Trees for Health

Science confirms it: spending time in green space makes us happier, healthier people. – Arbor Day Foundation

I have been a member of the Arbor Day Foundation for a number of years.

They send me monthly emails and for May which was Mental Health Awareness Month, they sent recent findings that access to trees is good for your mental health and can make you happier and healthier.

Here are just a few of the ways trees can support your mental well-being.

• Spending time in nature reduces levels of a stress hormone called cortisol. It also lowers blood pressure.
• Living within 100 meters (about 300 feet) of a tree can reduce rates of depression.
• Being among the trees (and even climbing them!) enhances cognitive functions such as learning, thinking, and reasoning.
• Walking through green space with trees can improve memory and attention span.

So make a conscious effort to get out and enjoy the trees around you, whether it’s in your own yard or in a community space. And feel the mood-boosting benefits of nature

Click here to read more of the research from Peter James, an associate professor of population medicine and environmental health at Harvard University, who has studied this connection for nearly a decade.

Even if you just sit and watch a tree and everything that goes on around it, you receive so many benefits.

Get out there and be with some trees today OR even plant a few!