Spring Stirrings

Yes please!

Dear Circle,

What I know for sure is that life is better while in nature.

Our minds calm, tension or anxiety dwindles if not melts away completely, our bodies feel energized while our mood overwhelmingly lifts higher. Nature is this glorious panacea to the stresses we encounter from our daily demands.

So let us escape outside as Spring teases us with its intermittent warmth, gorgeous blossoms and captivating nose of fresh jasmine and garden roses. May I remind us to treat ourselves to the contentment and ease that accompanies the lengthier Spring days and the sun’s rays upon our hibernated skin. How about we truly take possession of this in-between season tucked within the more extreme bookends of cold Winter and hot Summer. Yes please!

And if Spring’s stirrings are not enticing enough, science is screaming about the multitude of benefits from being in green spaces and blue aquatic spaces. According to Nature and mental health: An ecosystem service perspective published in ScienceAdvances, contact with nature is associated with an increase in happiness, subjective well-being, positive affect, positive social interactions and a sense of meaning and purpose in life, as well as decreases in mental distress. Yes please!

Everything can not always wait, but bits of everything can. If we can not hold hostage an afternoon, a day, or full weekend for roadtripping to the beach or the countryside, carefree bike riding or backyard swimming, stolen moments still make a difference. Mathew White, PhD, an environmental psychologist at the University of Exeter in England, and his colleagues, after studying a representative sample of 20,000 people across the United Kingdom, published in Scientific Reports that people who spend two hours in nature each week experienced significantly greater health and well-being. Two hours each week. Yes Please!

So I invite us all to walk barefoot on the earth wiggling our toes in the grass, sand or whatever bit of nature we find beneath us; work in the soil even if it’s the simple pleasure of planting a potted garden of herbs for our kitchen countertop; hang a hummingbird feeder and enjoy sipping tea while watching our invited guests enjoy the hospitality; languish on the bank or the shore day dreaming or indulging in a long overdue read; enjoy the kiss of the sun while inhaling the unconfined fresh air; listen to the birds, squirrels, bees and waves in concert, chattering with each other. Escape outside! Reap the glorious benefits that nature bestows upon our mind, body, and spirit. Yes please!

Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is here!

With love,

Whitney

P.S. Thank you to Mark Harper for the gorgeous cover photo captured during the golden hour.