Happy Tuesday, Honors Community!
Taking good care of ourselves is more important right now than ever. If we can’t be together in person to talk self-care and well-being, we can certainly share our best tips online: that’s
Take Care Tuesdays
(digital-style).
Each week, we’re curating goodies for you to
read, watch
, and
join
as you adjust to learning and living remotely. This week we’re focusing on the theme of
nature*.
*
Yes, we might've put this version together while sitting outside, and yes, we encourage you to read this outside, too!
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This piece on a new study that has uncovered the magic number of hours per week we should aim to spend in nature (
hint:
it's more than one!). The people studied who hit this number were "significantly more likely to report good health and higher psychological wellbeing than those who don't visit nature at all during an average week."
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And this piece on what else being outside can do for your health — including lower stress, your blood pressure and heart rate,
and
buoy your mood and mental health. Read on for more on why some physicians have even begun writing "nature prescriptions."
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This advice from Honors Faculty Fellow Dr. Amy Burgin, who works in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department and whose Honors seminar is "Hunting for Microbes at the KU Field Station," on getting outside during Coronavirus: "While the normal avenues of entertainment aren’t available to us now, this can be a great time to connect with our natural surroundings. There are lots of great local resources to help you connect with others and nature, all while maint
aining safe social distancing. I’ve been enjoying simple nature walks around our neighborhood with my five-year-old twins. Spring is a time of rapid transition – every day we note new trees with leaves or flowers that we didn’t see the day before. We make lists of our observations and sometimes record them in iNaturalist."
See the join section for more of Dr. Burgin's local recs!
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These wonderful clips and videos from PBS's Nature series about animals: you can "travel" as far as the tropics or Australia, but given that it's spring, might we suggest spending 50 minutes learning about the Remarkable Rabbit?
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Dr. Amy Burgin in getting out and about around Lawrence area trails (now
and
later!). "When my family is feeling adventurous, we “treasure hunt” on the
Geocaching app
. Geocaches are small containers that have a log (where you add your name/date) and sometimes small items that can be exchanged. There are hundreds of caches all over Kansas – it’s a great way to find new trails and places to explore. Near Lawrence, the
Baker Wetlands
have a number of great caches, as does the area near
Clinton Lake
and the trails along the
Kansas River
. The Kansas River is public land, and thus open to anyone as long as they access the river through one of dozens of public boat ramps. You can get guidance on how to access and safely explore the river through the Friends of the Kaw
website
. Finally, if you want a great view of the Kansas River and the valley (see picture), check out the Kaw Valley Overlook along the Rockefeller Prairie Trail. This area is part of the
KU Field Station
and part of five miles of looped trails that are open to the public, just north of Lawrence."
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+ Join Us
as we work from home. Honors Staff and faculty fellows, like you, are navigating the brave new world of working remotely. We'd love to hear from you with tips (and photos!) of how you're coping and staying well. Please send your stories and photos to
[email protected]
! This week, meet Dr. Sarah Crawford-Parker, Director of the Honors Program:
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"Walking our dog Silas has given me a great opportunity to observe nature. I live just a couple of blocks away from campus. Over the past few weeks, I have seen a great blue heron, turtles, a fox in our front yard, and located the nesting area of a pair of barred owls. I have also observed the sequence of flowers blooming from daffodils to tulips and lilacs, and finally peonies. Silas has discovered pollinators, including bees and butterflies. These walks provide moments of beauty and are calming because of the patterns and cycles they reveal."
And here's a quote from one of Dr. Crawford-Parker's favorite books:
“As a species, we are most animated when our days and nights on Earth are touched by the natural world.”
Richard Louv,
The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age
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We’ll be back with more next week, and until then,
take good care
.
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