socially conscious, science-based, & nature-infused
What a difference a week can make! Our world is constantly changing and as always, our lives are filled with ups and downs. Delicious and painful impermanence. Such a dialectic. As we greet one other and each moment, a warm helping of mindful awareness and self-compassion goes a long way.
A reminder from last week’s digest about how I’m loosely organizing these posts into three categories (HEAL, GROW, and SAVOR), to align content with The SAVOR Project’s mission:
Please keep in mind, as always, that you can save these digests for a later time because they’ll often contain a dizzying array of resources – kind of like a big meal you can’t expect to eat all at once, so save some of what follows for “leftovers,” to be enjoyed at your own pace.
HEAL:
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the impact of trauma, as it relates to mind/body health and our responses (individually and collectively) to the crises unfolding in our world. In a conversation with a psychologist colleague recently, we discussed how the research on ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) is gradually making its way throughout the field of healthcare and also how our understanding of what constitutes an “adverse” experience continues to evolve, to include intergenerational poverty and systemic racism. If you haven’t viewed this TED talk video by pediatrician Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who is now the Surgeon General of California, I’d recommend it:
Read MoreA statement perhaps more apt during this past year (depending upon your experience of 2020, your perspective on our creepy-crawly garden friends, and/or whether you’re taken up gardening during the pandemic).
Worms are essential players in our soil’s ecosystem, improving aeration and breaking down organic matter into castings (otherwise known as worm poop), which are a rich source of nutrition for plants. Call me crazy, but I think worms are super cool. There’s a load of things I can’t stomach in our world right now, but I can hang with worms. Worms don’t require social distancing, and they don’t pitch a fit, or assign you more chores, or post comments on your feed that are cringe-worthy. They just eat garbage, and poop…pretty much the whole relationship. Like I said, pretty cool.
Read MoreWelcome to the new SAVOR digest – an appetizer plate of what I’ve taken in or discovered* over the past week, gleaned from research, community resources, and current events.
I’m now loosely organizing content into three categories (HEAL, GROW, and SAVOR), to better align content with The SAVOR Project’s mission:
Beginning in January 2021, I’ll post a weekly, random collection of resources elevating a therapeutic connection with nature and/or food, along with behavioral health tips designed to improve mind/body health, drawn from current research, recent news, and my two decades of experience in the fields of mindfulness-based programs and clinical psychology.
Read MoreStill crafting one or two resolutions for the New Year? Don’t forget to consider time in nature – and specifically, tending to your own garden (no matter the size), as a healthcare strategy. Even if you’ve been gardening for decades, as I have, you’ll find that each season offers new lessons and rewards.
Check out a few of the following articles exploring how gardening positively impacts mind/body health:
Read MoreA favorite poem that I like to read aloud at the beginning of each year:
Love After Love
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you have ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Derek Walcott, Collected Poems 1948-1984.
In case you missed this information, which I shared on social media earlier this fall, the American Psychological Association has been focusing explicitly on supporting farmers and farmworkers, both during this pandemic year and beyond.
Many of us – and especially frontline workers, might find these stress management resources helpful, as well.
These days, many school-aged families are juggling remote learning schedules with other demanding work/life responsibilities, so finding time to enjoy regular meals together can be difficult. As the working parent of a fifth grader with special needs, I get it. Really, I do. The good news is that mindful eating requires only a few minutes, at most, in order to reap its benefits. Mindful eating practices can gradually be integrated into your family’s day – and provide you with a chance for your own short-and-sweet version of “recess.” Because play is good for adult mind/body health, too.
Read MoreCheck out this April 2020 article from the American Psychological Assocation, on the positive benefits of nature exposure. From its summary:
Especially in the midst of these difficult times, connect with nature – virtually or in person, even for a few moments, at least several times per week if possible.