The greening of my life – and results to date.
In my blog articles at taylorintime.com, I have been periodically updating my readers on my personal experiences with a greener, more active, and yes – more productive life. “Productive” does not necessarily relate to work or business. A person is productive when receiving maximum value from life with minimum input. Minimum input does not refer to sloth, but to the fact that you don’t have to invest all your money, energy, and personal resources to yield a happy, healthy, useful, and purposeful life – even in your later years.
To share my information with as many people as possible, I decided some time ago to publish my entire book, How to Grow Older Without Growing Old, as blog articles, one chapter at a time. The Healing Power of Nature is chapter 3. If you want to download the entire book in PDF format, you can do so now at our website for $4.99.
My personal journey started several years ago when I discovered the power of plants, trees, and nature in general, along with social relationships and lifestyle factors that positively impact productivity, health, and well-being.
Until then, I didn’t realize that plants and trees act as vacuum cleaners, removing toxins and pollution from the air, that friendships impact longevity, or that our minds could frequently cure diseases. The more I studied the importance of adequate sleep, exercise, and the environment in which we work and live, the more changes I made in how I work and live.
Living and working in the Toronto area at the time limited those changes; but I noticed the impact of increasing sleep from 6 to 7 hours a night, walking regularly, moving my home office to the solarium where I was exposed to natural light, working intermittently at coffee shops, and my attempt at “growing” artificial plants on my balcony.
As reported in an issue of Scientific American Mind (January February 2015), even staring at pictures of outdoor scenes has been linked to pain relief, stress recovery, and mood improvement. There has been at least one study that shows that a picture or TV view of nature is better than staring at a brick wall and that a view of the real thing is better still in increasing a person’s cognition and mood.
Initially, the only results for me were an increase in personal energy and productivity, resulting in greater output (mainly my writing) and a general feeling of well-being.
A few years later, when I actually moved to the country (Sussex, New Brunswick) and worked in my home office in an apartment overlooking a small park, surrounded myself with the natural environment, took up fishing in trout streams, picking wild blueberries and cranberries in season – and joined several service organizations and volunteer groups, the impact of my original city changes outlined above became more evident. My blood pressure dropped 10 points and the doctor actually eliminated one blood pressure medication. The psoriasis that persisted on my ankles despite creams, etc., gradually vanished, and the arthritis in my hands, although never serious, disappeared altogether.
Even if all of this could have simply been due to the placebo effect (a phenomenon by which a condition improves simply because the person believes treatment has occurred), the result is unchanged. At 83, I feel more like 63. I’m happy, energetic, more productive, and enjoying more variety in my life – and as far as I can tell, I’m relatively stress-free. (I understand from the literature that stress is an important factor in aging.)
For sure, I am more productive; because the value I derive from life is increasing, both in terms of my writing output per week and my health and well-being. Personal input, such as paying only about one-third of the money for rent, spending less than one-third of the time in traffic, and so on, has also decreased – and I have been spending far less time and energy writing and dreaming up things to write about.
My life’s career has been training others in effective time management, and as I mentioned in my e-book, An Introduction to Holistic Time Management, published by Bookboon.com, the greatest timesaver of all is to live a longer, healthier, happier, and more productive and fulfilling life.
Let me tell you about the birds and the trees
would love to be able to say that everything I know about healthy living I learned from nature. But I can’t. It was only after I slowed down enough in my early 80s to pay attention to the environment in which we live that I even noticed the marvel of nature.
I never knew that trees could survive for thousands of years or that birds could hide food in thousands of places and remember exactly where they stashed each grain. I didn’t know the health benefits of plants or that they appear green because chlorophyll cannot use that part of the color spectrum and reflects it back unused.
Reading such books as The Hidden Life of Trees and Your Brain on Nature and Wild and The Genius Birds has given me a whole new perspective on life. Take trees for example. If you want to survive to a ripe old age you might take a lesson from them. One of the oldest trees on earth, according to Tim Flannery, who wrote the forward to the “Trees” book, is a 9500-year-old spruce tree in Sweden. That’s a little extreme, but trees tend to survive for reasons that could be familiar to some of us.
