Woman wearing yellow holding snake plant.

Can Your Garden Boost Your Mental Health?

Kayla Butts already had her master’s degree in nutrition when she got her true education in food. When she met her future husband, a small-scale farmer who used heritage methods to grow food without any chemicals, she discovered food does so much more for us than the textbooks were teaching: “He really shook the foundation of my beliefs in our food system and nutrition,” she says. “And I’ve since then become so excited and made it my mission to help people understand that you can grow your own food and it has endless possibilities and benefits for your health and well-being.” She shares that mission in her new book, Garden to Table Cookbook: A Guide to Growing, Preserving, and Cooking What You Eat. More than just a cookbook, it’s also a primer on how food affects us, the benefits of gardening, and how to start — regardless of how big or small your space is. In addition to outlining the benefits of growing your own food and giving more than 100 recipes on how to prepare it, she provides easy-to-follow information on how to freeze, dry, and can your own food. And it’s all presented in a beautifully illustrated coffee table-worthy book. More Than Just a Meal Although she explains the way food affects our physical health, Kayla is passionate about letting people know the benefits of growing your own food go far beyond that. “Something we don’t really talk about a lot is that gardening itself is a huge mood booster,” she says. “And science backs this up.” For starters, she explains, spending time outside is helpful in offsetting anxiety and depression: “We think that’s because we’re more focused externally than we are internally. We’re not ruminating on those little negative thoughts that can just take over; that’s hard to do that when you are appreciating nature.” Research has shown that gardening lowers stress and worry by keeping us in the present moment. Gardening can provide us with a sense of worth and purpose, which plays a key role in our self-esteem, and can help us connect with our “quiet mind.” Being outside also delivers a hit of vitamin D — which is proven to boost moods and immune systems — and digging in the dirt provides a beneficial physical connection with the earth. “You’re actually getting electrons from the soil. You absorb these electrons into your body, and then they act as antioxidants and neutralize disease-promoting compounds that are circulating in your body, like free radicals,” Kayla says. Creating connections The practice of earthing or grounding — which is simply connecting with the earth by standing, sitting, or putting your hands on it — has been found to improve not only your mental clarity, but also can help with sleep problems. It can ease pain and nurture relaxation. In addition to the connection with the earth, Kayla has found that it has created human connections, too: “Once I started gardening, I realized I was connected to a much larger community,” she says. “If you ever want a ton of unsolicited advice, join a gardening club because everybody loves to share their experiences, but it’s so wonderful.” Through gardening, she says she has connected with people from around the world as well as being able to share food with neighbors. “If there’s somebody that you’ve wanted to connect with but didn't know how, it’s a great conversation starter. Just to be able to share that with someone else is so meaningful.” Where to start The good news is, you don’t need a lot of space to start enjoying the benefits of growing your own food. For those who are tight on space, Kayla suggests starting with some potted plants in your kitchen window. Herbs are great for this, or you can plant edible flowers that will also add vibrant color to your kitchen. If you’re ready to go bigger, she says to find a small sunny spot in your yard and start planting. “Seeds are so inexpensive, you don’t have to invest a ton of money into plants if you don’t want to,” she says. And she also encourages people to find a local farm that grows plants and animals without chemicals to broaden the scope of fresh, chemical-free food you have access to. “Create these relationships with community farmers. You’ll be supporting them, and they’ll be supporting your family and your health,” she says. “It’s a great relationship to develop between two like-minded individuals for sure. And it’s nice to just get to know people, too.”
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People walking in the park.

