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During this anxiety-provoking period of universal uncertainty, we’re always on the lookout for nature-based distractions to help you maintain your mental peace. While the restorative psychological and physiological benefits of interacting with the natural world are well documented, current recommendations and mandates for reducing roaming are limiting access for many of us. So what’s a locked-down wanderer to do?
According to a 2019 meta-study from the University of West Scotland, one potentially psyche-soothing, no-cost workaround may be found in video exposure to animals in aquariums. The analyzed studies evaluated human response to aquarium sea life and found significant benefits overall: improved mood, reduction in agitation, blood pressure, and heart rate, as well as an increase in pain threshold, whether watching on video for as little as 10 minutes or visiting an aquarium over six months. Right now, you probably can’t get to a public aquarium from wherever “here” is. However, thanks to the miracle of technology, you can get a nature fix by meditating on the movements of jellyfish, sea otters, sharks, and other aquatic animals from anywhere in the world by tuning in to the Monterey Bay Aquarium live cams. Not only are the luminous moon jellies mesmerizing, the antics of the sea otter pups can keep you calmly occupied for hours a fair amount of time, or so we’ve heard.
In addition to tele-jellyfish-ing, here are some other hopefully cheering and engaging items of interest:
The World Health Organization is now recommending the use of active video games during the pandemic. If you’d like to increase your knowledge of endangered species conservation while gaming, check out Wildeverse, created by Kenyan augmented reality game developer Internet of Elephants in conjunction with conservation scientists from around the world.
For a low-tech celebration of nature in poetry form, we suggest A Thousand Mornings, by Mary Oliver.
If you’re planting a fruit and veg patch this year and are concerned about protecting it from the creature contingent, you may relate to this First Dog on the Moon cartoon about the pitfalls of possums and quinces.
We’d also like to remind everyone that April is Earth Month. You can find out how to participate online here. And by the way, every month is Earth Month at Favorite World Press. For every print or e-book sold, we plant one wildlands tree in partnership with American Forests so that more people can experience the health benefits of nature and breathe a little easier.
However you choose to de-stress, music can make everything a bit better. Golden by Frazey Ford has been an uplifting repeat play here this week, because well, it’s golden. Speaking of music making things better, scientists have converted the structure of COVID-19 into musical sequences to help find binding sites for drugs or antibodies. You can learn more about that innovative thinking from Science Magazine.
We’ve said it before, but now more than ever, it bears repeating, so we’re repeating it: we love our readers! As a small business, we are incredibly grateful for your support throughout this challenging time. Thank you ever so much!
Until we come out on the other side, take good care and be well.