First, they tend to live at a slower pace, with electric impulses traveling through their roots (one of the ways they communicate with other trees) at only one-third of an inch per second. Other functions are equally slow. They seem oblivious to our digital age of speed.
Trees are also community-minded, caring for one another, thriving on relationships with other trees in the forest, and having stunted growth and shorter lifespans if isolated in a field or transplanted to a garden. They show concern for other trees and for future generations, passing on life-giving sugar and nutrients by way of their roots to other trees in trouble. They have even been known to nourish the stump of a felled tree for centuries after it had been cut down. Do we have such compassion?
Trees also communicate with one another through the senses of smell and taste. For example, if a giraffe starts eating the leaves of an African Acacia, the tree can release a chemical that warns other trees in the vicinity of the attack, which prompts those trees to start producing toxic chemicals, so their leaves are no longer attractive to the animals.
We have much more in common with trees, birds, and animals than we may think. We all thrive on sunlight and fresh air and water, but not pollution. We are all created to develop relationships with one another, to help, respect, love, and care for one another, and to live together in harmony and not in isolation. And we are not designed to live at warp speed.
Even stranger than the fact that we thrive both physically and mentally among plants and other vegetation, is the fact that chlorophyll molecules of green plants are like hemoglobin in our blood. Richard Louv explains in his book, The Nature Principle, that both consist of a single atom surrounded by a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms. The difference is in the central atom. In chlorophyll, the atom is made of magnesium, and in hemoglobin, it’s made of iron. Maybe that’s why we get along so well together.
Since moving to the country over a year ago and experiencing chipmunks eating from my hand and woodpeckers, mourning doves, and chickadees waiting patiently for me to replenish the birdfeeders, it gave me a new perspective on life and the management of time. Like the trees, the birds seem to be in no hurry. And why should they be? Should we live at the pace we do? The faster we go, the faster life seems to go. Slow down and enjoy the ride.
My new appreciation for the environment prompted another ebook, How work environment impacts productivity, published by Bookboon.com. And it has also confirmed that we should be our environment’s friend, not its predator.
This involves not only the earth we walk on and the massive seas, and the blue skies above us, and the air we breathe; but all living creatures who share it with us, including the grass, and the plants, and yes, the trees.
The great outdoors. Are we becoming nature-deprived?
According to Richard Louv, in his book, The Nature Principle, “Reconnecting to nature, nearby and far, opens new doors to health, creativity, and wonder.” Florence Williams, in her book, The Nature Fix, adds, “Our nervous systems are built to resonate with set points derived from the natural world.”
John Ratey and Richard Manning, in their book Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization, state, “Modern lifestyles disconnect people from nature, and this may have adverse consequences for the well-being of both humans and the environment.” Eva Selhub and Alan Logan, in their book Your Brain on Nature, say that “Less contact with nature appears to remove a layer of protection against psychological stress and opportunity for rejuvenation.” And also, that “nature deprivation may have wide-ranging effects on the immune system.”
Sian Beilock, in her book How the Body Knows Its Mind, reports that “research has found links between greenspace and a safe home life” and that “natural surroundings are tied to enhanced working memory, which translates into increased concentration and self-control.” She also mentions that city dwellers are at a 20% increased risk for developing anxiety disorders and a 40% increased risk for mood disorders compared with people who live in less populated areas.
Consider the impact of nature, whether in the form of green space, gardens, or parks, on the health and well-being of individuals. According to the June 2016 issue of Scientific American Mind, “exposure to natural settings has been linked with a vast array of human benefits, from reduced rates of depression to increased immune functioning.”
It’s a good thing that plants act as vacuum cleaners, removing pollution from the air because exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants in both homes and offices has been linked to anxiety, depression, irritability, fatigue, and short and long-term cognitive decline, among other afflictions.
