The term “tree hugger” has been applied to people viewed as uber-liberal or too idealistic, however… “it has been recently scientifically validated that hugging trees is actually good for you.” Research has shown that you don’t even have to touch a tree to get better, you just need to be within its vicinity has a […]
Happy Friday! After a looooong work week, here’s a little more incentive to make sure you get some time to play this weekend. [Okay, fine, for all of you who are too "busy" to read the article, here's a basic breakdown: you need free play in order to recover from stress, and that if we […]
I’ve been reading about visualization a lot lately. It can seem kind of hokey or too touchy-feely for some, and I’m usually not one to buy into “if you build it, they will come” kinds of ideas. However, studies are finding that visualization has a lot of positive benefits; usually articles and research focus on […]
Reblogged from The Dirt: “Parks are a part of our healthcare system,” said Dr. Daphne Miller, a professor of family and community medicine, University of California, San Francisco, at the Greater & Greener: Reimagining Parks for 21st Century Cities, a conference in New York City. She said these green spaces are crucial to solving hypertension, anxiety, depression, […]
Hi everyone. Just a little self-promotion, plus some promotion for a great organization: I have been asked to speak this Friday, July 20, at 7:20 pm about play and parkour, at the 3rd annual Parkour Summit hosted by Parkour Visions in Seattle, WA. As some of you know, I received my MA in Anthropology this […]
Reblogged from The Dirt: At Greater & Greener: Reimagining Parks for 21st Century Cities, the 4th international urban parks conference organized by the City Parks Alliance, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg told an audience of 900 city parks leaders, landscape architects, and activists from 210 cities and 20 countries that “parks are a vital […]
I am a HUGE fan of Jonah Lehrer and his exploration of science and psychology, so I was thrilled to see his new article in the New Yorker about how important it is for us to daydream (which is a big part of make-believe play). Humans are a daydreaming species. According to a recent study […]
Should happiness and well being be considered a metric to measure overall success of a country? The UN just voted yes: Imagine you open the paper tomorrow, and the headlines are not about the “sluggish economy,” but our nation’s quality of life. You turn to the business section, and find not just information about a […]
From USA Today: People who engage in activities such as reading and playing games throughout their lives may be lowering levels of a protein in their brains that is linked to Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests. Although whether the buildup of the protein, beta amyloid, causes Alzheimer’s disease is debatable, it is a hallmark […]
The faculty at University of Washington is pretty progressive in a lot of its research surrounding neuroscience and the mind, especially when it comes to Mental Health Care: Researchers and professors at the UW, such as Dr. Jürgen Unützer, are driving innovative ways to improve access to high quality mental health care delivered in a […]
