Connect to nature, and to your health!
This is the second in a series by L.A. Naturopathic Doctor, Maya Roth, who shares with YDT how our own well-being and environmental health are connected–and what we can do to act on behalf of both.
Part Two: CONNECTING TO THE EARTH
Creating positive changes in your lifestyle will affect your health and the health of the environment. For example, we enhance our health by connecting with nature and reducing our participation in activities like watching TV and using the computer that put a strain on the planet’s energy.
Here are some tips to boost your well-being as you conserve resources while reconnecting to the earth:
Fitness
Implement an outdoor fitness routine 30-60 minutes most days like walking, hiking or bicycling. Exercise has been shown to improve brain function, reduce heart disease risk and high blood pressure, reduce stress, improve sleep, enhance physical appearance, build self-esteem and increase energy.
Vitamin G
Spend at least 20 minutes each day in green environments—gardening, bird-watching, or simply strolling through neighborhoods with abundant green space. Looking out on and being in green elements of the landscape around us affects health and well-being so much that scientists have dubbed it “vitamin G.” Vitamin G is associated with stress relief, improved attention, better self-perceived health and lower mortality risk.
Grounding
Strengthen your body’s connection to the earth by walking barefoot on the beach, lying or sitting on the ground, playing barefoot or camping. Grounding, the act of touching the earth’s negatively-charged surface to restore the body’s electrical balance, has been shown to fight inflammation and free-radical stress, which are at the root of diabetes, heart and degenerative joint disease. Daily grounding improves sleep and energy, speeds healing, and helps to manage stress.
Bio: Maya Roth, ND is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor. She practices preventative medicine with emphasis on risk modification, lifestyle optimization and hormone balance. She is in practice at the Chiropractic Center of Los Angeles and specializes in natural family medicine, as well as subspecialties of women’s health, children’s health and environmental medicine. Dr. Roth encourages her patients to take responsibility for their own health and for the environment. She is the creator of Naturopathic Insights. Contact: Tel: (323) 935-9777 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (323) 935-9777 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; www.DrMayaRoth.com.
Images via Sydigill @ flickr
