Mardie Townsend, Claire Henderson-Wilson, Elyse Warner and Lauren Weiss, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, recently prepared Healthy Parks Healthy People: the State of the Evidence 2015 for Parks Victoria (Australia).  The 103 page document reviews the post-2008 scientific literature in relation to the health benefits of parks and natural spaces.  The attempt is […]

We’ve mentioned several research efforts that have shown the benefits of being outdoors in nature and we’ve even noted that if nature was a drug, your doctor would prescribe it to you.  Well, Dream Tree Films and Productions with Justin Bogardus, Joseph Victorine, Jed Lazar and Cassandra Ellis have taken the idea a step farther.  They […]

Science Supports Nature “In our studies, people with less access to nature show relatively poor attention or cognitive function, poor management of major life issues, poor impulse control,” says Frances Kuo, a professor of natural resources and environmental science and psychology at Illinois University.  She has examined the relationships between people and the natural environment from […]

As defined by psychologists, rumination is the compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions.  Rumination is similar to worry except rumination focuses on bad feelings and experiences from the past, whereas worry is concerned with potential bad events in the future.  Both rumination and worry are […]

After surveying 2000 parents across the United Kingdom, adventure blog Go Ape decided that the current generation of kids should be called the “Closeted Generation” because they are spending too much time indoors in front of a screen.  They found that 22% of parents put their kids in front of a screen “because its easier” even though […]

It’s a simple concept really.  Take a walk in the woods and, if you wish, enhance the experience further by breathing the scents of essential wood oils. This outdoor activity has become a recognized relaxation and stress management technique in Japan over the last thirty years.  There, it goes by the name “shinrin-yoku.”  That translates to “forest bathing” in English. […]

Correlating Cognitive Development and Green Space Thirteen researchers from Spain, Norway and the United States recently published the results of their analysis of the relationship between cognitive development in kids (age 7 to 10) and their exposure to outdoor green space.  They tested cognitive performance every three months for a year for  2,593 kids in […]

Edward O. Wilson defined biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”.  He suggested that people are born with an instinctive bond with other living systems.  Most kids love animals – Wilson says that’s instinctive.  We like to think of biophilia as finding the joy in nature – ‘affiliating with other forms of life’ sounds […]

People search everywhere for health and for natural remedies to bring it to them.  There are all kinds of natural remedies for stress and anxiety and they typically arrive in the form of a capsule of one powdered herb or another.  However, the wild comfort and solace of nature is increasingly being shown to be […]

Four Steps to More Time in a Day Some of those that have responded to our “Don’t Get Outside Enough?” poll on the home page of the eMagazine tell us they simply don’t have enough time in the day to get outdoors as much as they would like. These people have already identified their goal, […]