Gisele Bündchen Loves Living in Miami for the Constant Sunshine: 'I Feel the Happiest' (Exclusive)

"It just makes you feel good," the supermodel, who recently established a new home base in Miami, tells PEOPLE

Gisele Bündchen is loving life in the Sunshine State!

While chatting exclusively with PEOPLE in New York City following a panel for her new Gaia Herbs partnership earlier this month, the supermodel, 43, spoke candidly about her life in Miami, Florida, which she recently established as her new home base.

"It's been nice," Bündchen says of living in the south with her two kids — son Benjamin, 13, and daughter Vivian, 10, whom she shares with ex-husband Tom Brady. "It's nice to be outdoors."

"[Someone once asked,] 'What's your best wellness treatment?' and I say, 'Nature is my best wellness treatment,' " she continues. "Just feeling the sun, taking a dip in the ocean, running on the sand and feeling the grass on my feet."

Bündchen adds, "Just being in nature just gives you energy. It just makes you feel good."

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Related: Gisele Bündchen Opens Up in Surprisingly Revealing Sitdown with PEOPLE (Exclusive)

For Bündchen, being in Florida allows her to live her best life — even when the weather might be unbearable to some.

"I love the sunshine. [Wherever] the sun is, I feel like the happiest, always," she says. "The sun just makes you feel good. People are like, 'Oh, it's so hot,' but I'm like, 'I love it.' I love the heat.”

Bündchen echoed similar sentiments while speaking with PEOPLE earlier this year at the Luz Alliance Fund Miami Gala to benefit the Brazil Foundation. (There, she helped raise nearly $1 million toward reforestation efforts in her home country of Brazil.)

"I am loving Miami. I love the sunshine and people are very warm and welcoming, it feels like home," Bündchen explained in May, adding: "I am very active, and Miami is all about being outside, so I really enjoy that."

Related: Gisele Bündchen On Life in Miami: Jiu-Jitsu with the Kids and Visits from Sisters: 'Like Home' (Exclusive)

When she's not soaking up the sun in Miami, Bündchen also spends time at a horse farm located elsewhere in Florida, which she purchased so daughter Vivian can ride her horse, Item, in privacy.

"Because I was taking her riding at this place, and every time I was taking her there, it became paparazzi central. I was like, 'I can't live like this. I want to be enjoying with my daughter.' " Bündchen tells PEOPLE of her decision to buy the farm.

"This should be a fun thing that we get to do together. So I was like, this way, I can have her practice what she loves," continues the proud mom, whose debut cookbook Nourish is available for pre-order now.

Bündchen also says that her daughter is already angling to get another horse, explaining, "He takes care of Vivi and I like that because he's a very easy horse. But she's already like, 'Mom, I have to have a new horse to jump higher.' I'm like, 'Calm down.' 'I'll work, Mom. I'll work and I'll help you.' "

"She's like, 'I need to jump higher.' I'm like, 'You're 10, calm down. Your horse jumps like a meter. You're going to be fine. I think it's fine where you're jumping right now,' " she adds.

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