Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us

"From MindBodyGreen's Senior Sustainability Editor and the co-author of The Spirit Almanac comes a four-color guide to reconnecting with the outdoors, with new research on how nature heals us as well as tools for becoming stewards of the earth that nurtures us"--
Provides a framework for reconnecting with the outdoors for the sake our health and our planet’s that draws on new research from environmental psychology, biology and ecology on nature’s healing benefits as well as the wisdom on the unquantifiable, spiritual power of the outdoors. Illustrations.
Discover the new science and ancient wisdom on why nature makes us healthier and happier in body and soul from the co-author of The Spirit Almanac and mindbodygreen’s Senior Sustainability Editor.For centuries, we have known that getting outside is good for us. Yet we have become increasingly disconnected from the earth that nourishes us, with most of us spending 87% of our days indoors. In response, writer and environmentalist Emma Loewe demonstrates the power of nature’s healing properties in a guidebook organized by eight landscapes. In each chapter, you'll find research-backed ways to explore that landscape right now and protect it in the future, so that it can be healthy and nurturing for generations to come. Drawing off modern science and innate wisdom, she uncovers: Why being by the ocean makes you measurably happierHow living near greenery helps you lives longerThe staggering, illuminating statistic that forests can make you more relaxed within 90 seconds of walking among trees.Alongside beautiful four-color illustrations that inspire us all to get outside in big and small ways, this stunning book—more urgent than ever—will appeal to anyone looking to connect with the world around them, whether in their neighborhood park or on a backpacking getaway.