Digging Deep Beneath The Soil
In today’s society, we often hear so much about mental health declining. Unfortunately, this topic continues to become more and more prevalent as the days progress (especially as we live through this gruesome pandemic). As difficult as things are right now, there are some coping mechanisms. My favorite coping mechanism is free & it’s tangible for all human beings: It’s called nature.
Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical well-being, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It may even reduce mortality, according to scientists such as public health researchers Stamatakis and Mitchell. One of the most outstanding areas of current research is the impact of nature on general well-being. In one study in Mind, 95% of those interviewed said their mood improved after spending time outside, changing from depressed, stressed, and anxious to more calm and balanced.
Due to the use of technology slowly taking over; distracting us from our true essence, we loose sight of who we are. How often do we go to restaurants and see children sitting at the dinner tables on their iPads? What about people walking in the street, looking down at their cell phones as traffic passes them by (in some cases, not just passing, but actually hitting them due to these harmful distractions).
Lastly, how about the amount of times we’ve passed up wonderful socialization opportunities with coworkers/friends/family members because we’d rather stay home and sit on the couch and binge watch the latest tv shows? “Nature deprivation,” a lack of time in the natural world, largely due to hours spent in front of TV or computer screens, has been associated, unsurprisingly, with depression. More unexpected are studies by Weinstein and others that associate screen time with loss of empathy and lack of altruism. Sadly, the risks are even higher than depression and isolation.
In a 2011 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, time in front of a screen was associated with a higher risk of death, and that was independent of physical activity! Whatever the case may be, we CAN fix this evolving issue and it’s just quite simple actually. We need to dig deep in the soil to connect with our roots! We need to connect back to our inner child that lays underneath all of life’s distractions and find that in our natures loving, gentle and beautiful peace and tranquility. We need to LEAVE our technology inside and play in the woods! Jump in our pools! Dive under an ocean wave! Feel the sun radiate on our skin and listen to the birds chirp in peace! Now more than ever, this is so desperately needed and this can start TODAY!
The solution to these problems is to leave your phones and computers inside, go outside and enjoy your time in the sunshine!
Here at The Astin, we offer you and your loved ones a place where you can escape in natures peace, tranquility and find your inner soul…
