourage people to do that. We encourage them to walk outside without their shoes on, or play outside or garden without your gloves on, whatever it is that you can do. 
 So that actually is backed by science and it is a way for you to just reduce that inflammation that we sometimes get in our bodies. 

 Sharlene | 02:55
I love it. And look, we know that this inflammation is coming from a space of stress. Now there is a difference between the different types of stress. 
 So can we unpack that? 

 Julie | 03:05
Yes. I think it's important for us to talk about the difference between what we commonly think of as regular stress or acute stress and chronic stress. 
 So acute stress is, it's a short term response to a temporary situation. Think Someone cuts you off in traffic or you lose your keys or your phone, or, you know, you're having a disagreement with your coworker or a family member or something. It's that fight or flight response that we get and respond. It does cause physiological responses. 
 I mean, our blood pressure grows, goes up, our heart rate goes up, but it's temporary. So once the situation is resolved, it will, you know, our bodies will go back to normal. It's the chronic stress that we have to worry about. That's really what the killer is. The chronic stress is a prolonged response to an ongoing situation without an end in sight. It can really lead to that long-term physical and psychological damage. And it can make any existing health conditions that we have much worse. 
 So chronic stress situations are long-term unemployment, a serious illness, domestic violence, financial trouble, disability, addictions, all of those things that just don't have an end point for us, or we just don't see that end point. That's what really causes that chronic stress because the It leads to inflammation in our bodies. And that's what really damages us. I think the thing I, of course, I'm on the other side of the world, as you said, I'm in the United States. And I think at least in this country, I can't speak to Australia, but I think we have gotten so used to chronic stress. We don't even recognize it anymore. We just accept it as normal. 
 So the ways that we need to really take that stress out of our lives has to do with going outside and making sure that we take advantage of all the things that nature has to offer us. 

 Sharlene | 05:24
I love it. I love it. And what I love even more is this concept of on the patio. Now, I've lived in some very tiny places in my 60 years on this planet. And, you know, sometimes the better the suburb, the smaller the living space. Yes, it's always a payoff. But, you know, knowing that you can still get that level of connection by having it on the windowsill, growing in the bathroom and having the... 
 You know, on your patio. So I'd love to dive in to talk about, we can still get this level of healing even in tiny spaces. 

Yeah. 

 Julie | 06:03
Very much. As a matter of fact, a lot of the health benefits that we see can happen in just 15 minutes a day. For example, one of the ways you can reduce inflammation is just by sitting in the sun for 15 minutes. I encourage people to do what you're doing right now, which is to sit outside. With your morning coffee, exactly. And just sit in the sun for 15 minutes or just sit in the sun for 15 minutes at lunch. Take a walk around your apartment, your home, your work. If you have a teeny tiny balcony, that's okay. As long as you are outside and you're sitting in the sun for 15 minutes, it really helps to increase our vitamin D levels. It helps us feel better. It increases our ability to absorb calcium. 
 So it, helps us in so many ways, just that 15 minutes, for example, that, and it's one of those small time commitments. We all can fit in 15 minutes a day. It's not a big commitment and it's something that's so important for us. Once you develop that habit, you'll want more. 

 Sharlene | 07:15
I love it I do I am actually repositioned my coaching chair so that it's away from all of the electronics of the studio and it's in a big bay French window so that I'm in the sun and I like I think I could have been a cat in a previous life because I just like curl up on my big comfy coaching chair with my cuppa and have beautiful conversations with people and I love it because It's in the sun. That's right. 
 Yeah, it's just so important, isn't it? And it's just, I think we need to schedule it in. 
 So this is what I have a challenge with. So I'm ADHD and I hyper focus and then like the day is finished because I've been, I've gone down another rabbit hole, you know, pick a rabbit hole, I'm down there. 
 So one of the things that I've had to do is craft white space into my calendar. So the white space, there's nothing on and that white space, I need to step away from the studio. Studios, step away from the office, walk outside, get into another room. 
 So that's the only way I've been able to manage it. And then I've got a hundred pot plants, which require love and affection and attention. 
 So that helps me with my nurturing. And yes, I'm that scary plant lady, but at least it's plants and cats. And it really does make a huge difference. 
 So Let's talk to the people that are challenged to fit in this space. Like you say, it's only 15 minutes, but how do we wrangle that 15 minutes? Does it have to be in a 15-minute block or can it be broken up into three, five minutes? How do we do it? 

