the SAVOR project
the art and science of nature-infused health
APA Explores Nature Boost
Check out this April 2020 article from the American Psychological Assocation, on the positive benefits of nature exposure. From its summary:
- “Spending time in nature is linked to both cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health and emotional well-being.
- Feeling connected to nature can produce similar benefits to well-being, regardless of how much time one spends outdoors.
- Both green spaces and blue spaces (aquatic environments) produce well-being benefits. More remote and biodiverse spaces may be particularly helpful, though even urban parks and trees can lead to positive outcomes.”
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.
Excerpt – inquiry into hunger
Below you’ll find a short clip from a previous SAVOR Thursdays webinar, exploring mindfulness of hunger.
This Thursday I’ll be featuring a slideshow of community gardens and some of my own edible garden highlights, as we review the recent growing seasons here in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll also touch briefly on the value of teaching children about the different growing seasons, to plant seeds of food wisdom in our next generation of food citizens and mindful eaters.
And next week, I’ve changed the schedule to offer a popular topic for my last free webinar of the Fall – back by popular demand, Mindful Eating for Families. Don’t miss it!
Additional resources for CHTA attendees
While I won’t include my full Powerpoint from this morning’s presentation, Digging into Our Food and Amending Our Soil with Mindful Eating, below you’ll find a few snapshots of slides we weren’t able to go into due to time constraints, highlights worth reviewing, and follow-up to several much-appreciated questions.
Read More
Savor the body in movement
How do you find opportunities to move when you’re sequestered inside due to wildfire smoke or other weather events? During times like these, it’s helpful to get creative. As I’ve previously said in sessions with psychotherapy clients, we need to defuse the dreaded “e-word” of exercise (and its shame-filled baggage) and find pleasurable, mindful ways to move our bodies. To simply savor that we have bodies to move, and to give our precious bodies a brief reprieve from a life filled with so much sitting in front of screens.
Read MoreChoosing a compassionate response
I’ve posted this quote from Viktor Frankl previously, and as someone who worked as a mindfulness-based psychotherapst for eighteen years, his words come to mind again and again. Especially now. We can’t control or deny (nor should we) the many stressful events of 2020, but we can choose our response.
Read MoreAvailable to watch now – intro to mindful eating
From last week’s SAVOR Thursdays webinar, a 30-minute introduction to mindful eating, which includes a guided exercise. Freely offered. Please enjoy and share as appropriate.
If you haven’t visited the SAVOR Project on Instagram, please consider following me on that platform. In the future, I’ll continue to decrease my Facebook presence but share free (or occasionally, low-cost) resources via this blog and on my IG feed.
Stay safe and well, friends.
Happening NOW – SAVOR Thursdays
Wow, two posts in one day! That’s a record. Read on for a new opportunity starting….tomorrow! Yes, this very week. As in Thursday, September 3, 2020.
Read MoreA month in pictures – July 2020
Yep, I’m playing a bit of catch up. At the end of each month, I’m going to post a kind of pictorial “month in review.” Images that speak to and for me, as it relates to savoring our relationship with food. Here’s July. August is coming soon.
Read MoreIt’s Not Just You: Pandemic Depression is Real
The first step is acknowledging what we’re collectively experiencing, although our individual experiences and histories do vary. Sharing this article, and check out the additional self-care tips I’ll recommend on my Instagram and Facebook feeds in coming days (as a soon-to-be-fully-retired clinical psychologist but still an ongoing health educator), if you don’t have other resources.
Take good care and be kind to your suffering selves, friends.
the SAVOR project 