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I FOUND SOME GOOD FAMILY RELATED MATERIAL ON THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT WEBSITE THAT'S REALLY GREAT. I'VE BEEN RESEARCHING NATURE A LOT - OUR NEED FOR REGULAR EXPOSURE TO IT SOME WAY/WAYS THROUGH THE WEEK.

Children Love To Learn How To Grow Plants - Why Not Let Them Try? You May Be Surprised!

IN MY PRETEENS, I WAS FASCINATED BY PEAS AND BEANS EMMERGING THROUGH THE SOIL, WHEN MY MUM WAS TENDING HER VEGGIE GARDEN AND WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE A FEW PLANTS OF MY OWN TO GROW. MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS WERE NOT VOICED UNTIL I MENTIONED IT TO HER LATER IN LIFE (MY 40'S OR 50'S).

IN RESPONSE, SHE SAID "Oh Janet, you never said anything about it. I would have been happy to share some with you - I didn't think you were interested." I WAS ACTUALLY INTRIGUED. IT'S A GREAT INTEREST FOR KIDS OF DIFFERENT AGES, FROM LITTLE TO TEENS and A GOOD CONTRAST TO THEIR TECH INTERESTS - HELPING TO PROVIDE A BALANCE FOR THEM, HEY? AND HEALTH BENEFITS TO BE GAINED TOO, A WIN WIN!

The Government Says:

People of all ages can enjoy gardening, but children in particular will have lots of fun and gain special benefits. …

By Uzma Muneer, D.O.

I WAS BROUGHT UP IN A COUNTRY TOWNSHIP NOT FAR FROM THE BEACH AND PLAYED OUTSIDE A LOT. MANY KIDS ARE BROUGHT UP HAVING CLOSE CONTACT WITH THE SOIL BECAUSE THEIR FAMILY HAS A VEGGIE GARDEN OR THEY LIVE ON A FARM. HEALTH SCIENTISTS ARE SAYING THIS GIVES CHILDREN A GOOD HEALTHY START IN LIFE AND BENEFITS THEIR IMMUNE SYSTEM. THEY’RE ALSO SAYING THAT KEEPING YOUR CHILDREN AND HOUSE SO CLEAN AND OVERUSE OF DISINFECTANTS IS NOT GOOD FOR THEIR HEALTH.

Are You Overly Careful How Your Kids Play?

Some Thoughtful Considerations.

Dr. Muneer specializes in Pediatrics, lets see what she has to say.

Picture this: A baby’s pacifier falls to the ground. A first-time mom sterilizes it thoroughly before giving it back. With her second baby, she quickly runs it under some water first. By her third child, the mom brushes it off and pops it right back into her baby’s mouth. Was her third child any worse for the wear?

We spend a lot of time and energy protecting our babies and kids from germs. But some germs could actually help protect them.

Our health is influenced by all the microorganisms inside our bodies and the surrounding environment.…

I'VE PLACED AN ARTICLE IN MY BLOG ABOUT THE MICROBIOME WE HAVE IN OUR BODY THAT RELATES VERY CLOSELY TO GUT HEALTH RECENTLY, AND THIS IS SOMETHING ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS. DID YOU KNOW THAT HAVING A HEALTHY GUT HELPS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND OVERALL HEALTH? YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE A MISSING PART TO THE HEALTH PUZZLE FOR MANY - EVEN SOME PEOPLE WHO GO TO GYMS AND TAKE SUPPLEMENTS - SOMETHING THAT IS VERY UNDERATED BY MOST PEOPLE AND EASILY MISSED. IT STRENGTHENS YOUR GUT AND IT'S GREAT FOR YOUR HEALTH...... IT'S ALSO FREE...... CAN YOU GUESS NOW?

The One Thing You Should Do For A Healthier Gut

By Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum – CleanPlates.Com

Stopping to admire a bed of flowers, strolling alongside a river, or sitting on a park bench — chances are, at least one of those scenarios, if not all of them, sounds peaceful and uplifting to you. But time spent in nature benefits more than just your spirits: It can lower stress levelsboost your immune systemimprove your heart health, alleviate depression and anxiety, and lead to a healthier gut.…

Author Florence Williams talks trees, cities, and creativity in her new book "The Nature Fix."

You Spend 5 Percent Of Your Day Outside. Try Making It More. At a time when more than half of all people live in cities, the influence of the natural world is at a low ebb, while our understanding of it keeps growing.

