Pediatricians Pooja Tandon and Danette Glassy make the convincing case that children and families will be happier, healthier, and more resilient when spending time in nature.
514: Outdoors Adventures for Happier Kids
Drs. Pooja Tandon & Danette Glassy
Pediatricians Pooja Tandon and Danette Glassy make the convincing case that children and families will be happier, healthier, and more resilient when spending time in nature.
Ep 514- Drs. Danette Glassy & Pooja Tandon
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*This is an auto-generated transcript*
[00:00:00] Dr. Danette Glassy: Being outside and playing outside has been shown to help improve children's attention span and ready to work, coming back in for maybe recess. And the more green that is, the more the effect. And so it really is the screen time versus screen time in a way for that.
[00:00:21] Hunter: You're listening to the Mindful Parenting Podcast, episode number 514. Today we're talking to Drs. Danette Glassy and Dr. Pooja Tandon in the first of a kids health series on outdoor adventures for happier kids.
Welcome to the Mindful Parenting Podcast. Here it's about becoming a less irritable, more joyful parent. At Mindful Parenting, we know that you cannot give what you do not have, and when you have calm and peace within, then you can give it to your children. I'm your host, Hunter Clarke-Fields. I help smart, thoughtful parents stay calm so they can have strong, connected relationships with their children.
I've been practicing mindfulness for over 25 years. I'm the creator of the Mindful Parenting course and teacher training, and I'm the author of the international bestseller Raising Good Humans Every Day, and the Raising Good Humans Guided Journal.
Hi there, and welcome back to the Mindful Parenting Podcast. I'm so glad you're here. This is part of a special kids health series that we're doing all through the month of November. We have four special episodes, and this is the very first one, so it's awesome that you're here. And if you're new, a special welcome to you.
I'm so glad that you are here. Today we're talking to Pediatricians Pooja Tandon and Danette Glassy, and they are making a very convincing case that children and families will be happier, healthier, and more resilient when spending time in nature. And we're going to talk about getting kids outdoors in nature.
We're going to talk about outdoor play, how it benefits kids health and development. We're going to talk about some of the challenges we face in getting our kids out doors, such as like screen time, safety concerns, and they have all kinds of practical tips for overcoming these barriers. And we'll also discuss how time and nature can really benefit kids with ADHD and other behavioral challenges.
So I know you're going to love this episode. And I know you probably have a friend who might love this episode, too. You can text them right now. Find that outdoor loving friend or that friend that needs the motivation. Text them the episode right now and say, I'm going to start to listen to this. Join me.
And then you have some lovely conversation topics, which is so fun. And before we dive in, I just want to remind you, I was just, actually, I had just had a big outdoor adventure with my daughter, Sora. As you might know, my two daughters are in an all girls scout troop, so they're pretty, they've had a lot of outdoor adventures, but my daughter Sora and I, 14, wanted to go on a backpacking trip together and we had some adventures.
We didn't actually end up sleeping the night out in the woods. We actually ended up sleeping the night. in the car because rain and the wind was so bad. We were at the Dolly Sods National Forest in West Virginia. Really gorgeous place. We saw the most beautiful sunrise ever. It was amazing.
We did end up having an amazing hike, but the weather was against us actually hiking. But anyway, so we had this outdoor adventure. We did a trail ride the next day. We had a great time being outdoors. And then on the way back we were driving back to Delaware and we stopped at a Barnes Noble for lunch and to charge the car.
And I went in and I signed two cop they had three copies of Raising Good Humans. So I signed all three of them. So if you're in West Virginia, maybe you'll get them. But if you don't have your copy of Raising Good Humans yet, This is the original. It's sold now over 650, 000 copies worldwide, and it is the number one best gift book for new parents.
