#Nature’s Prescription for Our Future

Why caring for nature is caring for ourselves

By Dona Bertarelli October 31, 2025

Excerpt: "Nature’s ability to sustain us is not only ecological. It is deeply personal. More and more studies show that spending time in natural environments reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and strengthens the immune system. A large study in the United Kingdom found that those who spent at least two hours a week outdoors were 59 percent more likely to report good health and 23 percent more likely to report high well-being, regardless of age, income, or location. Other research shows that even brief moments in nature, a walk in a park, the sound of birds, the sight of water, can already ease stress, steady the mind, and sharpen our attention."

Read more:
https://nautil.us/natures-prescription-for-our-future-1245190/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#SolarPunkSunday #MoreGreenTime #LessScreenTime #GreenBathing

I went on a hike by myself today (#IndianCellarPreserve). I love to hike by myself because I can meander, take photos, observe birds, see what's growing and what isn't. An hour-long hike can easily take me 2-1/2 hours. And since there isn't hunting allowed, I didn't wear any orange -- instead wore all black (including a hat). Well, between what I was wearing, and my uneven steps, a couple hanging out by the river thought I was a bear! Nah. Just an armchair historian and nature-lover -- who happily filled them in about the history of the area!

#GreenBathing #SpendTimeInNature #MoreGreenTimeLessScreenTime #NaturePreserve #Maine

#Technology for #Luddites
What Digital Does to Our Brains
April 30, 2015 by kris de decker

via #NoTechMagazine

Illustration by Luis Quiles

"It turns out that digital devices and software are finely tuned to train us to pay attention to them, no matter what else we should be doing. The mechanism, borne out by recent neuroscience studies, is something like this:

- New information creates a rush of dopamine to the brain, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel good.
- The promise of new information compels your brain to seek out that dopamine rush.

"With fMRIs, you can see the brain’s pleasure centres light up with activity when new emails arrive.

"So, every new email you get gives you a little flood of dopamine. Every little flood of dopamine reinforces your brain’s memory that checking email gives a flood of dopamine. And our brains are programmed to seek out things that will give us little floods of dopamine. Further, these patterns of behaviour start creating neural pathways, so that they become unconscious habits: Work on something important, brain itch, check email, dopamine, refresh, dopamine, check Twitter, dopamine, back to work. Over and over, and each time the habit becomes more ingrained in the actual structures of our brains.”

https://www.notechmagazine.com/2015/04/what-digital-does-to-our-brains.html

#SolarPunkSunday #TechAddiction #MoreGreenTime #BoardGames #Gardening #NatureBasedLearning #Greenbathing #TheLudditeClub #NeoLuddites #MoreGreenTimeLessScreenTime

Spent some much-needed time outdoors today. One of the bird feeder holders (an old metal coat rack I found in a free pile) had blown over yesterday. Cleaned it up and turned it into a plant hanger (which it was in a former life). Started digging up the front garden and found a bunch of baby onions and garlic from previous years' crops going to seed. Dug those up and transplanted them into containers. Between those and the little red potatoes I stored from last season, I won't have to buy onions or seed potatoes from the local feed store this year!

#Gardening #SpendTimeOutdoors #GreenBathing #Recharging

So, this isn't specifically #SolarPunkSunday-related, but it is #Gardening related. Many folks might know #GeorgeHarrison from his music, but did you know he was an avid #Gardener. (I did.) Harrison spent many hours working on his garden, finding inspiration, hanging out with his friends. He understood how being in #Nature restores the soul! If you're in the area, check it out!

#SarasotaNY: George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life

Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series
On view February 9 – June 29, 2025
Downtown Sarasota campus
Tropical Conservatory, Gardens, The Museum of Botany & the Arts

"George’s love of gardening was an integral part of his identity. In an interview in Rolling Stone magazine in 1979, the renowned singer-songwriter described himself as 'just a gardener.' His strong association with gardening was further illustrated in his 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine, dedicated 'to gardeners everywhere.'

"In 1970, not long after The Beatles disbanded, the then 27-year-old George purchased the estate of Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, a small town in the county of Oxfordshire, England. Built by an eccentric lawyer named Sir Frank Crisp in 1889, this once grand Victorian mansion with spectacular gardens had fallen into disrepair. With the help of his wife, Olivia Harrison, George was able to revitalize the neglected property, consisting of the mansion, lodges, and 32 acres of grounds. It was in this process that George’s love of gardening began to flower.

"George’s free approach to gardening combined creativity, spontaneity, whimsy, humor, and joy. This approach has inspired the exhibition at Selby Gardens, which combines a dynamic display of objects and ephemera in the Museum of Botany & the Arts with stunning horticultural vignettes in the Tropical Conservatory and throughout the gardens of the 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus. Featured throughout the exhibition are a selection of George’s music and lyrics, as well as excerpts from Came the Lightening, a book of poems by Olivia Harrison dedicated to George and reflecting on their time together. The resulting multi-sensory experience highlights George’s connection to nature and celebrates his life and legacy through the power of plants."

https://selby.org/george-harrison-a-gardeners-life/
#GreenBathing #SpendingTimeInNature #TheQuietBeatle

#PétrusseValley to undergo second phase of #rewilding

The Pétrusse rewilding project and redesign of the adjoining park aim to be finished for the 2027 school year

10/02/2025

"The second phase of the rewilding of the Pétrusse valley, extending from the #BourbonLock to #RuedAnvers in #Luxembourg City, is set to begin in spring.

"The valley has already been #rewilded along a section extending from Rue St. Ulric to the Bourbon lock during the first phase of the larger project, which began in 2020.

"The City of Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Ministry of the #Environment, #Climate, and #Biodiversity, held a press conference on Monday outlining the details of the second phase, which includes the installation of stands and balconies along the route and a new multi-purpose sports field.

"'The rewilding of the Pétrusse valley represents an exceptional project for the City of Luxembourg, aiming to enrich our environment while improving the quality of the citizens’ lives,' Mayor Lydie Polfer said.

"The rewilding initiative came just days after a European Commission report on water quality showed rapidly declining results in Luxembourg.

"The first report, in 2009, indicated that 7% of the country’s surface waters were in good ecological condition, before falling to 3% in 2015 and finally reaching 0% in 2021. The ecological status is influenced by water quality such as #pollution and #habitat #degradation. It is used to define the overall status of water bodies.

"The #EuropeanUnion wants all surface waters to be in good condition by 2027. Under the #EuropeanWaterFrameworkDirective (#WFD) – which sets markers for water quality, the country has to see its standards improve.

"'#Restorations are perfect measures to adapt to the increasing challenges of #ClimateChange while contributing to the improvement of #biodiversity, #WaterQuality and increasing the quality of life of our citizens,' Environment Minister Serges Wilmes said."

https://www.luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/petrusse-valley-to-undergo-second-phase-of-rewilding/39932053.html
#SolarPunkSunday #WaterIsLife #GreenBathing #GreenSpace #RewildingLuxembourg #Restoration