Nature Connections for Health
This evening I was chatting to a friend. She was literally 'full of the joys of spring'. My friend is a busy person, tending towards stressed. As mother of 4 busy sons, wife of a busy man and a very capable teacher working long hours preparing wholesome lessons for her lucky students she is in line for mental & /or physical burn out. - Sound familiar? She is fairly typical of many of us. However, she also knows about the benefits of nature connections to de-stress. So, she and her husband recently spent 2 nights in a tree house in Devon.
That there is a treehouse designed for adults to de-stress is both wonderful and fascinating. While we haggle with government and local authorities to be allowed to design more nature into the daily lives of schoolchildren and the elderly, smart entrepreneurs are getting on with it, and letting people access the mental and physical health benefits of nature. This is a great example of the free market taking the lead.
Apparently it's International Hug a Dog day on Monday, for mental health. We know nature connections (aka hugging a dog when there are no trees, birds or butterflies available) lower stress cortisol levels, reduce anxiety and can prevent depression. However, the concept of ownership and access makes health inequitable. The subtext reads : "You can only be healthy if you can afford to stay in a treehouse, or own a dog".
The good news is, if we have street trees and natural playspaces in our parks and schools, around our housing estates and, even, in those ghastly business parks, then everyone, regardless of ability to pay, can become a guardian of a space. They can be a protector of a nature connection, whether tree or stream, bird or bug. Nature connections for health. Now there's an idea
That there is a treehouse designed for adults to de-stress is both wonderful and fascinating. While we haggle with government and local authorities to be allowed to design more nature into the daily lives of schoolchildren and the elderly, smart entrepreneurs are getting on with it, and letting people access the mental and physical health benefits of nature. This is a great example of the free market taking the lead.
Apparently it's International Hug a Dog day on Monday, for mental health. We know nature connections (aka hugging a dog when there are no trees, birds or butterflies available) lower stress cortisol levels, reduce anxiety and can prevent depression. However, the concept of ownership and access makes health inequitable. The subtext reads : "You can only be healthy if you can afford to stay in a treehouse, or own a dog".
The good news is, if we have street trees and natural playspaces in our parks and schools, around our housing estates and, even, in those ghastly business parks, then everyone, regardless of ability to pay, can become a guardian of a space. They can be a protector of a nature connection, whether tree or stream, bird or bug. Nature connections for health. Now there's an idea
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