Nature’s
It Wisdoms Lessons Inspire, Heal and Sustain Us
by Christine MacDonald
ing to research published in Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care.
Exposure to nature can help adults escape from today’s wired lives; reinvigorate, be fitter and less likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes and heart disease, as reported in studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and a University of Washington research summary. It can also unlock understanding of the spiri- tual essence of life.
Hours regularly spent by youth outdoors stimulate imagination and creativity and enhance cognitive development, helping them learn. Nature also helps youngsters develop social awareness, helping them better navigate human relations (
Tinyurl.com/ OutdoorHealthBenefits Research).
The environment is not separate from ourselves; we are inside it and it is inside us; we make it and it makes us.
~ Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, Amazon shaman
prevailing theme in much of mod- ern civilization, naturalists and other clever souls throughout the ages have observed that the opposite is true: We are part of, depend on and evolve with nature—and we ignore this vital con- nection at our peril.
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“If one way is better than another, that you may be sure is nature’s way,” admonished the Greek philosopher Aristotle, in the third century B.C.E. “Time destroys the speculation of men, but it confirms the judgment of na- ture,” Roman politician and philosopher Cicero ruminated two centuries later. Nobel Prize-winning physicist and philosopher Albert Einstein remarked, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” Today, more of us are looking to nature for ways to improve physical, mental and emotional health, develop
16 Hudson County
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hile the idea that we hu- mans stand apart from—or even above—nature is a
intelligence, innovate, overhaul how we build homes and neighborhoods, and raise our children.
Healthful Nature
As Henry David Thoreau wrote in his classic 1854 book Walden, “We need the tonic of wildness.”
While we know firsthand how walking in the woods can elevate mood, scientists have documented that a regular dose of nature has other far-reaching benefits. It can lower stress hormone levels, blood pressure and undesirable cholesterol; help heal neurological problems; hasten fuller recovery from surgery and heart at- tacks; increase cancer-fighting white blood cells; and generally aid overall health (Health Promotion International research report; also Nippon Medical School study, Tokyo).
Regular playtime outdoors helps children cope with hyperactivity and attention deficit disorders, accord-
“It’s strange and kind of sad that we are so removed from nature that we actually have to ask why
nature is good for us,” says Dr. Eva Selhub, a lecturer at Harvard Medi- cal School, author of the new book Your Health Destiny, and co-author of Your Brain on Nature. “The fact is our brains and bodies are wired in concert with nature.”
Recognition of nature’s positive effects has grown so much in recent years that physicians increasingly write their patients “prescriptions” to go hiking in the woods, counting on the healthy exercise and exposure to sunlight, nature and soothing views to address health problems stemming from poor diets and sedentary life- styles. Healthcare clinics and hospitals in Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Indianapolis, Albuquerque, New Mexico, California’s Bay Area and elsewhere have launched Prescription Trails programs aimed at objectives from preventing obesity in children to healthful activities for retirees (Tinyurl. com/AmericanHealthTrails). Bestselling author Richard Louv calls the positive nature effect “vitamin N” in The Nature Principle. He con- tends: “Many of us, without having a name for it, are using the nature tonic. We are, in essence, self-medicating with an inexpensive and unusually convenient drug substitute.”
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