Plants Enhance Workplace Well Being

Does your workplace environment nurture your mind?  It can.  If your office has both a window view and/or plants, you can cut down on stress and anxiety.

Many recent studies on job satisfaction reveal that workers who spend more time in offices under artificial light, or in cubicles with no outside view, report reduced job satisfaction. Light also decreases stress levels, and plants offer nature's dividends to your work environment.

A manager friend described going to a local nursery, picking out colorful potted plants and putting one on each employee's desk, first thing in the morning.  Smiles erupted all around and he noticed more productivity, that day.  Fresh potted blooms and plants in your office can your serotonin level.  Think of doing this as a serotonin tap for yourself and others, if your manager or supervisor doesn't.  The addition of many plants can enhance well-being for all and make people feel better at work.

In particular, Jonathan Kaplan, points out that plants have been shown to...

• Lower blood pressure (systolic)
• Improve reaction times
• Increase attentiveness
• Improve attendance (at work and school)
• Raise productivity (at work)
• Enhance well-being
• Enrich perceptions of the space
• Lower levels of anxiety during recovery from surgery
• Boost job satisfaction

Helps me to think twice about including fresh plants in my office.  You?

Indoor plants at work also improve the air quality by removing pollutants, in addition to boosting creativity and productivity, in addition to improving comfort levels according to Smith and Pitt's article published in the Journal of Corporate Real Estate (2009).  Smith and Pitt argue that indoor plants have potential to alleviate sick building syndrome symptoms. 

I need all the serotonin taps I can get throughout a work day.  Hmmm...  my next outing is to the nursery!

Nature Nutures the Mind

Want to work against stressors during a busy work day? Many recent studies on job satisfaction reveal that workers spending more and more time in office environments, often under artificial light in offices in offices or cubicles with no outside view, report reduced job satisfaction and increased stress levels. Nature can make a difference even if you work in a cubicle.

Here are strategies for starters...

Get some sunshine: Take a walk outside during your lunch hour. Sunlight stimulates serotonin production, which enhances your mood and ability to sleep. Try setting your clock an hour early and enjoy the first light of day and the vibrance of dew coated leaves and blossoms. Catch more sun daily, and you'll enhance melatonin levels and find you fall asleep and stay asleep at night. You'll get even more benefits since the vitamin D we get from sun exposure [as we use sunscreen] enhances immune function, reduces hypertension and possibly plays a role in preventing cancer.

Select new plants for your office: If you begin by choosing plants that appeal to you, you'll want to care for them. Believe it or not, you can make as much connection to a plant as you would to an animal. Plants can work similarly to pets as they thrive under nurture, lower stress and "aloneness," and even help extend longevity, Kim Mickenberg, intern at Psychology Today finds.

While some folks prefer violets, which love light, others might choose a peace plant which produces showy blossoms and at the same time thrives where there isn't sunlight. And, it you want to go for class, raising orchids in your office might prove more stimulating.

Take Time to Look Outside Though many workers spend days, months, and years working in cubicles without a view, taking time to look outside's a benefit. Pausing to view nature, helps folks to refocus attention and brings more calm. "When you can't get outside, bring nature in to you," advises Kim Mickenberg, in the August (2008) issue of Psychology Today. Why not plan mini-breaks to drink in the green or reds, and yellows or even white, depending on the season? It enhances your day and your mood. Even better, plan to go outside on your lunch break!

Green Plants Improve Workers' Quality of Life When surveyed about their overall quality of life, Dr.Tina Marie (Waliczek) Cade, Associate Professor of Horticulture at Texas State University, reveals that employees with interior plants in their offices tended to consider themselves happier or more content when compared to employees without plants in their offices. Additionally, the group of employees that did not have either live plants or windows was the only group that stated they were "dissatisfied" with their quality of life.

What about nature after work? Some people make their homes a real natural haven following work. For instance, Dr. Ellen Weber, busy CEO of the MITA International Brain Based Center, recently built a Koi Pond. She discovered...

"To create a koi pond is to discover new life in art and science - embedded in the gentle movement of fish, muted colors of nature's best, and the wonder of waking up to water rushing over rocks at dawn. A koi pond mixes magic moments found in nature, in fish and in humans. How could I have waited so long to build one?"

How does nature nuture you at work or after work?

Walk in State Parks to Enjoy Nature and Rejuvenate You!

There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country. A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast. - Paul Scott Mowrer

What difference can getting out to enjoy nature make for you? People sit more at desks, technology drives work activities, and children spend oodles of time in front of video games and computer screens. Nature rejuvenates folks' spirits, yet fewer people take advantage...


Biologist, Oliver Pergams alerts us to a significant trend -- a smaller percentge of Americans fish, camp, birdwatch or even visit state parks. When was the last time you went to a state park near your home or took a brisk walk outside?

Benefits of walking to enjoy the natural world...

