There is a fourth lesson of the trail. It is one which John Muir taught me .  There are always some people in the mountains who are known as “hikers.” They rush over the trail at high speed and take great delight in being the first to reach camp and in covering the greatest number […]

Older people that live near forests have healthier brains. If you want to know how we could possibly know that, you will need to . . .

  Someone posed this question on Quora: What is the importance of trees in a forest? I answered the question this way: While you wouldn’t have a forest without trees, I suspect the question is more about the role of trees in the forested ecosystem. It’s a complicated ecosystem, so let me offer a few […]

There has been a lot of research on the importance of getting outdoors in a natural setting.  That research and the general feelings people have had on the subject for centuries has led to the creation of lots of parks and other opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.  We summed up those findings in our review […]

  I’ve discussed nature as a passport to heath in the past and mentioned recent work by Nature, Health, and Wellbeing Ireland and NatureRx.  Back in 2014,  the ParkRx Initiative formed and is now being co-led by representatives from the National Recreation and Park Association, the Institute at the Golden Gate, and the National Park […]

The National League of Cities has an initiative called Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN).  The initiative is intended to “ensure that all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in nature, from city parks to the great outdoors.”  Partners include  National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education & Families (IYEF), the Children & Nature […]

Turns out that bacteria are critical to your health.  In fact some researchers suggest that microbes may outnumber human cells in a typical body by as many as 10 to 1 and many of those microbes are bacteria.  We know that a few species of these bacteria are good for us and a few are bad […]

When exploring, our primal senses kick in to alert us to anything that moves.  It could be food or danger, but either way we need to know about it so we can choose fight or flight.  Beyond that it’s pretty easy to focus on some pursuit whether it be tracking an animal through the woods […]

I’ve talked about the importance of the outdoors and general communing with nature in maintaining health in previous posts.  The people in Ireland are taking the notion even further. The Green Prescription A group called Nature, Health, and Wellbeing Ireland is initiating a program called the Green Prescription Initiative.The initiative runs along the lines of Shinrin-Yoku and the Nature prescription […]

A couple of months ago we reviewed a commercial for Prescription Strength Nature (Terra mater), a new prescription drug.  Now the producers have released another commercial.  This one focusses on the correct dosage of Nature, once you have heard the call of Nature. Indications for an Increased Dose Feeling Tired Feeling Irritable Being Stressed Out Having […]