Try Spending Some Time Outdoors - It Lifts Your Mood Level

For two decades, Florence Williams could sit on her porch at night and watch the alpenglow on the Rocky Mountains. Then she moved from remote Colorado to Washington, DC, and started noticing the changes.

“I felt disoriented, overwhelmed, depressed,” she writes in her recent book, The Nature Fix. “My mind had trouble focusing. I couldn’t finish thoughts … and I wasn’t keen to get out of bed.”

Williams was suffering, she says, from nature withdrawal. She spent the next three years digging into the science of how nature works on our brain. In short, it makes us more relaxed, more creative, and more socially connected. She traveled to Japan and Finland, the deserts of Utah and the urban forests of Singapore, to study just how much we stand to gain by bring nature back into our lives.…

That lifestyle is what drew us here. We wanted to provide a different type of upbringing for our three young girls: one that focused on adventurous time spent in nature. So for the past two years we’ve been committed to finding fun and imaginative ways to spend as much time as possible out in nature. Over time we’ve grown from a family that considered a trip to a local park an adventure, to one that hikes and camps, fishes and skis.

We’ve grown closer as a family as we’ve grown to embrace our new lifestyle. And our difficult daughter? Well, we still have our moments, but almost never outside.

At first we didn’t know exactly why we wanted to raise outdoor loving kids – it just instinctively seemed like a good idea. If we did have a specific motivation, it was the hope that by starting them early our girls would grow up physically strong and healthy, and with a lifelong love for outdoor activity. Over time we’ve come to learn that the emotional benefits of more time in nature probably outweigh the physical ones.

BENEFITS OF SPENDING MORE TIME IN NATURE AS A FAMILY

It builds confidence.

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GREEN SPACE IS A TERM USED FOR GARDENS, PARKS AND NATURE SETTINGS THAT ARE PLANNED OR INTRODUCED IN CITY AND SUBURBAN AREAS FOR THE BENEFIT OF RESIDENTS, WORKERS AND VISITORS AND ENHANCING DEVELOPMENTS. THEY PROVE TO BE BENEFICIAL FOR HEALTH, MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY. THE THERAPUETIC BENEFITS CAN EVEN BE EXPERIENCED PHYSICALLY AS WELL. EVEN THE YOUTH BENEFIT BEHAVORALLY WHEN THERE IS GREEN SPACE IN THEIR AREA. LAND DEVELOPERS ARE NOW CONSIDERING MORE GREEN SPACE IN NEW DEVELOPMENT AREAS. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCLUDED YEARS AGO AND IS NOW BEING CORRECTED. GARDENS AND NATURE IS SOMETHING THAT IS NECESSARY IN OUR LIVES AND WE CAN ALL BENEFIT BY SPENDING SOME TIME OUTDOORS.

Gardening For Health: A Regular Dose Of Gardening

By Richard Thompson – Royal College Of Physicians UK

There is anxiety that the NHS cannot cope now and in the future with the health needs of an increasing and ageing population. It is also realised that pharmaceutical drugs are increasingly expensive and are not always as effective as they appear in the results of early, enthusiastically reported, clinical trials. Drugs are also prescribed at the cost of side effects, which are a leading cause of admissions to hospitals, particularly for the elderly, who are poorly represented in trials.…

Each Country, Each Person. With All Of Us Playing Our Part, There Is Still HOPE. Our Creator Knows Best And We Have Separated Ourselves From NATURE. Sadly But True. In PART, Many Are Waking Up To This, Governments, Countries And Individuals. We Have Made Advances In Clothing And Textiles, Technology And Manufacture Of Many Goods - We Have Much Knowledge In Recent Decades, Yet For The Most Part, We Remain Ignorant About NATURE And NATURE'S ROLE In Our Lives. This Post Is About How Each Of Us Can Make Meaningful Changes As Individuals And Families, Awareness Groups And A Nation, Here In Australia. If You Are Visiting This Website From A Different Country, Welcome, I Encourage You To Practice And Spread Principles You Will See In This Article.

