Hop Studios | author photo by Eric B. Dynowski
Getting Nature Smart: How to Build Your Brain
One day after a talk in Seattle, a woman literally grabbed my lapels and said, “Listen to me: adults have nature-deficit disorder, too.” She was right, of course. As a species, we are most animated when our days and nights are touched by the natural world. While individuals can find immeasurable joy in a great work of art, or by falling in love, all of life is rooted in nature, and a separation from it desensitizes and diminishes us. That truth seems obvious to some of us, though it has yet to take root in the wider culture.
However, in recent years an emerging body of research has begun to describe the restorative power of time spent in the natural world. Even in small doses, we are learning, exposure to nature can measurably improve our psychological and physical health. While the study of the relationship between mental acuity, creativity, and time spent outdoors is still a frontier for science, new data suggests that exposure to the living world can even enhance intelligence.
At least two factors are involved: first, our senses and sensibilities can be improved by spending time in nature; second, the natural environment seems to stimulate our ability to pay attention, think clearly, and be more creative….
Read more of this excerpt from THE NATURE PRINCIPLE in the Outside Magazine excerpt.
Next post: Seven Reasons for a New Nature Movement
Prev post: Searching for Authenticity in the World Around Us
Hop Studios
Comments
I was recently at a talk about depression. It was inside with uncomfortable chairs and sterile walls, but the saving grace was the huge picture window framing a lovely large oak tree. I felt better just looking at it.
Enjoyed your book! I had the great luck to have had lot’s of nature in my life from a very young age.
When my girls reached the age of 13th, I addressed their “adolescence†by enrolling them in a scuba diving certification course.
They learned Responsibility—buddy system,
Physics—Boyle’s Law
pressure and volume are inversely proportional.
Charles’ Law
temperature and volume are directly proportional.
Henry’s Law
gas pressure and absorption are directly proportional.
Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures
mixed gases compress equally by volume.
Marine Biology, and the experience of accomplishment.
Nice story you shared in the start of this post. I really enjoyed to reading this post. Thanks for sharing here.
Character Education
I have suggested this book to many clients I have worked with in addictions and mental health. The Last Child remains in my Top 10 of most important books to read.
No one is a fool unless you call and let yourself to be one. Nature is one of the major reasons that would affect us mentally and psychologically. But of course. Creative thinking might be from inspirations too.
This may sort of explain why I feel so different when I get away from the city and my daily routine. I get out into the country and remark the air clearly smells much different. I pay attention more to the natural beauty all around instead of staring at four walls looking out the window in my office. After my break I feel refreshed maybe I just hadn’t examined the correlation between the two close enough.
Do you take donations via paypal?
No doubt about the effective of nature to our entire thought. Nature can change a person dramatically from the side of mind, physical, nature and can bring other admirable virtue if anyone spends more time in nature. Thanks for this awesome expose.
What many consider modern day conveniences I see as a plague. I know the majority of the modern world’s population is following the tech trend and so I will leave my judgements to my own head space. Each has a right to their own journey… The trick at the moment is to preserve what nature we have left so it can be enjoyed. With all the invasive species, from Asian carp to buckthorn to milfoil, it’s tough to keep our original natural environment intact.
I have suggested this book to many clients I have worked with in addictions and mental health. The Last Child remains in my Top 10 of most important books to read.Good works