Recent studies have found that urban green spaces improve cognitive development in children, and those close to parklands have better memory development, attentiveness, and creativity.
As mentioned earlier, since moving to the country, I seem to have gotten a second wind. I can’t begin to explain how invigorating I find my morning walks, the view of trees and rolling hills, grazing cattle and trout streams where you can easily catch your limit in an hour. I marvel at the beauty of nature. And I would love my grandchildren to experience it as well.
If we continue our disrespect – or should I say our assault – on nature, our grandchildren may not always have that choice. As Thomas Friedman says in his recent book, Thank You for Being Late, “If you don’t have a forest, you don’t have trees to soak up the carbon. If you don’t have trees to soak up the carbon, it goes into the atmosphere and intensifies global warming or into the oceans and changes their composition. The natural species loss rate is one species or less per year out of every one million species. We are now losing somewhere between 10 and 100 species per million species per year.” He says, “The scientists estimate that we must maintain around 75% of the Earth’s original forests. We are now down to 62%, and some forests show signs of absorbing less carbon.”
I have included a bibliography at the end of this book, and you can read for yourself his comments on the acidification of the oceans, the blocking of sunlight, and other assaults on nature such as “the hundreds of millions of tons of cement we’ve poured across the earth’s surface,” and draw your own conclusions.
An old clipping on the environment that I found buried in my files from some 20 years ago and attributed to the National Wildlife Foundation claimed that one large sugar maple can remove as much airborne lead as the city’s cars emit by burning 1000 gallons of gasoline. City planners in Los Angeles had said that by the year 2000, trees would remove some 200 tons of dust and smoke from the region’s air each day. I have no way of checking the accuracy of that prediction, but one article I came across recently states that according to the U.S. Forest Service, the trees worldwide removed about one-third of fossil fuel emissions annually between 1990 and 2007.
More and more, we are hearing about the benefits of nature, and yet more and more, we are hearing about our decreasing connection with nature.
The major hurdle to spending more time outdoors, besides our attraction to the cities, is our love affair with the digital world. As Friedman noted, “The rate of technological change is now accelerating so fast that it has risen above the average rate at which most people can absorb all these changes.”
And although TV is a timesaving babysitter for parents, it could also be a health hazard for the kids. According to Kaiser Family Foundation research, children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend more than 7½ hours a day in front of screens (including TV, computer, and smartphone.) This study did not include time spent doing homework on a computer. This has been shown to result in a greater risk of obesity, sleep problems, and aggressive behavior – besides the added disadvantage of not having time to fully experience the benefits of nature.
One family, featured in a Canadian Press article appearing in the June 3, 2017, issue of TelegraphJournal.com, is attempting to follow the Canadian guidelines that kids younger than two years old should completely avoid screen time. No smart phones or tablets for the kids. And when the parents have to use their own cell phones, they leave the room. It wasn’t always easy, they claim, but now almost four years old, their boys spend more time playing outside and reading books and less of it staring blankly at screens.
According to Florence Williams, in her book, The Nature Fix, American and British children today spend half as much time outdoors as their parents did.” And I can’t help wondering how much time the parents spend outdoors. Personally, I intend to take advantage of the outdoors while it (and I) are still here.
Life in the slow lane – a look at country living.
Mounting research suggests that city living is not conducive to mental or physical health. A July 2012 issue of Chatelaine.com suggested we’re more disconnected from nature than ever – exchanging outdoor activities for playing video games or using social media indoors. An item in the March 17, 2016, issue of TelegraphJournal.com reported that on a global scale, it is estimated that the transportation sector is responsible for approximately 5.8 million deaths per year – 3.2 million from physical inactivity, 1.3 million from vehicle-related collisions and 1.3 million from outdoor pollution. A string of studies from all over the world suggest that common air pollutants such as black carbon, particulate matter, and ozone can negatively affect vocabulary, reaction times, and even overall intelligence, according to a report in the November/December 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind.