On This Earth, In This 'Civilised' Generation, Indeed We Have Separated Ourselves And Our Children From The Benefits And Privileges Nature Has To Truly Endow Us With. It Goes Without Saying, How We Have Treated This Earth And Sea Very Poorly And Are Reaping Climate Changes Etc As A Result By Disturbing The Elements. We Have Tried To 'Better' Nature (In Her Wisdom) By Turning To Man-Made Medical Drugs And Chemical Agriculture.......In…

THIS LAST YEAR HAS BROUGHT MANY OF US INTO MORE CONTACT WITH NATURE WHEN HAVING TO DISTANCE OURSELVES SOCIALLY. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED TO HEAR THE BIRDS WHEN THEY VISIT NEARBY, WAKE UP EARLY IN THE MORNINGS, SEE THEM IN THE PARKS, AT THE BEACHES, FLYING IN FORMATIONS ON OCCASSIONS ABOVE THE HOUSES IN MY LOCALITY WHEN I STEP OUTSIDE. I'VE JUST PURCHASED A SECOND BIRDBATH RECENTLY, SO I HAVE A DEEPER ONE OUT THE FRONT FOR THE MAGGIES WHO LOVE TO SPLASH IN IT, AND A SHALLOW ONE FOR THE BACK, SO THE SPARROWS CAN REFRESH THEMSELVES TOO. I CAME HOME THE OTHER DAY TO SEE A PIGEON RESTING PEACEFULLY IN THAT ONE FOR QUITE SOME TIME - NOT SO QUICK TO FLY AWAY, AYE? WITH A LITTLE PATIENCE, YOU CAN BEFRIEND SOME BIRDS A LITTLE - ATLEAST WE CAN MAKE OUR YARDS INVITING AND EXPERIENCE PRECIOUS MOMENTS HERE AND THERE ON DIFFERENT DAYS.

Being Around Birds Makes Us Much Happier Says New Science

By Andy Corbley

We see them nearly everywhere we go, we hear them every day, they live in every environment, and now, two new studies have shown their mere presence makes us happier.…

I FOUND THESE ARTICLES RECENTLY CONCERNING THESE NATURE ELEMENTS THAT ARE MISSING IN THE LIVES OF SO MANY WELL CHILDREN AND ESPECIALLY IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE LONG STAYS IN HOSPITALS OR MAYBE EVEN LIVE IN. THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THE INTRIGUE AND PEACE AND BEAUTY OF PLANTS TO CHILDREN. THEY'RE COMFORTING AND ENJOYABLE. THEY HELP TO OFFSET SOME OF THE MODERN DAY TECH AND EQUIPMENT CHILDREN GET ACCUSTOMED TO IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT IN THIS MODERN ERA. MAYBE IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GARDEN AT HOME, YOU WILL CONSIDER GROWING SOME PLANTS IN SOME WAY, SO YOU CAN ENJOY MORE TIME OUTDOORS IN THE FRESH AIR AND SUNSHINE.

New Study Shows Garden Areas Improved The Immune Systems of Daycare Children In Only A Month

A study in Finland showed, for the first time, that the immune system of children ages 3-5 improved when lawns, and planter boxes were added outside daycare centers.

Dozens of comparative studies have previously found that children who live in rural areas and are in contact with nature have a lower probability of catching an illness resulting from disorders in the immune system—and a lower risk of developing coeliac disease, allergies, atopy, and even diabetes.…

CHEMICALS ARE BAD NEWS, NATURE IS GOOD - IT WILL HELP YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR GARDEN IF YOU WORK WITH IT'S PRINCIPLES, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS THE LAWS OF NATURE. JOIN THE MANY FOLK WHO ARE GOING CHEMICAL FREE. IF IT WASN'T FOR THE USE OF NASTY CHEMICALS, MEDICAL WAITING ROOMS WOULD BE HALF EMPTY. YES THAT'S TRUE, SO LETS LOOK AFTER OUR FAMILIES, HEY? AND SPREAD THE NEWS FROM THIS POST TO NEIGHBOURS AND FRIENDS, SO THEY CAN BENEFIT TOO. MANY ARE TURNING TO THE DIGGERS CLUB OR YOUTUBE AND VARIOUS WEBSITES FOR BETTER SOLUTIONS, SO HERE'S SOME OF MY EFFORTS TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR SEARCH, INCLUDING 2 SAFE ORGANIC SPRAYS.

You Will See 5 Beneficial Insects To Encourage.

EXCERPTS FROM DIFFERENT WEBSITES

To Help Insects, Make Them Welcome In Your Garden – Here’s How

By Brian Lovett - Postdoctoral Researcher in Mycology, West Virginia University

Lawns Are Insect Food Deserts

Some gardeners choose native plants to attract and support helpful insects. Often, however, those native plants are surrounded by vast expanses of lawn. If you’re a gardener looking for a new challenge this year, consider revamping all or part of your yard to support beneficial insects.…