Green Spaces

If you ever doubted the mental health benefits of being close to nature, you need look no further than recent research on green spaces and the Covid-19 pandemic. Population studies show that people who lived near green spaces during the pandemic fared better mentally than people with limited access to…

Wiping the dark southern clay from my palms, I prop myself back up on my knees, squinting under the weight of the amber sun. The air around me is dripping with moisture, and birds and insects drone in waves outside the edges of my vision. The young garden around me…

You’ve probably heard about forest medicine, how spending time in the woods can lower your stress levels, improve your mood, bolster your immune system, and perhaps literally recharge your body (when you’re barefoot). It all seems so obvious, considering that homo sapiens evolved in tandem with their ecosystem. But if…

Kids who grow up in green spaces are less likely to experience mental health problems later. Aarhus University researchers studied nearly one million people, comparing the amount of green space surrounding their childhood homes with the risk of developing a mental illness later in life. The study found that children…