Happiness Is a Walk in the Park

When Nayab Saiyed moved to Plano, Texas, from Vermont in 2015, he didn’t know a single person in the state. While the 38-year-old software architect and his wife were scouting the area for prospective houses and suitable schools, he found himself staring at something that gave him flashbacks to his childhood in India: a bowler and a batsman battling in between the wickets. This familiar scene was being played on well-manicured regulation cricket fields at the Russell Creek Park, the only public park in the United States with seven fields dedicated to the sport. Amazingly, Nayab, a lifelong fan, just stumbled upon it. “We saw these people playing cricket, and I was literally in awe,” he recalls. “My god, for a guy like me, this is heaven.” From that point on, he didn’t care where he and his family lived, as long as his house was close to that park. It’s been just over a year now and he spends nearly every weekend playing cricket with a group of guys he met who were in his same situation: expats from various Southeast Asian countries looking for something to remind them of home. “It’s like brotherly. We go for dinner or lunch after every game. We have a tradition to go to a restaurant as a group,” Nayab says. “We celebrate victories and good performances. We encourage people.” For Nayab and his friends, this kind of activity is not only a game-changer in their personal lives, it is also good for community well-being. A recent collaborative study using data collected from sources such as the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index and the Trust for Public Land finds that maintained public parks and green spaces in U.S. urban areas have myriad benefits to the economy, the environment and for residents’ health and happiness. Why green is good Most of our history as human beings has been spent outdoors, so keeping ourselves cooped up inside buildings and houses seems almost unnatural. Because of growth, densely populated metros have gobbled up most of the green spaces. Studies reveal negative consequences when we don’t have access to parks, trees, nature trails and waterways. This can pave the way for poor health, poverty and even crime. Research scientists Viniece Jennings, Ph.D., with the United States Forest Service and Lincoln R. Larson, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University, are working hard to prove why public parks and green spaces are good for our individual mental and physical health, as well as the well-being of the surrounding communities. “We are just now—in the past decade—really starting to understand what connection to green space does for our physical and psychological well-being,” Lincoln says. “We need to take bigger steps and understand the role these spaces play in satisfaction and social cohesion, fostering social capital and getting to know your neighbors in these safe spaces. We need to think about well-being more holistically and parks and green space, particularly in urban areas, being at the center of that find what that sustainable and healthy future looks like.” Without these green spaces, we can start to develop what journalist, author and nature advocate Richard Louv coins as a nature-deficit disorder, or a loss of connection to the outdoor world, especially in young people. While it is not a medical diagnosis, it does raise the question of what can happen when we isolate ourselves from the natural world with emerging technology and modern housing that keeps us indoors. “Space plays a powerful role in our outlook and health,” Viniece says. “It’s not just a combo of what we eat or our genetics, but it is also where we live, where we work and where we play. The options that are in our environment can help us have active lifestyles and positive perceptions of life.” In Lincoln and Viniece’s multiple joint studies, they find that exercising outdoors compared with inside is strongly associated with positive mental health. Without places for people to stay active, sedentary lifestyles increase with negative impacts on their cardiovascular health. Socially, neighborhoods with more parks report increased interaction among residents, which adds to stronger bonds and life satisfaction. “Parks can really help community well-being,” Viniece says. “And that is an important part of livable cities and can influence where people plan to move.” “When you take the green out of the cities, you are also losing these places for social interaction and fostering that kind of engagement that is an essential aspect of humanity,” Lincoln adds. “If you don’t have these spaces, it is hard to replicate that in other settings.” Lincoln also points out that local parks and greenways have shown to be great economic centers and cultural hubs with the added benefit of environmental sustainability. An example is his recent assessment of The 606 trail in Chicago, which is an old train line converted into a 3-mile linear bike and hike trail. Since opening nearly two years ago, Lincoln says their research shows that property values have increased and crime rates decreased in the neighborhoods closest to the trail. Trails and greenways “create corridors of connectivity between neighborhoods, home and work, and facilitate sustainable transportation that eases the environmental burden caused by exhaust and greenhouse gases,” Lincoln says. “It also means a happier population because they are enjoying the commute.” City of parks The state of Minnesota may be the land of 10,000 lakes, but in Minneapolis, the park system is the crown jewel, at least according to the Trust for Public Land, which rated the city’s park system the best in the country multiple years in a row. Jayne Miller, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board superintendent since 2010, says that the park system has a long and rich history. Created by the legislature in 1883 and ratified by the voters, the parks board has been operating independently from the city and managing the park system for 134 years. “We are a city actually built around the park system,” Jayne says. Now 95 percent of the population has access to a park or green space within a 10-minute walk and can travel throughout the city’s trail system without seeing a car. “When people are asked why they live in Minneapolis, the first thing out of their mouths is the parks,” Jayne says. “Because of the park system, we have that quality of life.” Tammy Severe, a 55-year-old project manager, agrees. She says people don’t have to look very far to find a park or a trail. She