#10 A Poem Digs Deep Into Plant Love
W.S. Merwin is one of my favorite poets because he’s intensely connected to the natural world. He digs deep into plant love through his words. Not only did he believe in the importance of preserving the environment, he lived for years in Hawaii, gradually restoring a palm forest on Maui.…
#9 Changing Your Life From Broken to Broken Open
For today’s Daily Stress Releaf, I want to talk about a profound thought I recently heard. The other day I watched David Brooks give a great Ted Talk. First, I have to say, I’m aware of his work with a social media platform where he might have had a conflict…
#8 Just One Houseplant Can Heal You
Social media is jammed with dreamy images of perfect people with perfect houseplant collections, but the truth is just one houseplant can heal you from the stresses of the day. There are a lot of myths in those images anyway, some of which I’ll write about in a future post.…
#7 How to Relax With a Saturday Morning Plant Ritual
If you like houseplants, you may have a particular day you like to care for them. I’ve found it’s easiest for me to relax with a morning plant ritual every Saturday. After I wake up, I eat a light breakfast and, if I’ve slept well, ride my exercise bike. Then,…
#6 A Ridiculously Easy Way to Relax With Trees
So yesterday I talked about looking at plant photos as a way to relax. Today, I’m going to offer an easy way to relax with trees. First, we need to refer back to the benefits of looking at fractal patterns, which I explored the other day. These are the patterns…
#4 Why Is Looking at Nature So Helpful For You?
Looking at nature is so helpful for us because when we look at nature, we’re looking at fractal patterns. What are fractal patterns? Fractals are complex patterns that seem chaotic but actually repeat by simple processes. Scientists can measure them with mathematical equations. They occur all the time in our…
#3 Is Taking a Plant Break Really That Important?
Do you often feel like you have so much going on that taking a break is out of the question? Or perhaps you feel like taking a break is important but you can’t seem to find the time? If you’re a busy mom like I am, you may also feel…
#2 Biophilia: What’s at the Heart of Craving Life
I want to share one of the most powerful concepts I know of about the human relationship to plants: biophilia. Biologist and naturalist, Edward O. Wilson popularized the term in the 1980s. It states we have an innate desire to seek out and be with other life forms and living…