Stimulates new ideas - All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. Friedrich Nietzsche

Refreshes creativity - If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. Raymond Inmon

Jumpstarts brain and health - If you want to know if your brain is flabby, feel your legs. Bruce Barton

Research shows that exercise stimulates the formation of new brain cells.

Reveals God through nature - They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall rise up with wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Teach me , Lord. Teach me, Lord to wait! Psalms of David

Refreshes your spirit -
As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest,
or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door,
that does not look like a door, opens. Stephen Graham

Renews mental well being - A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world. Paul Dudley White

Helps protect natural places - people who love the environment can instill the love of walking, hiking, birdwatching, and fishing to children to turn the tide of the downward trend of vistors to state parks. People who do not visit natural places might not work hard to protect them.

The Grand Canyon of the East, Letchworth Park, is about five minutes from my home. I plan to hike more and spend more time there enjoying the natural beauty.

Here's just one of the breathtaking views... Thoughts?

Many quotes from Walking, Strolling, Sauntering, Meandering, Hiking, Walk-Abouts

Nature Stirs Insights and Connections

Our natural world can help us reframe information and ideas that bombard us at work or in learning circles. Folks gifted with strength in naturalistic intelligence easily sense patterns and make connection to elements in nature.

They're keenly aware of their surroundings and changes in their environment, even when the shifts are very subtle. People with nature smarts often possess highly developed sensory perception. They think in terms of similarities, differences and changes in surroundings. So how can naturalistic intelligence benefit you in a practical sense?

Using the natural world helps grab our attention in novel ways. Since our brain's stimulated by novelty, puzzles and challenges, the natural world can serve as an amazing stimulus...

Here's how... "When you pay attention," a Northwestern University study finds, "neurons produce stronger brain activity, as if the stimulus itself was stronger. That would mean that paying attention might make something appear more intense, and possibly distort its actual appearance." Attention to nature can facilitate your brain to work with unique results...

In many ways the natural world helps people sustain attention and process ideas and information more effectively, making the world come into sharper focus. So how might you make the most of your own naturalistic intelligence?

Walk outside with a problem you want to solve. Just observe everything around you as you walk. You literally invite nature to be your partner in problem solving. Before you know it, good ideas come to mind. While you take in the natural world your brain works on the problem you presented. Changing your environment makes all the difference in seeing new solutions.

Choose a metaphor from nature to represent a larger concept. Natural metaphors speak in ways that words often cannot. Suppose you are thinking of the environment in a building... What would you choose? A hornet, a squirrel, an ant colony, a mature oak tree... Then you help others to make links more powerfully than with words. You might find this a logical way to frame larger ideas. In essence, "It's almost like a conductor stepping in," Marcia Grabowecky imagines, "to control a large set of unruly musicians in an orchestra so that they all play together. Cells synchronize precisely to the conductor's cues."

Start a natural collection Once you perceive the infinite variety in natural collections, such as rocks, insects, you'll transfer keen skills for subtle similarities and differences to other contexts. Do you see some parallels between your collection and your next advertizing campaign? Do you see any other possibilities here?

Why not sleep on it... let your brain work out connections and links to nature as you spend more time in the natural world.

Try a nature break to focus more on the natural world today... and, let us know how it moves your thoughts and ideas!

Take Off Your Shoes to Waken Sensory Awareness Outdoors

To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. . . Helen Keller

Remember the days when you were a kid and enjoyed the feel of grass or mud between your toes? Interestingly, barefoot walks awaken new thinking and sensory awareness. "The longer you practice walking with this connection," Thich Nhat Hanh advises, "the more your heart will be softened and opened and the more you will feel nurtured and taken care of by the earth." Taking off your shoes promises to heighten the pleasure you may already find in nature...

And, there's added benefit for folks who run in the fast lane and bear heavy stress. Stealing a few minutes to amble through grass, without confinement of shoes, seems a perfect strategy to bring more serotonin into your day. Serotonin floods through your brain when you take just of few minutes to kick back and relax.

Some of you might enjoy walking barefoot with others. You can find out more by checking out Barefoot Hikers, a national organization with many local chapters.

Intriguingly, New York Times Travel Editor, Ethan Todras-Whitehill describes his first barefoot hike with a group...

Hikers of the barefoot world tramp not only through mud and dust, but also over rocks, tree roots and the frosty ground of autumn (though they usually draw the line at snow). Although they may bring to mind tales of fakirs or extreme-sports enthusiasts, barefoot hikers are neither ascetics nor thrill seekers. Almost universally, they say they go shoeless for a sense of communion with the earth and for the sheer pleasure of feeling more of the world with their feet.

The Minnesota hikers compared the sensory experience of barefooting to wine tasting. Fresh fall leaves, Mr. Guttmann said, are “crunchy and cool,” and mud is “black dough that squishes up between your toes.” Dennis Slattengren, a 60-year-old nudist who owns a vending machine route and who was at least wearing shorts for this trek, savored the texture of silt that has run onto concrete and partially dried — “like warm velvet,” he said. On the hike at Oxbow, the pace was languid, and although the path was wide enough for two or three to walk abreast, the barefooters frequently walked single file to enjoy the spongy earth or a strip of moss underfoot. “So many people have very little or no connection with our beautiful earth and all of nature,” Ms. Palan later lamented.