keeps tennis shoes, a lawn chair and a blanket in her car for when she gets the urge to decompress for a spell. “There’s the beauty of nature, but a lot of these parks have social activities: fairs, festivals, family reunions,” she says. “It’s definitely a core part of Minneapolis.” Tammy has connected with several different groups through Meetup.com, including the Outdoor and Snow Lovers group, that meet weekly to walk the area lakes, hike through historic parts of the city or stroll through the arboretum after work. “Everyone is there for a common reason and you have all walks of life,” she says. “It’s a built-in social group.” Parks also help residents maintain active lifestyles, essential for well-being. Runner’s World named Minneapolis the seventh “Best Running City” and the American College of Sports Medicine American Fitness Index ranked it second “Fittest City.” “I have worked in a number of communities that have strong park systems and a strong ethos around parks and recreation, but nothing greater than the city of Minneapolis,” Jayne says. “People get it, they value it and they use it year-round. They know what it does to contribute to their high quality of life here.” And they back it up with their tax dollars by approving funding campaigns, raising awareness through citizen advisory committees and convincing the city council to earmark extra funds for park maintenance and restoration. Over the next 20 years, that will amount to nearly $250 million in additional funding. “We don’t make decisions about investments without working it through with the communities and the neighborhoods,” Jayne says. With the residents fully involved, Jayne and the rest of the board have the freedom to maintain a fully functional park system throughout the whole city, including areas where green space is more difficult to access. “Having these places to go that are easily accessible to get out and be active, be with friends, be social, whatever you do for yourself that gives you that strength as to who you are as an individual also strengthens the community,” Jayne says. “In urban areas where socioeconomic divisions are greater, ensuring that everyone has access to that space, to get on a trail and walk or take a bike, sit on a park bench or have a picnic, it is fundamental to the health and well-being of people.” A case for green space Not all large cities in the United States have the luxuries afforded to places like Minneapolis or an independently governed parks board or Plano with an emerging tax base and growing economy. Indianapolis, Indiana, ranks near the bottom of the Trust for Public Land’s 2016 list at 95 out of the 100 largest cities in the U.S. While Indianapolis has more than 11,000 acres of parkland compared to the 5,064 acres in Minneapolis, that only makes up 5.1 percent of the city’s area and only 32 percent of the population can access it. According to the trust, Indianapolis spends roughly $26 per person on its parks. If you compare that number to Minneapolis, which spends $223, or Plano, which spends about $120, there are not a lot of resources to work with. Indianapolis is part of a city-county government, with resources divided among multiple towns and municipalities. Finding money is difficult, but Indy Parks Director Linda Broadfoot doesn’t dispute the need for a healthy and vibrant parks system to help spur the local economy and maintain positive health and well-being within the city. “We are not focused on the number; we are focused on how we serve the community,” she says, adding that Indy Parks manages more than 125 playgrounds, 135 miles of trails, 155 sports fields and 210 parks as well as feeding more than 400,000 hungry kids annually. Part of her challenge is getting people to understand the value of parks and why green spaces are good not only for the health and happiness of the individual but also for the city’s economic development and quality of life. “The lesson I had to learn is that it is not obvious to everyone,” Linda explains. “We can show that [being near a park] is good for property values. There is just something inherently good about being next to these places.” Parks are about planning It’s clear that the people who work and run city parks and recreation agencies have a common dedication to improving the quality of life in their respective communities. Because of the urban planning that took place in the 1980s, when Plano was a small but burgeoning bedroom community, most of the neighborhoods were built around schools with a park in the center within every square mile. It took a lot of different departments and groups, including the public working together, but it was important to the city to maximize the open space and make sure kids are next to schools and parks. Renee Jordan, chief park planner for Plano, says that neighborhood parks are designed to be within walking distance. “These spaces are important for people who live in intense urban and suburban cities,” she says. “They need to feel renewed and refreshed.” Renee also says it’s important for planners to anticipate the changing needs of the population. For example, in the 1970s and ‘80s when Plano’s master plan was being developed, no one anticipated a need for cricket fields. She says Plano is adapting to those needs to make sure there is a little something for everyone, including equipment that accommodates children with special needs. Catering to a changing demographic and interests can mean installing more soccer and cricket fields, or adding courts for different sports like pickleball, popular among retirees, or designated skate parks, popular among youths. Urban parks and trails may be costly upfront, but according to a recent review released by the American Journal of Health Promotion, it is the most cost-effective way to increase physical activity and health among dense populations. For Nayab, it’s more than just exercise—he also found happiness. Just one year after starting his cricket club, Nayab and his new friends are now champions of the Dallas Cricket League, and it all started with a neighborhood public park. “All the guys in my Meetup group were just like me, we didn’t know how to get started at first,” he says. “We found a home—similar backgrounds and experiences and we get along well—all of Southeast Asia is represented in our group. It has been a great experience.” Chris Libby is the Section Editor for Live Happy magazine. His last feature story was Find Your Funny Bone.
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Happy 100th Birthday National Parks

