Sharing nature with our children - Landscapes for Health and Well-Being

For our mental health and emotional well-being we need to spend time in nature. We need to stop and smell the proverbial roses. But for many people the problem is not that they don't want to stop but that they don't know how, or where. Where can they find some roses (or other attractive plant) and where is it sufficiently safe, quiet, attractive and offers a seat so we can pause a moment in our busy day?! Some families have not lived with access to a garden for 2 or more generations. What we once took for granted, a park within walking distance, a home vegetable garden and an orchard to supplement the family food supply, or even a balcony with space for pots of herbs and salad greens has been squeezed out of ever denser urban communities where space for luxuries like food growing and amenity planting is (considered) simply too expensive.

Slowly though, times are a-changin'. The public health system and corporates have been first to notice the cost of not having healthy, engaged people. Research has been commissioned and multi-disciplinary studies conclude that we are healthier when we have access to greenspace. Internationally huge companies like Google and PriceWaterhouseCoopers know their staff are more productive, report fewer sick days, and are less likely to want to move on when they have access to greenspace during their working day. Human resources are valuable. The cost of developing and maintaining the gardens is less that the cost of losing valuable employees.The employers provide roof gardens and outdoor terraces as break out areas, somewhere staff can eat their lunch, do a little weeding or pick and eat a strawberry while they mull over a question. It sounds simple. In essence it is. The problem is that only a few people know about it, so far.

I wrote a whole book on the topic of why and how health professionals see the potential of a greener, softer urban design. Health and a feeling of wellbeing is a fundamental right for all people, everywhere. The Code of Human Rights has stated this. Countries around the world have signed statements agreeing to uphold our right to health. In reality though, we have a way to go for the big picture benefits to filter through. Good things take time. But we can speed up the process by our personal actions. Rather than feel powerless to change anything on a global scale, let alone change our own lives, I urge you to take up the knowledge and use it as your personal empowerment towards a state of  mental health and emotional well-being. Allow yourself and those you love to enjoy being outside. Your physical health will thank you for it too.

As we notice that our children are 'plugged in' to technology and 'tuned out' from nature, we see the same tendencies in ourselves (we're here staring at a screen when we could be looking at the sky, breathing deeply of the fresh air, or talking to someone, or doing 1001 other things), so the problem isn't just with our kids. It's our problem too. For our health and well-being we NEED to be connecting with nature on a daily basis, actively and passively. An easy way to actively connect is to garden - even if you think you are a person who kills every plant you touch, you can still take solace from a garden and the gentle art of gardening. Don't be too hard on yourself. Understand it takes time to know when to feed, when to water, when to weed out the competition. Think back to when your child was a new baby and take your time to observe, only this time observe plants and you and your child, as you sow, tend, and harvest.

If you think of how much money people spend on "therapy" and how long it takes, use the knowledge of Google and PWC and as you move towards a healthier state of being save yourself some money. It may take time but time is yours to spend as you wish. Give yourself that time to potter, explore, experiment in the non-judgmental environment that is a garden. Even if you have just a few pots on a window sill, open the window to the fresh air and bask in the sunshine. Plants love rain so on rainy days pop your houseplants outside for a refreshing soak. Pop yourself outside too.

Show your children that it is fun to play in the rain, OK to get wet, and quite safe to get dirty.  Old clothes are ideal for gardening. Bare feet are an ideal way to feel the earth, to connect with our lcoal landscape. Perhaps more important than what we are wearing though is how we manage our nature connections. What do we allow? What messages do we send? Do we say "ugh, don't touch", or do we feel the mud, taste the fruit, smell the flower, listen for the birdsong? It's up to each and every one of us. Regardless of our age, ability or physical condition a feeling of well-being is ours, for free, if we take a moment to enjoy nature in all her glory. That's all the therapy I need.