LOWERING STRESS WITH ECO-INTELLIGENT LIFESTYLE PRACTICES
Today's article appeared in the August 2018 issue of the EDGE magazine
http://www.edgemagazine.net/2018/08/eco-intelligent-lifestyle/
Why Are So Many People Anxious, Stressed and Depressed?
I have a simple theory. We have become a nation of anxious and depressed people because we’ve been living out of balance with nature for too long. Essentially, we’ve neglected to respect and honor the eco-intelligence we were born with, that guides us to live in harmony with the natural world and make choices that protect and sustain the well-being of our bodies and the Earth. By adopting lifestyle practices that reawaken our eco-intelligence, I believe we can return to a sense of our wholeness, our humanity and our sense of purpose and belonging.
Our Primal Brains Are Hardwired to Be in Nature
Did you know that your brain is hardwired from an evolutionary standpoint to experience health, creativity, and productivity when it’s interacting with the natural world? Our early ancestors instinctively knew this was true.In today’s modern world, however, many people forget (or ignore) the value of interacting with nature to cultivate their sense of health and happiness. Our primal brains remember the healing benefits of nature, even when we ignore the calling to be in it.Mother Nature
Green Time Outdoors Is Essential To Well-Being
To reestablish the brain’s desire for “green time” in your life, take a walk each day in your neighborhood. Find a park, sit with your back up against a tree and simply take in the sights and sounds all around you. This activity has a calming effect on the stress center of your lower brain. It allows energy to be re-directed to our prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain that Dr. Eva Selhub says enhances immunity, creativity, intuition, memory and clear decision making.
Greening Our Indoor Spaces
At home, make the effort to “green” your indoor living space with a few planters that contain flowers or herbs. Did you know the soil that provides sustenance for your plants contains a beneficial strain of bacteria that reportedly releases a chemical in your brain known as serotonin, which has the power to elevate your mood and decrease your anxiety? Maybe it’s time to sink your hands in some dirt!
Nourishing Our Cells
When we are nourished on a cellular level, we have the greatest opportunity to feel healthy, hopeful and happy. If our cells are clogged with the by-products of a toxic industrial food production system (think GMOs, pesticides, chemicals, food additives, preservatives, and drugs), our bodies won’t function optimally, and neither will our brains!
Healing Our Relationship with Food
Unfortunately, our mainstream culture’s relationship with food is broken. What is needed is a profound shift in how we view food. Food is a brilliant teacher that offers to teach us about the connection between our personal health and our planetary health. How we treat the Earth in the process of producing food is an indication of how it will treat us in return! That’s why it’s so important for us to “farm green!”
Sustainably Grown Foods Play a Role in Elevating Our Moods and Life Force
We all require balanced nutrition to support our physical health. But we also require nutrition that has the power to elevate our moods and awaken our spiritual life force. Eating to feed our spirits (and spark our evolution) is about eating foods that are sustainably grown (raised in harmony with nature) and serve as containers for “light-energy.” Light-energy comes from the sun, and, the sun comes from…well, whatever cosmic energy or higher power you feel is responsible for the creation of the universe!
Organic, Rainbow Colored Foods Regulate Our Human Eco-System and Raise Our Frequency
When we prepare and eat fresh, colorful, living foods, we ingest natural, life-sustaining elements (such as fiber, water, oxygen and disease-fighting compounds) that have the power to cleanse, detoxify and regenerate our human eco-system as a whole, and raise our vibrational frequency. As our frequency is raised, our moods improve and we experience an elevation in consciousness.
Isn’t it delicious when the act of food preparation becomes an effort of the soul?
Candia Lea Cole is the founder of Eco-Learning Legacies. She creates educational tools for individuals, families and health educators that support them in creating eco-intelligent lifestyles that nourish the relationship between their bodies and the Earth. You’re invited to learn more at www.ecointelligenteating.com and www.eco-mentor.com. Contact Candia at candia@eco-mentor.com. It’s time to reawaken our innate Eco-Intelligence.