Happy 100th Birthday National Parks

President Woodrow Wilson may not spring to mind every time you go for a hike, but maybe he should. In 1916, he created the National Park Service as part of the Department of the Interior. What started with 35 protected areas has grown over the past 100 years to include more than 400 parks, historical sites, monuments and natural areas. Celebrate the centennial of America’s phenomenal national parks by spending time in one (or more) this year. Outdoor activities have been linked to better mental and physical health, increased creativity and greater overall well-being. Besides, you’ll be amazed at the diverse beauty to be found in every state. What’s more, all parks have junior ranger programs with activities for families, as well as knowledgeable staffers who can help you plan the perfect visit. Acadia National Park—Maine Acadia, which occupies most of Mount Desert Isle in northern Maine, was the first national park on the east coast. Inside the park you'll find trails for easy to moderate hiking and old carriage roads for driving. There is also a shuttle bus to get around without having to worry about your car. The coast is stunning up close or looking out from Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak in the park. Brave families can get wet, but even in the middle of summer the Atlantic Ocean here is frigid! At the end of the day head to the town of Bar Harbor for a meal and a ride on a vintage sailboat. Dry Tortugas National Park—Florida A 70-mile boat ride from Key West takes you from tourist traps to a more remote world. Here you'll find abundant sea life and plenty of sunshine and beaches. The activities here are ideal for active families: snorkeling, paddling, geocaching and fishing. Home to Fort Jefferson, this area was a busy place during the Civil War and famously housed Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd, who helped President Lincoln’s assassin get away. Arches National Park—Utah There’s something about the red rock desert of southern Utah that makes it hard to stop snapping photographs. Zion, Bryce and Arches national parks each have their own highlights. For hiking, biking and climbing, Arches gives you the biggest thrills. More than 2,000 natural arches are fun to hike and climb around in the warmer months, but you can explore year-round—even in the snow. Sequoia National Park—California The towering Sequoia trees have always inspired awe in visitors, even before this majestic land in the southern Sierra Nevada became a national park. You can explore the Crystal Caves, an underground wonderland of gleaming stalactites and stalagmites (in summer only) and spend time hiking and wandering along miles of trails for a full sensory experience—the smell of old growth forest, the rugged texture of the trunks and the feel of a gentle breeze rustling the leaves above you. Kobuk Valley National Park—Alaska In 2014, the National Parks Service recorded zero visitors to Kobuk. Other years aren’t so dramatic, but since it was created in the early ’80s, just 141,000 people have seen this remote park. There’s a stark beauty unlike the rest of Alaska out in the northwestern part of the state. Sand dunes stretching for miles, an entirely treeless landscape and frigid rivers all combine for a rugged and solitary experience. Kobuk is not accessible by car, only by small plane. Once here, you can fish, follow migrating caribou, watch the sun never set and get a glimpse of Native Alaskan life. Eliana Osborn is a freelance writer who lives in the desert Southwest.
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Bird on a branch

