My conclusion after my usual scrolling sesh this morning is

[cilla4progress]

a lot more folks need to get outside in nature if they can. Take a walk. Garden. Sit on the porch. Notice the birds, the trees, the sky, the smells and sounds.

Perspective.

[Easterncedar]

1. Good advice!

[3Hotdogs]

8. It is not good advice. I was hiking on Sunday. I stepped in fox poop.

It stinks.

[cilla4progress]

27. Fox poop

Cool! 🤣

[3Hotdogs]

41. I volunteer in the local (N.J.) swamp. There is fox poop, raccoon poop, muskrat poop and Great Blue Heron poop.

Surprisingly, no Black Bear poop.

G.P.H. poop is a big, white splat on the ground,

[cilla4progress]

43. Cool!

I went to high school in the Jersey swamps!

[3Hotdogs]

44. Now that sounds like the beginning of a good story.

When I was a h.s. teacher in western Union County, one of our teachers had a former student who lived (may still live) in the swamp.

[moniss]

2. I keep stressing to people the

importance in daily life of taking time for lengthy reflection. The perfect time to do so is when it can be combined with a strong connection to nature.

[cilla4progress]

3. Yes!

I fear that privilege allows some of us this, tho not all or the many who need and could benefit from it!

[Emile]

4. It's raining 🌧 today.

[cilla4progress]

5. I love

walks in the rain!

Hope you get out in it! Or at least listen to it falling on leaves or even your roof! Cozy!!

[erronis]

6. Will Your Next Prescription Be 20 Minutes of Nature a Day?

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/will-your-next-prescription-be-20-minutes-nature-day-2024a10006j0
(This is a wonderful resource - worth the registration/login.)

What if a walk in a green environment could reshape brains, recalibrate sense of time, and stave off mental health conditions? If the research trends are true, you might soon find yourself writing prescriptions of 20 minutes of nature per day.

Evidence for the health benefits of exposure to green spaces, like parks, open spaces, gardens, outdoor gyms, and woodland trails, has been mostly interventional and observational, but that has not stopped global recognition that these exposures are important.

In the wake of the pandemic, the British government allocated more than £5 million to pandemic recovery efforts that specifically involved green spaces. Since then, it has committed even more funding toward an expansive social prescribing program that connects patients to "link workers" who determine personal care needs and facilitate community and volunteer-based interventions. These can include group walking and volunteering to help out in community gardens or conservation efforts. Similar green programs can also be found in Japan, where shinrin-yoku (forest bathing) was recently adopted as a national health strategy, and in the US and Canada.

"Disconnection from nature is a major part of the health problems that we have on this planet," said William Bird, a UK-based general practitioner, green prescriber, and CEO of Intelligent Health, which is geared toward building healthy, active, and connected communities. Bird received the prestigious Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2010 for services to physical activity and health.

"Our brains are designed to connect to nature…and we haven't lost that instinct," he explained. "Once we are with birdsong and water flowing and greenery, cortisol levels drop, our central vagus nerve improves, our fight and flight [response] disappears, and we start to be more receptive to other people."

[cilla4progress]

7. Yes!

Forest bathing!

[erronis]

9. Absolutely. And it can just be sitting in a quiet space and listening.

I've collected so many articles on Shinrin-yoku. Here are a couple of good ones.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/08/forest-bathing-japanese-practice-in-west-wellbeing
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/22/forest-bathing-california-shinrin-yoku-nature-therapy

[cilla4progress]

10. Wonderful -

thanks!

[electric_blue68]

30. I always recommend Green Therapy! 🌳🌷

The pandemic messed up my decades of park, and garden going. I went a lot less, bc I had to take public transit to a park.

This Spring I'm going to go back more of that, once the trees are leaving out like half way. 🥰🌳🥰

I used to live for several decades 6 blocks away from one of the major parks in waaaay upper Manhattan. Be up there 3-5x's a week.

Occasionally I'll still be worrying while in a green space, but it still eases it some. Usually I can deflect it should it arise.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

11. I can hear nature trying to enter through our skylight.

It's kinda spooky. We've lived here for 26 years without this happening.. But over the past month, a squirrel, I believe, is being obnoxious and making a lot of noise doing what ever it's doing out of sight. I have a telescopic duster to chase it away.