 Julie | 08:57
That you do not have to make it a block of 15 minutes. You can do it in, as you say, five minute segments. 
 So if you can even take the time to walk outside and grab your mail and while you're there, just survey your neighborhood survey, you know, say hi to the neighbors, watch the children for a few minutes. It doesn't have to be 15 minutes long. All at one time. As I said, take your morning coffee outside and just greet the day. Take your lunch or even end the day. 
 I mean, my husband and I love to sit out on the patio in the evening and watch the sun go down. So it does not have to be all at once. Of course, to the extent that you can make it 15 minutes in the morning, make it 15 minutes in the evening. At lunchtime, make it 15 minutes in the evening when you get home. 
 I mean, the more you can go outside, the better for you because there are certain benefits that you can derive, not just from sunlight. You can derive benefits just from breathing in something that we call fontanicides or that's called fontancides. It's really the airborne organic chemicals that are produced by certain trees. And that helps with inflammation. It helps reduce all of our or excuse me, it helps reduce inflammation by killing the infected white blood cells that we have sometimes. And the trees that generate these fontanicides are cedar trees, pine trees, common oak trees. 
 I mean, they're not special trees, but you can, for example, walk through a forest, take a little break at lunch or something and just walk around trees. That's another way that you can reduce the inflammation in your body. 
 So again, to the extent that you can make it a 15 minute block, you're going, your body is going to feel so much better. You're going to feel that benefit a lot more quickly than you would if you just did five minutes segments, but just doing it for five minutes is really important. 
 So getting into the habit is the most important thing. 

 Sharlene | 11:18
I love it. I love it. 
 So we've got eucalyptus trees here. A plenty. Yes, because we have koalas hanging on our eucalyptus trees. Not all eucalyptus trees, but some eucalyptus trees are a good fit for our koalas. I love it. 
 So we're lucky enough to live on a river here. And so we've got 33 kilometers of park. 
 So it goes from the waves through to the sea. So what I know that even on a day where I'm not okay, that just going for a walk, even if it's just a short walk. It really has helped me shift my mind. And it's interesting, my husband works in the city, which is not that far away, but he's chosen to catch public transport. 
 So we have what's called an Oban. So it's a bus that's on tracks. 
 Yeah, so it goes very Okay. 

 Julie | 12:14
Fast. 

 Sharlene | 12:15
And so he walks for 10, 15 minutes to get on this Oban, this fast bus, then gets into the city in about 10, 15 minutes and then he walks in the city to his office. And, you know, that's a conscious choice because he could drive the car but he chooses not to because it's that walk to and from the Oban every day that helps him get into his third space, like leave the office behind and come home and be an amazing husband yeah because he's not carrying all of that stuff and all the traffic that if we were driving that would be causing the challenge so I just I love this is that you're speaking my language now as he loves pot plants please tell me are there better pot plants to have than others like do I need more like what do I need. 

 Julie | 13:05
Well, I will leave that up to you. Plants in and of themselves, as you mentioned earlier, most plants need some nurturing. They need some attention. 
 So just even the fact that you have plants that you need to think about, that you need to water, that you need to make sure you're positioned the right way. It's really a way to help us develop that self-care, that nurturing that we sometimes need, especially as women. I think women in particular, we feel responsible for our family's health, but we don't always take care of ourselves. 
 So when we can use something as a tactic to use our time as a way to just pay attention a little bit to the rhythm of the plant in nature, in the seasons, that's going to be beneficial. Yes. Again, there's that earthing, that grounding we're going to get by sticking our fingers into the dirt, just to even see whether or not there's enough moisture in the plant. But certainly, and I don't have any scientific data in front of me that can help, but certainly there are plants that are very helpful for us in particular, because they clear the air. We all know that, and love the benefits of eucalyptus. 
 So the fact that you have those trees there, what a great natural benefit that you have there in Australia. Definitely would look to use that. Other plants that come to mind, especially if you're looking at indoor plants, are what we call spider plants. Don't know if there's okay because they clear the air. If you need some help in sleeping, Lavender, being able to grow some lavender plants, even in a pot or, you know, outside is a great way to generate those, sense that we sometimes need to help us so but whether or not you need more i will leave up to you how's that 

 Sharlene | 15:17
It's my husband makes little memes you know about me and my pot plants anyway i'll share them on social media they're absolutely hilarious so we do we have lavender growing near the bedroom And when the weather is beautiful, we allow that. We have the window open so we can smell that. It's beautiful. And in my sanctuary, which is where I can see my sanctuary from my coaching chair, it's got elements of all the people that I've loved and I've lost. 
 So there's things about them that are there in that space. And that's covered. The ground cover is the spider plants as well. But one plant that I know that's made a really huge difference, especially in a more confined space, so maybe a bathroom or maybe in your bedroom if it's a smaller bedroom, is mother-in-law's tongue. Now I don't know what you call it over there, but I just see the way that it really purifies the air much faster than any of the other plants, especially in a confined space. And it requires no care out So even if you're not a green thumb, mother-in-law's tongue, I don't even know what they call it over there, but that's what we call it here because it's hard to kill. 

