Going Green for Health, Wealth and Joy

-

backyard trees

This blog and others by this author have repeatedly stressed the importance of living in green spaces and of increasing green spaces on our planet by endeavors such as planting trees and designing cities to include designer green areas http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2012/06/green-hybrid-city.html. Some of the advantages mentioned were felt intuitively but were not backed by scientific evidence. All this changed this month when the results of a new study due to the University of Edinburgh were published in the journal of Sports Medicine. What the researchers found was that green spaces lessen brain fatigue with all its attendant benefits. These benefits include reduced stress and improved mental and physical health.

In another blog of this author (steamcenter.blogspot.com) dealing with technological matters in layman style, this blogger has stressed the contribution of increasing greenery for improving the climate on the planet and in the present blog the author has talked much of the spiritual and economic benefits of increasing forest and other green cover on the planet as a whole and at the micro level in and around one’s home and office. Green surroundings are the solace of a weary soul.

The study suggests that right now one should take a break from whatever one is doing and move to a green space or even view green spaces from one's home and office windows. If such are not available to you then begin creating one right now by planting  trees by yourself or in a group, or, if you live in a place where that is not quite possible, begin planning getting out of it as soon as possible to another where it is possible; either that or start saving for a doc or shrink and some more handkerchiefs for a tearful sobbing life of pain and sorrow. If you choose a fruit/food tree plant then you would contribute towards the dwindling food resources on the planet too..

This blogger does not wish to insist that anyone should necessarily increase peace, joy and happiness in their lives if they do not wish to. Adults are free to live as they wish to as long as they do not disturb others, but he does urge them strongly to avoid  poor  mental and physical health as well as sorrow and tears because that is something that costs the society as a whole, and this post mentions the easiest and perhaps the only way to get there. If one thinks one can find joy by living in barren deserts or others filled by city noises, concrete and artificial lighting then that is wishful thinking indeed 

Prefer the song of birds and of gurgling brooks to the usual noise of the city. The former has shaped human psyche for thousands of years while the latter may ruin it in a few.

If governments and policy making bodies think that climatic natural disasters or unemployment rates can be reduced by reducing the forest cover and other green spaces on our planet then a major rethink is in order.   Older posts in this blog have shown how millions of green jobs may be created within a few years in any country.

The photo shows the trees in the backyard of the author's home, visible from the back windows. The front is greener. There are photos of that in older posts of this blog if you care to scroll through. All of the trees were planted by the author. When he moved into the area some quarter century ago it was barren. Besides his home, he has planted trees on the street and parks of the residential area he lives in as well as the offices he has worked in too. This link and reference here is to a blog post from one of the offices this author has worked in  http://aits-nainital.blogspot.in/2010/05/tree-plantation-marks-observance-of_06.html

I guess one should practice what one preaches :)

Comments

ProfAshok said…
You have been spamming repeatedly Monika Singh with the same comment. Kindly stop spamming.
November 21, 2014 at 9:16 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Birds to Telepathy

-
Image
  Sparrow by  Laitche T he house that I live in presently was built in stages  beginning in 1991 during  vacations and sabbaticals in my career. By 1995, the ground floor of the house was more or less complete except for some finishing that continued later. In the center of the roof of the living room was a hole meant for a center light. To hide the protruding wires a small round plastic sheet covered it with another circular hole in the center of it for the light. A similar one existed in the front porch of the house. I lived in the house through most of 1995 with frequent visits of three or four days to Delhi. At this time a pair of house sparrows occupied the porch roof cavity and made it their home. There were no complaints about that since it was not intended to fix a light there in a hurry. Sparrows are cute little birds anyway and I often leave seeds out for them in the garden. Sometime later the female of the pair moved into the living room cavity and began
Read more

The Palash Tree - Magic of Medicinal Herbs and Flowers and Back Pain

-
Image
The Palash Tree Flower B efore modern medicines became prevalent, humans treated many ailments with flowers, leaves, roots and barks of plants and trees. Ayurveda,  an ancient Indian medicinal science, makes use of many herbs and plant materials without substantial extraction of active ingredients as modern medicine does. The idea is that additional compounds in a medicinal or edible plant is an organic whole and a part of life that supports other life.  The complimentary compounds appear to play a useful balancing role whereas individually extracted and isolated compounds can be harmful. A modern example in wide use as food is sugar, a pure chemical isolated from the juice of sugar cane. Indeed there is no food or herb that does not contain a compound or two that could be from mildly to extremely dangerous if isolated and consumed but is beneficial as a group with other compounds. That is the reason why alcohol distilled from a natural fermented fruit juice and then dilu
Read more

Spirituality and Evil

-
Image
Albert Einstein   " A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.”   Albert Einstein I t is so much nicer to talk of beautiful things that exist on our lovely planet that it is really a pity that I had to write this post that touches on something that to me is evil. Nevertheless I have written it because if an evil is ignored it is difficult to eradicate it. The evil I am referring to is about the denial of freedom of belief and imposition of beliefs on people and that is something even the followers of the greatest of religions on earth have not been free of though they have done so much g
Read more