Winter Garden

Outside my cottage high in the mountains of Vermont, snow is piled up to the window boxes. Crystals of ice catch the morning sun and reflect light over the landscape, while a flock of small birds is already at work breakfasting on the bright red berries of the holly I planted beside the front steps last spring. Opening the door for our Westie to leap out into the snow and plow a path toward the trees, I look out at the hollies, hemlocks, maples, birch, and a variety of shrubs and grasses framed by the doorway—then offer a small prayer of gratitude for the sweet moment of crisp mountain air, the tiny terrier and the glorious sun filtering through the pines. The Five-Minute Fix Winter in Vermont is tough. It lasts for six dark months every year and mountain temperatures can plummet 10, 20, even 30 degrees below zero between late December and early February. Most of us who live here take the cold and dark in stride. But that’s because we plan for it. As temperatures start heading toward zero, we check our woodpiles and generators, load up on flashlight batteries, canned goods and candles, then strategize how we’ll fend off the moodiness, snarliness, sleepiness and depression that the coming darkness can precipitate. Some of us climb on skis, snowmobiles, sleds and skates, and throw ourselves down mountains and onto ice-bound lakes. Others schedule vacations in sunny climes. And still others create a winter landscape—a “winterscape”—of shapes, textures, colors and lights that we can see through the windows of our houses, apartments, condos and businesses. Playing around with your yard may sound like an odd way to fight the moodiness of winter, but studies from the University of Michigan, Texas A&M, Sweden’s Uppsala University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences all suggest that even just a glimpse of trees, shrubs and grasses through a window triggers a change in the electrical activity of the brain that measurably improves mood. And it does so within three to five minutes. Creating theWinter Garden Most of us are probably more accustomed to thinking about landscapes around our homes and workplaces in terms of how they frame a house or building, or how they look to others from the street. But Vermont Certified Horticulturist and landscape designer Judith Irven has long felt that the view from inside your home or workplace to the outside is an opportunity to create art. “I’m always reminded of the 18th century poet Alexander Pope, who said that ‘All gardening is landscape painting,’ ” says Judith. “So when I look through my windows into the winter garden, I’m always thinking of making paintings.” The scene through the glass becomes her canvas, the window frame defines it, and on her palette is light and shadow, shape and texture, browns and blacks, plus an occasional splash of red, green or yellow. “The winter landscape is spare and elegant,” says Judith, who founded Outdoor Spaces, a garden consulting firm, in Goshen, Vermont. “We can actually see the bones on which it’s built without masses of colorful flowers to distract. So whether you live in a canyon in California, a rain forest in Oregon or the high mountains of Vermont, winter is the time to go out and look around, then think about the landscape paintings you want to create.” Simple Steps toTransformation Judith’s approach is one that appeals to the artist in each of us. And with the promise that each garden painting we create has the potential to lift us away from winter’s darkness and into the light, here’s how to get started on your own work of art. Take a tour. Look out the windows through which you’d like to see into your own landscape paintings, and take a photo of the scenes on which you’d like to focus, Judith suggests. Print each photo on an 8½-by-11 inch sheet of paper, and put a sheet of tracing paper on top. That will be your working sketch. Then grab some orange-tipped flags to stick in the ground, pull on your Wellies, slip into a warm coat and head outdoors. Look at the shapes. Walk around the area in each photo. Look at where the edges of garden beds are currently located. Are you happy with their shapes? Does one bed take up too much of the window photo? Should it be smaller? Should it curve in one direction or another? If so, says Judith, stick some flags in the ground to reshape the bed’s edges and mark the changes you’d like to make. Tinker with structure. Now head back indoors, pull out your photos, and draw the revised shapes on your working sketch. Think about vertical structures like trees and shrubs. Is there a particular spot where you’d like to see a vertical shape thrust upward from surrounding shrubs? Think about the size you’d want it to be, then look online or in books at trees and shrubs that might work in that particular spot, Judith advises, paying particular attention to the tree or shrub’s size when it reaches maturity. If you’d like to see the field beyond the tree, buy a tree that won’t grow so tall it will obscure your view from inside your home or workplace. Or if you’d like to obscure a line of recycling bins and trash cans, look for a shrub that will give you both the vertical and horizontal coverage you need when it matures. Then check a USDA Plant Hardiness Mapto make sure that any plant you buy will thrive where you live. Add a sculpture. Tuck a whimsical piece of metal sculpture, a simple rock formation, even a handcrafted birdbath into the scene on your working sketch. What you add depends on themood you’re trying to create. The garden framed by the window beside the desk in my study, for example, is on the edge of a forest and bordered by an area of wild grasses, brambles and a jumble of wildflowers. Massed together, it’s a bunch of unruly textures against the rough bark of a pine forest that goes on forever, and in winter, the whole scene has a contemplative vibe. So a simple stone statue of St. Francis quietly tucked into a niche of grasses extends the underlying sense of contemplation—and gives me a deep sense of peace when I look up from my work and out the window. Use a touch of color. Select a trio of red-twigged dogwood, a patch of sedum ‘Autumn Joy,’ a grouping of winterberries, even a crabapple tree to add a splash of intense color across the spare winter landscape.
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Two People Mountain Biking

For a Good Mood, Get Outdoors

Before you lace up and head for the fitness center or the spare bedroom where you keep the treadmill, consider taking your sweat session outside. Along with fresh air, sweet smells and new sights, you’ll experience something else: happiness. University of Essex scientists found people who exercised outdoors for just five minutes improved their mood and reduced their stress, especially when working out near water. As the study describes, nature is a place we go to escape from the stress that won't leave us alone in modern life, and the "opportunity for relaxation and recreation has a positive influence on our emotional and physical well-being."Even better, physical activity has its benefits of positive physical and mental health. And according to the study's findings, participants "felt less stressed, more alert and alive, happier and more relaxed." When you combine physical activity and exposure to nature, this"green exercise"can be a calming activity with benefits of improving your psychological well-being and physical health. Walking with friends makes it a social event, and having the company of others only adds to that refreshing feeling. Green exercise could be your rejuvenating break from the real world.Don’t live near a lake or park? No sweat: After-work golf with a client, an early-morning tennis game with your business partner, or even just a lunchtime walk around the block counts toward your daily dose of nature.
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