 Julie | 16:24
There. Yes. 

 Sharlene | 16:35
I think. 

 Julie | 16:36
That's hard to kill and it's sharp too. So I think we call it mother-in-law's tongue here too. 
 So yes, same thing, but you're absolutely right. It purifies the air. It grows. It is, I, I've never been able to kill a mother-in-law plant. 
 So for anybody who, and the other thing it's an, there are some plants that are nice to start off with if you've not ever, felt like you've had a green thumb. So mother-in-law plant is one of them. Succulents usually is another nice plant to have because they're pretty hard to kill. I'm not saying that you can't do it, but they are pretty hard to kill. But you know, Charlene, you talked about something that I wanted to bring up because I know that many people have a problem sleeping at night. You mentioned opening up your window at night. In order to get that fresh air and the scents that are coming in. And actually having that night air allows you to sleep more deeply and to have a much better concentration the next day. 
 So it's what we encourage people to do is actually to go out on their patio or out in their backyard at night. If you can, and of course, if you feel safe, depending on where you're at, but it's a way, first of all, we recommend that you do that, get away from your phone, get away from your iPad, get away from the television because of that blue light that we see happening on the appliances, on those electronic screens. The blue light actually suppresses melatonin production and that interrupts our sleep cycle. 
 So. Instead of getting the seven to nine hours of sleep that are recommended, we... Find ourselves glued to screens and can, it can really disrupt our sleep. 
 So we recommend that you go out there if you can, if there's a fire pit that you can have, that's great. If not, We recommend getting a wine bottle light a tabletop torch lamp that has a flame, something that allows you to sit out there and just feel the night air, feel the cool air. It's sort of the same idea, I'm sure, if you're close to the beach and you have taken your children or your family members, if you spend a day out on the beach, that's usually the best night of sleep you have had in a long time. And it's because we're outside, we're getting that grounding, we're getting that vitamin D, but it's because it's a way for our body to absorb the night air or the air that's really going to help us sleep. 
 So that's another way to help with our ability to get rid of that inflammation, that stress that happens in our life, opening up a window, Going out on the patio is going to be very beneficial for that. 

 Sharlene | 19:51
I love it. I love it. Beautiful conversations. I feel like I've got a soul sister in plants and I'll just be telling my husband that I need another plant because Julie said so. 

 Julie | 20:03
*laughs* I'll take the hit. What can he do to me? I'm half a world away. 

 Sharlene | 20:08
What can he do? I love it. This has been a wonderful conversation, Julie, just diving into the opportunity to understand that plants can heal and how we feel about the plants can help us heal. I know that one point in my life that when my mental health wasn't amazing is that I felt the burden of having plants. 
 And then when I shifted and realized it was a privilege and a pleasure and these are mine to take care of, it changed the way I turned up and the plants stopped dying just quietly. Anyway, that's another story. Julie, we're almost ready to finish, but I would love you to share any final words of wisdom with our beautiful audience today. 

 Julie | 20:51
I just want to encourage them, as we had talked about in the beginning, if you haven't been going outside just to start, if it's 30 seconds. Take it. If it's a minute, take that, but try and build on that. Try and build on the opportunity that you have to walk to work, to walk to your mailbox, to maybe walk around the block at work on your break or your lunch hour, all of those ways that you can get outside, breathe in the air. That's going to be helpful to you. Get that sunshine, get care for your plants, anything that's going to help get you outside and on the patio. 
 So we were able to talk about a few of the benefits that is available to us by going outside and living on the patio, but we were not able to speak about all of them. For your audience members, I do have a free PDF download that lists all of the surprising health benefits that you can get. If you go to my website at livingonthepatio.com, you'll see a list of all the benefits that you can get. You can get that download for free with a subscription to our website. 

 Sharlene | 22:05
I love it, Julie. Thank you so much. That's a goodbye from Julie and a goodbye from Healing Through Love. 

 Outro | 22:15
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Healing Through Love. You can get further resources See the show notes or simply reach out to us via our website at htlaustralia.org. Thanks so much for joining us and we look forward to your company next time on the Healing Through Love podcast.