permaculture

[Robyn Francis <erda@nor.com.au>]

On 17/10/07 10:30 AM, "lbsaltzman@aol.com" <lbsaltzman@aol.com> wrote:

> I think that Permaculture is deeply connected to ecopsychology and 
> ecotherapy.
> Living a more natural lifestyle, growing one's own food etc.?are very
> therapeutic. I frequently take people for walks in our forest garden and 
> watch
> the looks of delight on people's face when they can pluck a fresh fruit 
> from a
> tree, or taste a vegetable picked from the ground.?

Some interesting bits of research that support your statement - saw a
science program earlier this year on shopping addiction.  The basic line was
that Homo sapiens over 200,000 years of hunter gathering evolved to release
dopamine in the brain when we harvest/hunt food - this is a highly addictive
feel-good reward chemical that creates a temporary state of bliss. The
modern equivalent, as people become more divorced from the natural world,
has become the shopping addiction, so if people got back to the garden they
wouldn't need their 'retail therapy' anymore.

Another related bit of interesting brain chemistry research discovered that
when we handle natural soil the contact with living soil micro organisms
triggers release of serotonin in our brain - this is our natural
anti-depressant chemical and also helps strengthen the immune system.

Ciao
Robyn