5-Minute Sunbath

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Confession nr. gazillion-and-forty-six: I hate sunbathing. It gets all sweaty and sticky. You get way too hot and your eyes start to burn. It helps that every doctor says it's harmful for your health to go sunbathing for extended periods of time, but I'm afraid there are benefits to sun exposure that sound appealing too.

You need sunlight for the production of vitamin D. Every single cell in your body needs vitamin D to work properly, and I've heard that the current sunlight-phobia has caused whole countries to be vitamin-D deficient. Our Couch Surfers from Denmark told us that in their country, the government now has to warn people not to use too much sunblock. Imagine that.

But vitamin D is not the only reason to enjoy a bit of sunlight, it's also very uplifting. Sunlight affects my mood more than anything else. It's one of the things that I love about living in Yantai: So much more sunshine than gray and gloomy Belgium.

So I want to suggest to you that you expose yourself to the sun. But for a limited time only!
Take 5 minutes on any given, sunny day. 
Wear only as many clothes as you need to stay warm. If you don't need anything, then that works fine (check to make sure fences are peeping-Tom-proof!), but you can sunbathe in winter too. Try to leave as much of your skin bare as possible (also when just going outside). Get in a comfortable position, letting yourself be covered by the rays of the sun. 
Protect your eyes (maybe even your whole head) from the sun by wearing a hat or sunglasses. 

And ... enjoy! 
Especially in spring time it can be great to feel the rays of the sun sinking into your skin all the way to the bones. I need that feeling to get rid of the chill that has settled there in winter.


Caution: the best times for sunbathing are when the sun is not too strong. So early in the morning or in a setting sun is better than at noon.
Make sure you NEVER BURN! There's a reason it hurts. You can get perfectly tan without ever burning, if that's what you're after. And I can tell you from decades of experience, that burning will more often than not lead to peeling. Bye bye tan.

You can read more about the benefits of sunbathing here and here (the last article also discusses the dangers of sunblock. Which are pretty much the same as the dangers of any cream you put on your skin: If you wouldn't eat it, why put it on your skin?)

Are you a sun-worshipper? Do you love tanning? What do you do to get your fix in winter?