My New Year’s Day morning meditation podcast supplement today was: “Best Of: How Spending Time In Nature Helps Our Health” by #NPR1A. This podcast episode from NPR’s Studio 1A features an interview with Marc Berman, the author of “Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical, and Social Well-Being.” In the […]
My New Year’s Day morning meditation podcast supplement today was: “Best Of: How Spending Time In Nature Helps Our Health” by #NPR1A.
This podcast episode from NPR’s Studio 1A features an interview with Marc Berman, the author of “Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical, and Social Well-Being.” In the interview, Marc references and mentions another related book, “The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource” by Chris Hayes.
Interestingly, Shelly told me this morning we already have Marc’s book in our Kindle library! I’m starting it today, so I added it as a “currently reading” book on my Storygraph profile.
As a current middle school classroom teacher, I found Marc’s discussion and observation about both “Directed attention” and a “directed attention fatigue state” fascinating and important. It’s thought-provoking to consider that in the “traditional school / classroom setting,” as teachers we attempt to control student attention and force students into a “direct attention” state. We want students to pay attention to the things we are talking about and teaching about in the classroom, and want to minimize distractions and not only “off-task behavior,” but also “off-task thinking.” These dynamics have always posed a lot of challenges for everyone involved in formal learning settings, but this is especially true today because of the prevalence of digital screens.
Marc also talks about “involuntary” or “bottom-up attention” in this podcast interview, which is the kind of attention that is directed by an outside hike or other experience with nature. This reminds me of my own “Wonder links” or “Curiosity Links” which I like to share and discuss with students in class.
Marc’s discussion of how the occurrence of fractals / fractal patterns in nature also seems to be connected to the healing properties of time spent outside. This reminds me of the iOS app “Frax,” which I learned about over Thanksgiving break in Northern Virginia, visiting with a local artist in her shop.
Marc’s research points to “Attention restoration theory,” which involves ways we can use nature to restore our attention and also improve our wellness and general health. These are topics I predict Shelly and I will discuss in the months ahead on our “Wes and Shelly Share” podcast!
Our byline for the podcast is, “Stay curious, Go Outside, and Keep Exploring!”
