Outside

According to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), 11 percent of children in America suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Many stimulant or non-stimulant drugs are prescribed for children, which raises the concern of side effects such as insomnia, low appetite, moodiness, and suicidal thoughts. Research over the past two decades reveals that there is a viable alternative to drugs for treating ADHD in children: the great, green outdoors!

Our natural world is receding from human experience, but the physical and mental benefits associated with communing with nature remain as important as ever. Declining interest in the outdoors has been described as “nature deficit disorder by Richard Louv in his book, Last Child in the Woods. Children especially are experiencing a nature deficit disorder.

The amount of time children and young adults spend outside is in sharp decline, and demographic trends indicate the great outdoors is becoming less relevant for more people, statistically speaking.

Recently, I’ve sustained an injury to my back and neck.  Luckily, nothing serious, but it has hindered my daily yoga practice, and frustratingly so.  Just as any avid yogi or yogini would tell you, the time I spend on the mat each day is immensely important to my sanity.  It’s my exercise and my moment of