Nature and Health

Tell Your Stress to Take a Walk in the Woods

| January 28, 2016 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
Ward off the post-holiday blues or any kind of stress with Shinrin-yoku, the art of forest walking. Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia
We are nearly a month into 2016 already and the holidays seem like a distant memory. Many people are now dealing with the fallout from the holidays. We ate way too much We spent way too much. We overindulged in so many ways I won’t make you feel any worse by listing them all here. These things contribute to a mental hangover in January. Combine it with winter weather (yes, even in San Diego) and the negative effects of our poor planning and overspending sets in. Promising to practice moderation is fine for next year, but what can we do about all this stress now?… Read More

Even San Diegans Get The Winter Blues – How to Cope

| January 14, 2016 | Categories: Environment, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing
After suffering through several years of drought, the arrival of rain thanks to El Nino storms was welcome. Even with some flooding problems, we will benefit in the long run from watering out trees without irrigation, replenishing our reservoirs and groundwater. But I didn’t realize just how much the gray gloomy weather had gotten to me until the sun came back out. When it hit 70 degrees, it felt more like an 80 degree summer day. People were back in their shorts and flip flops, even if it was only for a few hours. Feeling the blues when the days grow shorter isn’t in your imagination.… Read More

Prescribing Nature as the Cure: Ecotherapy

| October 23, 2015 | Categories: Biophilia, Gardening, Good Earth Plant Company Tips, Nature and Wellbeing, Sustainable Living
Human beings need exposure to nature for their physical and mental health.
When I first started writing this blog over two years ago in 2013, one of the first topics I wrote about was the concept of biophilia, the study of the connection between human beings and nature. I’m sure a lot of people thought the idea was a little “out there.” We have come a long way in thinking about how nature affects our well-being in that time. This month, the respected magazine The Atlantic published an article called “The Nature Cure.” It is all about the growing practice of medical professionals including mental health specialists actually prescribing nature to their patients to help treat their ills.… Read More