We have a vegetable garden completely overgrown with weeds because we've had pneumonia and lots of other health woes preventing our tending it properly I think we may need to let it go. Hopefully we'll find other ways to enjoy nature.

Thanks for the reminder.

[erronis]

13. Nature can be wonderful, beautiful. But it also gives us our problems such as aging and diseases.

Seems like there's always a teetering balance between being well and not so much.

The forces of nature are sometimes beautiful and helpful but not always. I was just looking out at all of the birds who came to their normal feeding spot during the winter hoping for some sustenance during a late winter snow storm. They know nature and the vagaries far better than I but I still worried for them.

[ShazzieB]

12. Where I live, there's this thing called weather that doesn't always cooperate.

And it's not quite warm enough yet for walking outside to be consistently pleasant around here. It won't be like this much longer, thank goodness, and I plan to get outside as soon as it becomes feasible.

(And if anyone is thinking of telling me to go out and walk around no matter how cold it is, please don't. Thanks.)

[cilla4progress]

14. Well,

you can always look outside and appreciate it, yes?

Enjoy!!

[ShazzieB]

15. Absolutely!

Lots to see right now, too. Flowering trees getting ready to burst into bloom, and lots of bird activity. And we have lots of squirrels and rabbits year around. Always something going on out there!

[cilla4progress]

17. Wonderful!

Sounds beautiful and awe-inspiring!

[Warpy]

16. Did that yesterday

This is the time of year that weather in the high desert can be perfection, and yesterday was it. The temperature topped out in the high 60s, birds were chirping, a very light breeze was blowing. We can get measurable snow through the first couple of weeks of May, but April here is generally one of the best months for people who like to get out and hike and fill their lungs with this thin, dry stuff we call air. April and October were my favorite months to do the outdoorsy tourist thing when I first moved out here.

I will always miss Boston, but this time of year I love New Mexico.

[cilla4progress]

18. I've always been intrigued with NM,

thought I might move there in my wanderlust years!

But alas, I came to e. Washington state and remained!

Shrub steppe here, so, high and arid as well. Moderated by the mighty Columbia R. which flows nearby.

I hope to come there for a visit at least, some day - "The Land of Enchantment."

[Warpy]

19. The wanderlust years?

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2024, 08:12 PM - Edit history (1)

I got dragged all over the eastern half of the country when I was growing up, went to coastal New England in my 20s, bounced around a little (NY and DC) and finally moved out here in my 40s because I'd been there, done that back east and I knew if I moved fewer than 2000 miles away, I'd be tempted to go back to New England and I was too old for those fucking winters.

I came here beca8se AZ was too wingnut, CA was too crowded and overpriced, so NM it was. It's been a good fit, so I'm still here.

[Elessar Zappa]

21. It really is a nice state.

And so far the Trump bug hasn’t infected us too badly yet.

[GenThePerservering]

20. Well, I love Wentachee and that area

One of my favourite things is to run the Apple Capital loop trail - we're going over the mountains in a few weeks but, alas, I've been down with tendinitis in one hip (from a hike) and can't run the 10 miles. I'm going to try to run 5 miles and maybe bring my bike and ride that, too, to round it out.

I live in NW Washington. Our motto is "there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes."

[cilla4progress]

23. Glad you love it here!

I've struggled with the conservativeness since I moved here as a young hippy in 1978!

Managed to find my tribe.

[Bayard]

32. I love New Mexico

From the Santa Fe Nat'l Forrest, down to Las Cruces. Almost moved there.

I've been meaning to do a thread on my recent pics of spring time in KY though. Its fairly glorious.

Nature can cure most ills.

[electric_blue68]

33. I traveled through NM to get to AZ, Flagstaff...

to meet up w a friend to visit the Navajo & Hopi Nations, plus Canyon De Chelle, and Monument Valley.

The Sandia Mts were lovely to see.

Next year I headed up north through NM to get to South Dakota for an event; so I traveled through some of the Mts in NM. Lovely.

Favorite town name - Questa, NM.

