 Did you know that:
Honey bees must gather nectar from two million flowers to make just one pound of honey. The average honey bee only makes one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. It takes two million flowers to make one pound of honey? Bees are one of the most important pollinator species to our food security and ecosystems. Honeybees provide pollination services valued at between $15-20 billion annually in the United States alone. How can we help support these insects that are so vital to our survival? Here are three simple things most of us can do:
Share this blog with others to create a global movement to support our pollinator friends and expand our awareness of their vital role in our lives and the lives of over a thousand plants such as coffee, nuts, spices, and our favorite fruits and vegetables. Ready to learn more about how connecting with nature can enhance your holistic health and the health of our planet? Subscribe now to The Nature Nurse™, PLLC seasonal e-newsletter: LINK
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 Around the world, people will plant trees, clean up parks and beaches, and maybe plant a pollinator garden in celebration of Earth Day on April 22. While these and other one-day activities are a step in a more sustainable direction, what would the impact be if we collectively stepped back and committed to connecting with our natural world?
Indigenous people around the world have a profoundly different relationship with our environment. When Aleena Kaw of Red Star International, talked about how the Klamath and the Yoruk nations emerged from the river, as opposed to believing they emerged from the river, in a discussion hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it resonated deeply with me. Personifying non-humans is a huge mind-shift for many of us. Personifying our natural world invites us to establish a relationship with her and affords nature rights to personhood. Rivers, for example, are being granted legal rights to personhood around the world. The Ganges and Yamuna Rivers are now considered legal persons and now have the right to be clean and healthy, versus polluted. The Magpie River in Canada was legally granted personhood and is now empowered with nine rights including the right to sue. Those of us who are not indigenous, have an opportunity to shift our thinking from our current way of looking at our environment as something we dominate over and use for our own good, to developing a relationship with our environment. When we connect with our natural world, we have the opportunity to develop a healthy, reverent, reciprocal way of being with our environment, much in the same way we enjoy and cherish our connections with other people and pets. How do we begin to transform our way of thinking? Here are a few ideas:
Earth Day provides us an opportunity to set a new intention, just as many of us do for ourselves on New Year’s Day. Setting the intention to connect with our natural world will be a meaningful way to celebrate Mother Nature this Earth Day. As the legendary oceanographer once said, “We protect what we love.” Looking to connect with Mother Nature, enhance your holistic health, meet new friends, and have some fun? Join us as we launch the Walk With Mother Nature™ program on May 9th. Learn more: LINK  True story. For many years I hosted High School Seniors for a 6-week internship at the end of their senior year in my garden shop. During this time, I taught them a lot about horticulture and coordinated other opportunities for them to experience the world of gardening.
I was not naïve, the students who asked to do their senior internship were not necessarily interested in pursuing horticulture. In fact, many admitted they came to me because, “I heard you were nice”, it was local, and outside. Many other students opted for more corporate opportunities only to find they were relegated to filing and menial tasks. One of my favorite places to send the students for the day was to work with our local Garden Club. At the time, the club members were mainly senior women who had been gardening their whole life. They created gardens around our community. The students would return from a day of weeding, digging, planting, hauling, looking as if they were crossing the finish line of a marathon in last place. Their hair was meshed to their heads, sweat beading on their foreheads and they practically crawled to the desk to find their precious water bottles. “How did it go?” I would ask as they gulped the water down, not even turning in my direction to answer. I would wait for an answer and wait. Then I would say with a smile, “They beat your asses didn’t they?” Eventually, they would let the empty bottles fall to their laps and one by one answer, “Yeah! And they are all over eighty years old!” As it turns out, new research shows that gardening can enhance life satisfaction especially as we age. Ready to enhance your own satisfaction with life? If you aren’t already an avid gardener, maybe start with some simple, easy-to-grow plants this spring. I highly recommend creating a simple container filled with lettuce seeds. I also love planting snap peas, super easy, although they do need a trellis or something to grow up on. Looking for a pop of color? Pansies are plentiful this time of year and won’t die on you even if another dose of snow arrives or temperatures dip below freezing. As always, I encourage you to learn more from the many videos on The Nature Nurse™, PLLC youtube channel highlighting easy and inspiring ways to garden: Healthy Green Thumbs Playlist Create Your Own Cutting Garden Playlist So don’t be like Mick Jagger. Start gardening and get some satisfaction. Want to learn more about how connecting with nature can enhance your holistic health, and the health of our planet? Subscribe to our seasonal e-newsletter now on the homepage.  Ahh, Spring. The birds are singing their favorite songs, daylight is more plentiful, neighbors are coming out of the woodwork, and outdoor festivals are posting their upcoming events; there is so much new life!
As a kid, summer was my favorite season, as it is for many kids. No school, playing outside until late into the evening, ice cream trucks, long days at the pool or beach, hanging out with friends. As an adult, I have come to better appreciate and revere each season for what it brings, but Spring has definitely become my new favorite season. I love the vibrant energy, watching the plant life emerge from the earth, and being in awe of the magnificent way Mother Nature paints the landscape with various colors and shapes. I invite you to tap into this joy by enrolling in the Morning Nature Walk Program. While any day is a good day to begin the healthy practice of walking, Spring is a prime time. Some reasons are obvious, the weather is better, maybe we want to prepare for feeling better in lighter clothes or a bathing suit. The best reason, in my opinion, and the reason why this walking program is like no other is that in this program I outline, in detail how you can walk WITH Mother Nature, not just IN nature. Connecting with nature has so many holistic health benefits not only for us; but for our planet. The research is now flowing with support for this practice. Would you like to enhance your joy, improve your immune system, feel calmer, sleep better, be more creative, better able to focus, and more? Did you know that a recent study from Cambridge University found that taking an 11-minute brisk walk every day, or walking 75 minutes per week, will lower your risk of stroke, heart disease, and a number of cancers? Are you one of the many people who have awakened to the fact that we need to each take agency of our own health? There is no pill to magically fix many of the health problems that we can prevent in the first place. Spring into action now and enroll in the Morning Nature Walk Program: LINK You deserve to feel better in your own body. |
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