Recently I was in San Francisco, a city known for its tech companies, steep hills, and fierce winds. Each day’d run around the neighborhood and up through the park, ending with aspectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Back in my AirBnB, I’d feelenergized and refreshed, fingers tingling from the breeze. It was cold, exhausting, but completely exhilarating.
As it turns out, there’s a unique term, from the Dutch, for this sort of pastime. 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 theactivity of spending time in the wind, usually by going for a walk or abike ride.” Meyer has lived in the Netherlands for more than 20 yearsand has come to specialize in the language, despite being a non-nativespeaker. She says uitwaaien is a popular activity where she lives—onebelieved to have important psychological benefits. “Uitwaaien issomething you do to clear your mind and feel refreshed—out with the badair, in with the good,” she tells me. “It’s seen as a pleasant, easy, and relaxing experience—a way to destress or escape from daily life.”
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The Simple Dutch Cure for Stress
