A Trip To Indiana in Fall – Get Out In Nature For Better Health and More Energy

Can spending time in nature – you know – out in the dirt and weather - improve your health? According to growing scientific evidence on nature’s healing power – YES!

Last weekend, my family’s journey to Indiana is testimony of that. Of course, Indiana is beautiful, I am biased since it is my home state. Spending a fall day in the woods of Indiana with my family last weekend did more for me than I can say on both an emotional and a physical level because reconnecting with nature and touching the environment goes a long way towards anti-depression and better health.

It began with the crisp fall air, and extended all the way to the sunshine. Best yet; spending time outdoors with your children learning about nature is a fantastic way to stay connected with them as well. Building your familial community means closer and more emotionally stable families.

According to Richard Louv, the author of Last Child In The Woods (Algonquin Books, 2006), by encouraging our children to get outside more, we are helping to prevent "Nature Deficit Disorder." This condition, according to Louv, encourages diabetes, poor test performance, overweight children, as well as allowing other disorders such as ADD and ADHD to manifest itself. I believe Louv has it right and that we should be getting our children and ourselves out in nature far more.

Our family owns a good sized ranch in Indiana and uses “mules” – little mini off-road vehicles – to drive around their extensive wooded property to maintain and manage a nursery of trees. While the mules are not a particularly “green” choice, the experience of touring the ranch and property on a fall day in an open air vehicle was marvelous. Above (from right to left), you can see my cousin, Sunday, my oldest daughter, Kelsey (now in college), and me bundled up and riding off-road through the woods on a beautiful fall day.

Connect your family with nature – take them outside to enjoy activities which involve sun and air exposure. Get dirty! Have fun! Do things which stretch outside your ordinary box of life boundaries – it will make a difference both for yourself and for the people you touch. Do it today because tomorrow comes much too quickly.

Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com or The Blogs - www.gardeningnude.com or http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com

Comments

[Shawna Coronado]

Thanks Carole! It's so beautiful this time of year!

Shawna

[Carole]

This is a wonderful time of year to spend time outdoors. The birds are migrating through our gardens and parks and it's always exciting to see what we'll see next. Great article!