Soil, Serotonin, and Anxiety?

Image of book titled “Losing Eden”

Soil affects serotonin and anxiety?

Bird song and well-being?

Phytonsides, chemicals emitted by trees, and immune function?

Fractal shapes present in trees and nature and brain activity associated with calm and wellbeing?

Humbled by how the natural world interacts so powerfully with mental and physical health (deep gratitude @lucyfjones for her book and image). Earth-based wellness can be a spiritual path that deepens gratitude and reciprocity with the natural world.

Resources
Jones, L. (2020). Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild. Penguin UK.

Hassell Jr, J. E., Fox, J. H., Arnold, M. R., Siebler, P. H., Lieb, M. W., Schmidt, D., ... & Lowry, C. A. (2019). Treatment with a heat-killed preparation of Mycobacterium vaccae after fear conditioning enhances fear extinction in the fear-potentiated startle paradigm. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 81, 151-160.

Ferraro, D. M., Miller, Z. D., Ferguson, L. A., Taff, B. D., Barber, J. R., Newman, P., & Francis, C. D. (2020). The phantom chorus: Birdsong boosts human well-being in protected areas. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1941), 20201811.

Li, Q., Kobayashi, M., Wakayama, Y., Inagaki, H., Katsumata, M., Hirata, Y., ... & Miyazaki, Y. (2009). Effect of phytoncide from trees on human natural killer cell function. International journal of immunopathology and pharmacology, 22(4), 951-959.

Taylor, R. P. (2006). Reduction of physiological stress using fractal art and architecture. Leonardo, 39(3), 245-251.