Happy Mother Earth Day, April 22. It’s time to play in the dirt. I’ve been an avid gardener for most of my life. I found getting in the dirt and nature always grounded me.  Gardening has always been a healing balm for my challenging life of stress and depression. Playing in the dirt has helped me navigate the roller coaster, shifting sands, and ever-changing landscape of life.

We are all facing one of the greatest challenges of our time as we watch our Mother Earth being desecrated by pollution, over population and global warming. She is stressed to the limit. We are complicit in destroying our sacred planet as our government turns a blind eye by easing our EPA standards and withdrawing from the Paris, Agreement. It’s time to become ecowarriors and fight for our Mother who gives us life.

There are enumerable health benefits to playing in the dirt.

1.    Stress Reducer. Studies show gardeners report better moods and have lower cortisol, a stress hormone, levels.
2.    Brain health. Brain health and Alzheimer’s risk. Studies discovered daily gardening reduces the risk of dementia from 36%-47%.  That’s incredible!
3.    Stroke and heart health. Regular gardening lowers the risk of stroke and heart attack risk by to 30% for people over 60 years old.
4.    Get strong. Your hand muscles get stronger and more agile.
5.    Immune Boost.  You prevent colds and flu with the Vitamin D you get from the sun.

Tips to save our Mother Earth

1.  Get Outside. Read, eat, work and play in your yard, on your porch or in a park.
2.  Water Scarcity. Water is one of our most precious resources, and we are quickly destroying our clean water. Do a water audit on the water you use. How long are your showers, how much water are you using to do your dishes and clothes washing? South Africa entered a crisis this year when it literally ran out of water for its population. In Atlanta, we only have one source of water for 7 million people. Our precious, sacred Chattahoochee River is continually polluted and overused. This life-giving water source is shared by many states, farmers, and corporations.
3. Write to a government representative. Write your representative about global warming, local development, and water issues and ask them to institute legislation to save our earth.
4.  Give. To an environmental charity. Give a small gift to someone as a mindful gift.
5. Mindful Eating. Today celebrate all our precious, sacred food that comes from the earth.
6. Gratitude. Go around to family members and yourself and say what you are grateful for on this Mother Earth.
7. Goals. What can you do this year to help heal and nourish our Mother Earth? What can you do individually, as a family, as a neighborhood, as a city or as a corporation?