RX = Nature March 2, 2019
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Health & Wellness, Life Balance.trackback
Now that the days are getting longer and warmer, head to the park for some R&R.
Doctors orders!
Spending time outdoors, especially in green spaces, is one of the fastest ways to improve your health and happiness. It’s been shown to lower stress, blood pressure and heart rate, while encouraging physical activity and buoying mood and mental health. Some research even suggests that green space is associated with a lower risk of developing psychiatric disorders — all findings that doctors are increasingly taking seriously and relaying to their patients.
***
The medical community is increasingly viewing green space as a place for their patients to reap physical and mental health benefits. Some physicians, like Dr. Robert Zarr, a pediatrician in Washington, D.C., are even writing prescriptions for it.
These “nature prescriptions” — therapies that are redeemable only outdoors, in the fresh air of a local park — advise patients to spend an hour each week playing tennis, for instance, or to explore all the soccer fields near their home. The scripts are recorded in his patients’ electronic health records.
To read more: Here’s What Being Outside Can Do For Your Health
Aah . . . that’s better!
Well, you don’t have to sell me on the benefits of being outdoors. In fact that’s one of the reasons we live on a wooded property and have so many windows in our house. If I can’t get outside in reality, at least I can see the outside directly.
Yes! Even sitting near a window provides health benefits ~ calm, peace, mood boost.
Aah . . . that’s better!
I’d love to but we’re due for a foot and a half of white crap this weekend… so not quite yet for me!
Snowshoeing anyone?
More like a good book and a hot cup of tea here…
Wise!
I’d love to spend some time outside, if it would every stop raining! Happy Saturday, Nancy!
“I’m singing in the rain . . . such a glorious feeling . . . I’m happy again!” Enjoy!
We got 4 inches of snow overnight so maybe not today but I’ll keep it on my ta-do list. I really need a palm tree!
Snowball fight!
Rosy cheeks.
Hot toddies by the fire.
Great advice. And I would love to see something with leaves! We have bare twigs here!
Gray skies and naked trees during the L-O-N-G winter season are two reasons we moved.
Sunglasses and sandals suit me better than snowsuits!
I like this prescription. Green space cures cabin fever.
Plus, it gives you a chance to check on the progress of your solar oven! Mmm . . . bread.
Vitamin N. Staring at the Evergreen tree in front of my balcony all winter long.
There ya go!
Rex received and understood … after tomorrow’s snow storm here in the northeast ☃️
Shoveling snow . . . building a snow fort . . . having a snow ball fight . . . sitting by the fire . . . drinking a hot toddy . . . 😀
I already have an outdoor appointment for tomorrow. My lovely granddaughter, my sister and I are going to walk around Green Lake, a three-mile walk with a lake on one side, trees and grass on the other. Now that our snow is gone, we’re grateful for our beautiful blue skies.
That sounds terrific, Nicki ~ a walk in the park is just the thing!
I couldn’t agree more, Nancy! I can be having a difficult day and if I head outdoors, almost always my perspective shifts and I feel unburdened. I have definitely noticed the changes in hospital settings to include outdoor meditation gardens and places for silence and peace. So necessary!
Wonderful! Outdoor meditation gardens are a perfect fit with hospitals ~> a place of peace and silence, and fresh air, is just what patients, visitors, and staff need to maintain life balance.
Thanks, Debra!
I always get a boost when I’ve been out in nature. I love all the greenery and of course the birds and animals, even the iguanas. 😀
Me too! In fact, the sunny skies are beckoning as I type.
No argument from me either. I’m currently waiting for the rain to stop so I can go for a walk outside with my rubber boots on and stomp through puddles. Yes, I’m a perpetual 5-year-old 🙂
“Mom! I want a pair of rubber boots like Joanne!”
☔️💦 … damn, I don’t have an emoji for boots!
Happy Splashing!