Taking a walk outdoors might just make you smarter.  It sounds a little strange, but new research out of the University of Michigan says that walking outdoors, espeically in parks or in nature, can improve your attention span and your memory by 20 percent!

The researchers published their findings in Psychological Science and said they believe taking walks in nature might also help people suffering from mental fatigue and could have the same effects as meditating.

One of the more interesting facts that our Balance team found was that you don't have to even ENJOY the walk to reap the benifits.  Even if you are not a fan of nature, your attention span and memory were still increased in the study. 

People in the study showed increased levels of alertness, satisfaction and mental tranquility after spending less than one hour interacting with nature.  Their stress leveles decresed significantly and they felt more in control of their mind.

Here is the rub:  walking out in the city didn't have same resluts.  These results only came from getting out into nature.  So, if you are an urban dweller:  find a park or some place that is nature-like to get the same benefits!