Nourish Your Brain

The most recent issue of National Geographic has an interesting article called “This Is Your Brain On Nature” by Florence Williams. She reports on numerous studies showing that people are healthier in many ways if they live close to green space or spend time in nature. They're not sure why, but some researchers suspect that “nature works primarily by lowering stress.”

For me, this just reinforces some of my own experiences.  The morning I walked though city streets and along the St. Joe River, all edged with snow.  Very nice,  And an extreme example of this is the first time I did a long hiking trip in Spain (over 400 miles).  After that five week walk, I felt as if my wiring had changed. It was hard to describe, but I felt more peaceful and happier. It's nice to know that this has been studied and verified. And it reminds me to continue walking in the neighborhood and beyond.

This link connects to the article and beautiful pictures of outdoor scenes. The article says even pictures of nature can help.The picture above is a view of a train chugging over the snowy St. Joe River. It was taken while sitting at the bar of The Crooked Ewe Brewery and Ale House in South Bend, Indiana.