Whether you go outside to meditate, think or simply enjoy nature, barefoot walks enhance these experiences. And, if you shut your eyes, I sense it would heighten the sensation as it did for Helen Keller... Ideas?

Tap Into Your Naturalistic Intelligence

Have you ever been stuck for new ideas as you sit at your desk? The familiarity of your office or cubicle might stifle creative thinking. How so? The basal ganglia, the part of the brain that stores routines and patterns based on daily activities, is not the only well-spring of creativity.

Even though your imagination can take flight as you sit at that desk, unfortunately familiarity can slow you down. What can you do then when you're at your desk and no new ideas come your way? Here's a suggestion - tap into your naturalistic intelligence...

Get outside... even during your lunch hour. The natural world can help spark new insights. Here're a few ways it can benefit you...

1. Fresh air... provides more oxygen to the brain so it functions well. The brain uses 21% of the body's oxygen.

2. Animals, birds, plants and scenery may stir new ideas about projects. The natural world can stimulate you to think differently. These might take the form of metaphors to represent ideas in a new way.

3. Working memory kicks in to "play with" new thoughts and ideas that take life in your mind. The working memory is that part of the brain that works hard to solve challenges and puzzles.

4. The mind relaxes in an environment with less stress. Stress actually shuts down the brain's capacity to reason and problem-solve. Just going outside can bring a shot of Serotonin, a chemical which brings calm and well being to the brain.

5. Movement... stimulates blood flow to the brain, which enhances the oxygen supply.

Next time you feel stale, bored or stuck for ideas while you're sitting at your desk, I suggest you move outside...Maybe your lunch hour is just the time for this. Ready to give it a whirl? Please come back and share what it does for you...

What I Learned from Nature in 2006

Though I learn something new almost every day, two surprises came from nature that continue to inspire me. Here's the essence...

• Nature sparks inspiration -- and art grows here. My grandsons joined me for a walk in the woods. Jonathan, 8, stopped me from stepping on a "geiko" which he deftly rescued and carefully cupped in his hands thoughout our trek. And, though he let this much cherished geiko loose at the end of our trip, he later recaptured it in watercolors at his kitchen table. Jonathan rated his experience in the woods as "better than going to Six Flags," a million-dollar amusement park.
  
  
• Even cats take risks. Every time Ginger, an abandoned cat who discovered our barn, gave birth to kittens they disappeared. But, one day when ten little children played on our large front porch, Ginger carried three prized kitties, one-by one, and placed them at the feet of my daughter-in-law. The children picked them up, cuddled and loved them and amazingly convinced their Mom and Dad to adopt all three. I could not imagine a cat bringing treasures in the midst of squealing children, but she did. And it is an image of risk, I will not forget.

Ben Yoskovitz, at Instigator Blog challenged fellow bloggers to look back in time and ask the question "What did you learn this year?" Ben will donate $5.00 to charity for each entry. These two inspirations are my response to that challenge.

I hope you'll take the baton now and write an entry for Ben!

Morality, Environment and Surprising Wraps

Kittens, kittens everywhere…I don’t believe we just have two!

In the midst of a family picnic at our old Stagecoach Inn home, as our four grandsons and five other children played, Ginger, an abandoned orange tiger cat, appeared with a small kitten in her mouth. Then she gently placed this furry struggling, wide eyed prize at the foot of my daughter-in-law. She repeated the step as she brought two more kitties into this fray of children. What an astonishing act for a cat!

Have you ever heard that cats are not only smart, but they’re also philosophical? I wonder what question Ginger asked that led her to bring three cherished kittens into the midst of eight little boys and one two-year-old girl! If ever a cat wanted to have her kittens “rescued” or adopted, her timing could not have been more perfect. This was the most amazingly incongruous event I have ever witnessed. Cats are usually very protective of their litter and would instinctively take kittens a million light years away from little boys. And here's more...

Ginger was not ours originally– she was a very friendly abandoned pet. We have a large old horse barn nearby and my guess is that someone, who did not want to be responsible for this cat simply dumped her. People who do this really irritate me!

Good news is that my daughter-in-law took the kitties since she “found homes” for them. And I had Ginger spayed. I paid about $150.00 – a small way of showing respect for the beautiful woods and acres that surround my home. In the vein of Thoreau, I did my two-bits to prevent feral cats from upsetting the balance of nature. Now, I can live with myself as a lover of the world around me. And Ginger can enjoy peaceful naps.

Moral decisions about our environment can appear in very surprising wraps… Sometimes we have to step up to the plate and pay the tab. Fact is, I've already received so much more than I gave. Has that ever happened to you?