We have a definite link with nature, and the human brain is influenced by our environment – what we see, smell, hear and feel. When I moved from city life to the small town called Sussex in southeastern New Brunswick, I had to get used to breathing air I couldn’t see, experiencing five-minute commutes compared to Toronto’s 80-minute adventure, having stand-offs with other motorists who wanted you to go first, having people greet you by name when you walked into the bank, and having strangers say hello to you when you passed them on the street. But after about three months, I finally adjusted to country life.
There are disadvantages of course. There are no movie theatres (except for a drive-in theatre), no Starbucks (although there are two Tim Horton’s) no top-of-the-line clothing or department stores – although they do have Sobeys, Superstore, Home Hardware, Shoppers Drug Mart, Canadian Tire, Walmart and Marks Work Warehouse – and of course McDonald’s. But in less time than it takes to commute to work in Toronto, you can drive to the large cities of Saint John, Moncton, or Fredericton. (Sussex lies in the centre of a triangle connecting those three cities.)
Although it’s a town of only about 4000 people, this number swells to 20,000 and more when the annual balloon festival takes place or when the 900-booth gigantic annual flea market is open for business. And of course there are plenty of visitors during the summer months – probably attracted by the dozens of larger-than-life murals painted on buildings by internationally renowned artists or the antique car shows or covered bridges – or maybe it’s the fishing, hiking, or the fact that Sussex is the gateway to the Bay of Fundy and other attractions like Magnetic Hill, Hopewell Rocks or the Reversing Falls.
inters can be nasty. There hasn’t been much snow so far, but a few years ago, I visited during a snowstorm that seemed to last a week. Of course, it’s only 15 minutes to Poley Mountain if you’re a skier – less than that for snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, or whatever.
Personally, I may spend more time with my books for a few months – or visit one of my sons and his family in sunny Mexico. (Although, while writing this book, I feel even more invigorated after a twenty-minute walk in the frigid air. And I just love the sound of crunching snow as I walk.)
I can’t begin to explain how invigorating I find my morning walks, both summer, and winter and my interaction with nature that I mentioned earlier. I even enjoy walking in the snow, warmly dressed, of course, and marvel at the beauty of nature in the winter.
My habit has been to go for a walk in the morning with my writing tools tucked inside a computer bag, thinking along the way about the article I was to write that morning. When I reached my destination – a coffee shop about 15 minutes from my home, I would take out my pad and pen, and amazingly I would complete the article without difficulty in a span of 30 minutes or so. It had almost written itself in my mind as I had been walking.
I originally thought it was the fresh air, relaxed state of mind, and the free time available to think about the topic that made the ideas and thoughts flow so easily.
But it was probably the body movement. Our creative ability is enhanced by walking, exercise or even simply gesturing. An article on creativity in the July/August 2016 issue of Discover magazine claims, “A nice walk, especially in the great outdoors, can help us solve problems.” As expressed by Sean Beilock in her book How the Body Knows the Mind (Atria Books, 2015), “Moving the body can alter the mind by unconsciously putting ideas in our head before we are able to consciously contemplate them on our own.”
As yet, I have no documented proof of increased productivity produced by the greenery, scenic views, pollution-free air, social relationships, or increased exercise, except that I have written a few more e-books than the previous year. I do know my blood pressure has remained lower, along with the other physical changes that I mentioned earlier, and I feel good and more energetic than before the move.
Since I get more work done in less time, I use the extra time to attend music jamborees and church suppers and to attend meetings of a local friendship club. And I admit I enjoy catching speckled trout in the local streams, picking wild blueberries, and feeding birds and chipmunks.
There were no lineups when I renewed my driver’s license, no mandatory driver’s test every two years for people over 80, and one thing I can’t help but notice: people in the service industry actually seem to take pleasure in serving you. I find life less frustrating and far less stressful.
So even if I didn’t succeed in getting more work done in my life, I seem to be on track to get more life.
