Welcome to 2017

This is our first winter as a formal non-profit, Keeler Gardens. Keeler Gardens is all about biophilia so we thought we would introduce ourselves, and the term, here in our first formal blog post of the year. Biophilia is defined as the love of living things or the love of life, and you’ll find that definition along with a lot of descriptors on our Biophilia page. Here today we’re going to talk about a wide variety of different things that will give us fodder for the entire year.

So we love living things, we love life, we’re inspired by that which is filled with life around us. All of us actually have a desire to be connected to nature and living things. It’s one of the reasons why we love pictures of kittens and puppies, and when we see beautiful landscapes it just warms us from the inside out. Those feelings, those are our connections to nature. And when we feed that connection, and we give ourselves that respite, it actually does something to our brains and our bodies that makes us healthier, happier people.

Now this isn’t a touchy-feely kind of post, this is really meant to introduce you to some of the aspects of what we’re trying to educate on. For example, we’ll talk about that beautiful landscape…you ever need a break to go outside and take a breath of fresh air, you walk around the neighborhood, you walk through a park, take your dog for a walk, and then you find that when you return, you’re more focused. There is a study on our Resources page that actually shows given an hour or so of time in a natural setting a group of participants were able to perform better on a cognitive test. I could go into a lot of details about this backward digit-span test but it would confuse us all, so suffice it to say these tests are considered standard procedure for gauging your level of focus and cognitive abilities, and when you do better on these tests it means your cognitive abilities have improved. So these studies are showing that cognitive ability actually does improve when you spend a little bit of time connected to nature; they had a control group that spent time in the urban downtown area instead and they did not have improved cognitive performance. So you spend a little time outdoors, you get smarter. And although it’s not that simple, we are trying to teach a bit about the simplicity of connecting with nature here at Keeler Gardens.

How to connect with nature?

Our programs will educate on horticulture, of course, and there’s all living things, like animals, wild and domestic. But there’s also all the elements, the soil, stone, mountains, stars in the sky, and the sun, that all have a connection to us and our lives, by providing for us, by sheltering us, by warming us, and more.

Some other options for ways to connect with nature are art and using all the senses. That study we mentioned earlier also showed just looking at images of landscapes improved or “restored” cognitive function. There are so many different ways we can participate and our educational programs discuss macro issues, like conservation, and also micro issues, you as an individual and our community, the block we live on, our neighborhood. We hope we will soon be reaching our whole city, our county, and the entire Midwest and beyond.

So how would it work?

How does this innate desire and connecting to nature change our lives? Well, let’s just say we could teach everyone to find their personal outlet to nature and every day they made an effort to spend 15 minutes, half an hour, or even an hour feeding that connection. They would have less fatigue, more time to do more things, they might make better decisions and have better problem solving skills, and they might want to build a better community. And if everyone in the community participates, the values of the community improve. The goals sounds lofty but they are so very achievable. All we need is our community members to participate, teachers, students, garden club members, local businesses, kids, parents, grandparents, people of all ages and any level of knowledge can learn and grow.

So briefly, our programs can be here at Keeler Gardens.  At our site you can spend some time in nature with us, we can have discussions, presentations, some hands-on activities, we can even teach you a lot about working in an urban space. We can come to your site, your school, your group, your event. We can come once, we can come on a regular basis. It all depends on what you want to learn, how intense you want the experience to be, and how much information there is to share.

Content of programs will range widely from environmental issues, like conservation and native plants and habitats, all the way to the other end of the spectrum with art, music, and anything that motivates anyone to communicate and connect with nature. We will customize any program or series of programs to whatever a groups’ needs are.

So take advantage of one of our programs, recommend us to a group, find us on social media, and join our mailing list. We are certain to find a way to connect you with nature so we can all reap the benefits. And just to give you a little incentive a quote from our Biophilia page regarding the benefits of connecting with nature:

Some tangible results are rejuvenation and increased attention. Fatigue and stress lessen, while productivity, problem-solving and mastery skills improve. Decision-making and self-discipline improve, and it fosters creativity and personality development. Healing is enhanced while childhood diagnoses are reduced.

Have a question?

You can comment below. You can reach us on social media @KeelerGardens or you can always email me at gg@keelergardens.com

Let us know in the comments, “What connects you with nature?”