Are you interested in learning how to engage in self-health practices that will benefit your physical, mental, and spiritual health? Americans face an enormous amount of challenges daily when it comes to controlling their health and wellbeing, including some of the following:
Exposure to contaminated foods
Over-use of technology
Obesity and overeating
Lack of physical activity and exposure to sunlight
Inadequate exposure to nature's healing abilities
What if there was a simple, cost effective, and enjoyable way to combat these common issues? An act as easy as being outside? It’s a known fact that nature reflects all aspects of life in many ways: the joys, the challenges, and the life cycle.
Healthy Green Thumbs™ is an upcoming campaign designed by two licensed Registered Nurses to educate and inspire those who are interested in learning how to build a reciprocal relationship with nature that not only improves our overall health and wellbeing, but also takes proactive action toward helping to prevent disease.
How this seed was planted:
Registered nurses, Susan Allison-Dean and Clifton Joullian, have 50 years of collective experience in the healthcare field, in addition to being active plant growers with a holistic approach to wellness. After seeing first-hand how crucial it is to be proactive when practicing self-health methods, they decided to join forces to educate and inspire others to learn more about nature-based self-health practices.
What are the benefits?
Sue and Clifton invite folks to participate in the Healthy Green Thumbs™ campaign to learn about not only the practical benefits of growing plants as a food source and way to engage with nature, but to become aware of the deeper benefits to us as humans.
You can expect to reap the following benefits as a result of your participation:
IMPROVED PHYSICAL HEALTH Growing plants is a happy and healthy way to get outdoors and engage in physical activity. Gardening is excellent exercise due to its extensive physical labor including pulling weeds, planting, digging, spreading, and more.
IMPROVED MENTAL HEALTH Nature has been proven to lessen the effects of depression, ignite creativity, and promote relaxation.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS Gardening allows the opportunity truly be present and appreciate our surroundings. Growing plants provides the opportunity to play a role in the circle of life, giving us a deep sense of purpose.
FINANCIAL RELIEF You may find that growing your own food lowers the cost of your grocery bill quite a bit. How amazing is that?
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS By growing your own food and plants, you have the opportunity to potentially eliminate many of the harmful chemicals that can be found in store-bought vegetables and plants. Additionally, you may expose yourself to beneficial soil microorganisms that support human health.
By subscribing to the Healthy Green Thumbs™ Campaign, you will receive free educational and interactive resources supporting your path to better holistic health. Expect to learn much more about how nature-based activities can improve your health and wellbeing!
Included in your free subscription:
Bi-monthly newsletter filled with growing tips, campaign updates, spotlights, & more
Videos and tutorials
A supportive, accessible community of people supporting each other on a journey toward better health
Access to contests, giveaways, and community event updates
Note: Subscribers names and emails will not be shared.
About the Healthy Green Thumbs™ Co-Founders: Susan Allison-Dean, RN, MS, BC-AHN, CCAP Susan, also known professionally as The Nature Nurse™, primarily resides in Armonk, New York and also has a second home in Cary, North Carolina. As a Board Certified Advanced Holistic Nurse and Certified Clinical Aromatherapy Professional, she practices holistic health to improve her own health and wellbeing. Sue consistently keeps up with the latest research in the everchanging healthcare field with the goal of educating and empowering others to make positive changes to their lifestyle to enhance their health and wellbeing. Sue is fascinated by the relationship people are able to form with nature. Her mother encouraged Sue’s engagement with plants throughout her life. She helped her create and maintain lush gardens including a productive vegetable garden. One of her favorite garden experiences was doing an organic gardening internship at Highgrove House, the private country estate of Prince Charles. Sue has found that growing plants – flowers, produce, shrubs, trees, you name it – has so many benefits. The feeling that comes to mind is: joy. Growing her own food humbles Sue and ignites deep appreciation for the work large farms do for us. Engaging in a close relationship with nature from plant growth to simply being physically outside, has drastically lowered stress for Sue. There’s nothing better than a homegrown tomato! Clifton Joullian, RN, BSN Clif, professionally known as The Nurse Farmer™, is located in Mobile, Alabama. Clif is a practicing nurse demonstrating a holistic approach to healthcare. He views the health of his incoming patients as including their body, mind, and spirit as opposed to solely the current disease or condition they are currently struggling with. Clif began building the foundation for a stronger relationship with nature roughly 15 years ago by growing his own food. At first, he started engaging in plant growth for fun, however he quickly learned that time in the garden was making a positive impact in several areas of his life. As his skills improved, he found that he was able to grow plants that aren’t commonly found in stores. Clif is most fascinated by the ‘how’ component of food growth. Taking care of your crops to omit chemical fertilizers, herbicides & pesticides has proven health benefits. Some of these chemicals have been linked to diseases such as cancer, dementia, and Parkinson’s. Decreasing our exposure to these chemicals may help reduce our risk for developing such diseases. Growing our own foods is the ultimate form of exercise! Need more motivation? 80% of gardeners report being happy and/or satisfied with their quality of life. – Gardener Magazine "In a recent Dutch study, researchers asked participants to complete a stressful task, then split them into two groups. One group read indoors and the other gardened outdoors for 30 minutes. The group that read reported that their mood 'further deteriorated,' while the gardeners not only had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol afterwards, they also felt 'fully restored' to a good mood … There is no panacea for growing old but, the science suggests, gardening does appear to improve our quality of life as we age." --- Report from BBC News Researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark found that growing up near vegetation is associated with an up to 55 percent lower risk of mental health disorders in adulthood. Learn more:https://www.pnas.org/content/116/11/5188 Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Dietary Modification (DM) clinical trial found that consuming a low-fat diet high in fruits, vegetables and grains significantly reduced the death from breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Learn more:http://abstracts.asco.org/239/AbstView_239_253759.html Additional articles: Back Yard Gardening: Grow Your Own Food, Improve Your Health( https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/backyard-gardening-grow-your-own-food-improve-your-health-201206294984) Home Gardening: An Effective Cancer Therapy (https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/106/11/dju391/1501713) Are you ready, now?
Sponsors and Partners: If you are excited about this campaign and would like to join us as either a sponsor or partner, please contact us!