[womanofthehills]

42. I love NM too - grew up back east

Came out here for school & never wanted to leave. Left a few times but always missed NM. I’ve been back here since my late 20’s. I lived in Albuquerque’s South Valley for yrs till I bought 40 acres in the middle of NM - kind of foothills of Manzano Mts. Lots of juniper, ponderosa pine,cactus,coyotes, squirrels, ravens & soon the rattlesnakes will be around. I live in nature with my dogs & chickens.

[electric_blue68]

45. Sounds beautiful.

Besides seeing the rattlers...if you're getting close to one that you don't see because of sight angle do you hear the rattle loud enough?

And have you made friends with any of the ravens?

[pfitz59]

22. I have a plot in the community garden

and give my excess to the food bank. satisfying on many levels.

[mentalsolstice]

24. Sweet and salty here.

I live in a state that is loathed by many DUers, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The jasmine is going to bloom anytime now and combined with the salty sea breezes it’s absolutely intoxicating. The clanging of our buoy bell, along with the coastal wildlife….the pines reflecting the sunset on the small lake off of our backyard, it doesn’t get any better.

When it’s raining I sit in my reading nook next to the 3/4 tall and wide window, taking it all in from inside.

[cilla4progress]

25. Ecstatic -

you had me right there!

Lucky you!

[electric_blue68]

35. Sounds very relaxing. The first time I ever row boated was ...

just after sunset when our family visited a neighbor's summer house.

They were by a moderate size lake. It was surrounded by tall fir trees. I did well. Rowed out to near the middle. A clear night.
Leaned myself back on the tire, and took it all in.
About a 55 yr old memory. 🧡

[wendyb-NC]

26. Great idea, and good suggestion

Nature always helps.

[Think. Again.]

28. As though everything's just fine, nothin to see here.

[electric_blue68]

34. Er... Why would you say this? ...

Nature brings beauty, joy, wonder, and fascination to many people.
Of course, some of nature is dangerous, too.

I know I need that (among other activities) to strengthen, and uplift me to help offset, deal with personal difficulties, and to keep fighting for the issues I care about.

[Think. Again.]

36. I absolutely agree with you about the positive benefits...

...of being in nature.

I guess I'm just concerned about the dangers we are in right now and don't want to take my eye off the ball.

I know that I can't personally do much to stop the trauma that we are all going through, and I would really like to think that we're in good hands, but although we DO have many great people working to protect us from the damages that are being done (THANK YOU JOE BIDEN!) there are also many very bad people who are also in positions that SHOULD be protecting us, but are actually the bad guys.

I guess it's just hard for me to relax when we are literally in mortal danger (I say that as someone who has had my life directly threatened because of my Left political stance).

My apologies, but I just can't pretend that everything's just fine right now

[cilla4progress]

37. Not mutually exclusive

In fact, time in nature or other healing modes - whatever works for you! - absolutely helps deal with, and even survive, this!

[electric_blue68]

38. So sorry you were seriously threatened! How hideous! That certainly could give you...

... an even more of a staying on alert sense, way of being.

I certainly am not saying...
"everything is fine right now".

It's never been fine alot of the time for many people for similar, and different reasons. But many people look to the things that are good, and fine for however short, or longer term that might be.

I don't know how old you are but I was alive and active, aware in 1968, Then there was Nixon, Reagan...and onward.

I've been in this fight to various degrees since 1967 when I was 14. I know what helps me stay in it.

[Think. Again.]

40. I appreciate your words, and you're right...

...it's important to recognize the good to offset as much of the bad as we can.

I've been around a while too, and with all the bad stuff I've seen go down over the years, I can honestly say I've never seen it be as threatening as it seems now. Maybe I was just young and invincible, and maybe I'm just tired of the rightwing B.S. decade after decade, but this time it all seems so insidious, and for the first time I'm feeling that we really do need to knock them out of the picture permanently if there's going to be any hope for a sane and just society some day.

[Voltaire2]

29. We have a flood watch.

So thanks, but not today. It is shit outside.

[debm55]

31. Us too, It has been raining for 3 days.

[electric_blue68]

39. Yikes, good luck!