Healing forests
South Korea even has a Jang Seong healing forest where 2000 plus visitors per month walk through its expanse of cypress trees seeking healing and relaxation – in addition to taking in its sheer beauty. Described by Florence Williams in her book, The Nature Fix, the two and a half million trees are said to have reduced stress 53% and lowered blood pressure 5% to 7%. She was told the phytoncides are antibacterial and even the soil is good for healing. After only a few minutes of walking, Williams felt more awake than she had been all day.
Korean researchers found that the immune-boosting killer T cells of women with breast cancer increased after a two-week forest visit and stayed elevated for 14 days. People in nature as opposed to the city achieved better fitness and were more likely to continue exercising.
Visits to Korea’s country forests increased from 9.4 million in 2010 to 12.7 million in 2013, while in the U.S., visits to national forests dropped by 25%. In North America at least, we are not taking advantage of the healing power of forests.
There are few trees in cities to absorb particulate matter from pollution, and scientists found that pollution from diesel, for example, shortens lifespan by causing cardiovascular and pulmonary problems. Black carbon from fires and cookstoves is blamed for 2.1 million premature deaths annually around the world.
It’s not just the lungs that are affected by pollution. The nose allows a direct pathway to the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier. (This became obvious in 2003 when researchers found brain lesions on stray dogs in smoggy Mexico City.) After spending over 50 years in traffic-congested, smoggy Toronto, it’s no wonder I feel so much better both physically and mentally in the town of Sussex, New Brunswick – surrounded by forests and lacking any pollution-spewing factories or exhaust from traffic congestion.
To give you an idea of the effectiveness of trees in keeping our air breathable, William’s book reports that a 2014 study estimates trees in the U.S. remove 17.4 million tons of air pollution per year, providing $6.8 billion in human health benefits.
All of this convinces me that moving from the city to the country was well worth the effort.
Nature-assisted healing
Richard Louv, in his book, The Nature Principle, claims that spending time in nature can make aging easier. He refers to it as “nature-assisted aging.” I know I feel younger when I’m walking in a park or along a nature trail. As someone commented in Louv’s book, “It brings out the excitement and enthusiasm I had as a youngster. I know my body is getting old, but as long as I remain connected to nature, I don’t feel old.”
Louv mentioned several studies indicating the benefits of gardening. One showed that when elderly residents in retirement apartments had a garden view, they experienced greater satisfaction and stronger feelings of well-being. Another study, where one group of institutionalized seniors were provided gardening time, it resulted in emotional and mental improvement as well as pinch and grip strength and improved dexterity. An Australian study found that daily gardening was associated with a 36% reduction in the risk of developing dementia.
The above studies may also show the benefits of exercise and the impact of exposure to nature. The more exercise one gets, the more the cells release antioxidants for their protection. Nature walks, gardening, and exercising outdoors benefit seniors – and anyone for that matter.
Moncton City Hospital in New Brunswick, about a half-hour drive from where I live, has a roof garden called a “healing garden” with room for exercise. They have found it reduces the medication needed for sleep disorders and helps mental health.
If that’s true, and few people would doubt it based on the research, the Fundy Trail, only a 45-minute drive from Sussex, should be promoted as a healing trail. 16 km of hiking and biking trails and 19 km of parkway with breathtaking views of the Fundy coast should take anyone’s mind off their ailments. And imagine tides that rise 32 feet! Nature at its best.
New Brunswick, now my province of choice, is not an ideal place for lucrative jobs. It currently has the lowest median net worth of any other province in the country, according to a December 2017 report from Statistics Canada. But money can’t buy health.
It’s interesting to note that young people leave in droves to seek out high-paying jobs in the big cities, only to return in their senior years. New Brunswick and the other Atlantic provinces have the highest percentage of seniors in the country according to Statistics Canada. If trends continue, the province estimates that 31% of New Brunswickers will be seniors by 2038. It’s an ideal place to retire to because of its lower cost of living and quality of life.
I’m not saying you should move to Sussex, but you should draw closer to nature if possible. And if not, at least draw nature (in the form of plants, greenery and scenic views) closer to you.
Note: You can order the book How to Grow Older Without Growing Old, by clicking here.
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