Healing Hearts and Minds with Nature
Photo by Hunter Page
“We have found that no modern prescriptions heal the human heart so fully or so well as the prescription of the Ancient Ones. ‘To the hills,’ they would say. To which we would add, ‘To the trees, the valleys, and the streams, as well.’ For there is a power in nature that man has ignored. And the result has been heartache and pain.”-Anasazi Foundation, The Seven Paths: Changing One's Way of Walking in the World
Our brains are wired to be outside. As great as it is to be an urbanite, there is something missing in our lives when our yearning for nature is neglected. Countless studies suggest that time spent in nature can rewire and change your brain. Consider just these few:
- Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School found that people living near more green space reported less mental distress, even after adjusting for income, education, and employment (all of which are also correlated with health).
- Dutch researchers found a lower incidence of 15 diseases including depression, anxiety, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and migraines in people who lived within about a half mile of green space.
- In 2015 an international team researched 31,000 Toronto residents. Those living on blocks with more trees showed a boost in heart and metabolic health equivalent to what one would experience from a $20,000 gain in income. Lower mortality and fewer stress hormones circulating in the blood have also been connected to living close to green space.
Read this great article to learn more about the how nature can make you healthier.
We at Coalatree strive to make sustainably built products that enable you to get outside. We understand the healing, calming, and restorative powers of nature, and we support like-minded organizations that do the same. Your purchases at Coalatree directly support these efforts. Thanks to our loyal customers, this season Coalatree was able to donate thousands of dollars in cash and gear to the Anasazi Foundation, a non-profit wilderness therapy program for youth. As they so eloquently put it, "the wilderness is not a harsh place to break youth down, but rather a safe place—a place free from distractions where one can learn, ponder, and build.”
It's our hope that you'll be inspired to experience the freedom and adventure of being outdoors yourself. We invite you to Greet the Outdoors with us.
