Research conducted at The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York has shown that a bacterium in the soil not only lowers depression and anxiety but can also make a person smarter!
Mammals exposed to Mycobacterium vaccae showed stimulated growth of some neurons in the brain that resulted in increased levels of serotonin and decreased anxiety. This exposure also improved the ability to figure out problems and to do so with less anxiety.
Could school learning environments which incorporate the outdoors and the bacterium M. vaccae improve the ability to learn by decreasing anxiety? These types of environments could also help our society to recover from
** "nature deficit disorder" **.
The health benefits of gardening and other outdoor activities are endless.
So go ahead! Go outside and get dirty!
**nature deficit disorder is a term used by author Richard Louv**
Yes, I've heard of nature deficit disorder and I think it's real. I look back on my childhood and realize how much of it was spent outdoors just playing and exploring in an unstructured and unsupervised way. Then I look at today's urban kids -- where are their fields, creeks, hills and culverts? I feel sorry for them.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that everyone young and old have to get in dirt. Even the little ones know this without even knowing. Like Debra said, I too feel sorry for the kids today. They have nowhere to "play" outside in the dirt. They can't play in the fields, the owners might get sued for someone getting hurt. The same with the kids skating. If they don't live out of town or in the country, they don't get dirty and that is a real shame. I was able to get some dirt time Tuesday and loved it. Looking forward to getting more next week.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a day of fun!
(((HUGS)))
There is NOTHING like getting your hands in the dirt. Feeling the power, the energy. I concur with Debra. There is nothing like being outside, playing, exploring. I too feel bad for today's children.
ReplyDelete