So grab a copy. And also, we just made official Raising Good Humans book discussion questions. So if you want to do a book club in your school, your community, or whatever, Come to MindfulMamaMentor.com and we have book discussion questions for you, too. So check that all out. Okay now Join me at the table as I talk to Dr. Danette Glassy and Dr. Pooja Tandon
Danette Glassy and Pooja Tandon, thank you so much for coming on the Mindful Parenting podcast. I'm so glad you guys are here Thank you. It's good to see you too. Thanks for having us. So I'm excited to be talking about kids and nature, getting kids outdoors in, in nature. I like to start off with like where you're coming from, what I'm curious for you.
So for me, my childhood was like, I was. Always outside. I always, when I think of my childhood, I always picture myself outside. I was like biking around the block, I was in the backyard, I was with friends, I did these long bike rides with my Dad, or we were, even if we were just like, hanging out, we were always outside.
I feel like my kid, my parents must have just kicked us out, and then we were outside of the house forever. And I remember there was this one kid who was younger than me, who, had to wasn't allowed to go past, I forget what it was some really restrictive thing, like there was a lot, she was very worried about safety and we were all like, wow, this is so weird, you can't even go past like the block, like that's so crazy.
And things are obviously really different now, but for you, each of you was, what was your experience of growing up? Were you in nature a lot as kids?
[00:06:03] Dr. Danette Glassy: I'll go first because mine's not much different than what you describe. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest in a suburb and we had a nice big yard and we had neighbors who had larger yards with woods and a lake nearby and really my earliest memories are being outside as well and my pretend play and my play with my friends and so definitely I think that was the aim of my parents to get me outside and play as well.
[00:06:34] Dr. Pooja Tandon: I spent a lot of time outdoors too, but in, 10 years of my life I spent mostly in India and the indoors the homes were pretty small and there were rooftop terraces and front yards and I definitely remember playing outdoors until it got dark and, had to come back in, but did less of the types of activities that I think of as outdoorsy now.
We didn't, we didn't go hiking or camping or bike riding or to national parks or anything like that, but I definitely spent hours and hours playing out, outdoors and sleeping under the stars just because it was so hot to sleep inside. But then when we moved to the U. S., I grew up in the, on the East Coast in New Jersey.
My parents, my family were really into getting us outdoors all the time. So then I do remember doing a little bit more of the kind of weekend visits to parks or road trips to national parks. But it was always with friends and family and big groups of people. And that's a big part of what's shaped my view of, why being outdoors is so important for families and children.
[00:07:42] Hunter: Yeah, I guess I have to amended a little bit. I did a lot of as a latchkey, I just went home after school as a latchkey kid and I watched a lot of Three's Company and just saw sorts of lame reruns. I definitely watched a good amount of TV, but there was a lot of outdoors time.
But I used to think oh man, I've, maybe I've messed myself. I remember thinking as a young person do I watch too much TV? Am I, there was, like, There's people made fun of it in the 80s, and I remember thinking, oh, maybe I watch too much TV. But now, kids are spending kind of an average of seven hours, I think it is, on screen time a day.
And it really is eating into Outdoor, outdoor playtime. Is that what you're seeing in your pediatric practices?
[00:08:28] Dr. Danette Glassy: I would say it's that twin epidemic of more screen time and more worry from parents and hovering over kids and less, Freedom for kids to get out and explore maybe by themselves or with their friends.
So those twin pandemics really or the epidemics, I would say really influenced my wanting to get into this. It's this idea of how do we help parents help their children access nature more. So both of those things are happening. Yeah. Are
[00:09:02] Dr. Pooja Tandon: the other thing I'll add is that yeah, screens are all around us and, the average age of children getting cell phones in our country is down to 10 children are surrounded by screens. There are screens in their pockets from a young age. And so I think one of the things that we like to talk about and we mention it in our book is this idea of green time. And although everyone kind of laments about screen time, screens are here to stay.
And so as we think about, how do we support parents and children and families and Finding that balance and what are the solutions that can be out there and Green Time, I feel like, is one possible, antidote or option to screens.
[00:09:45] Hunter: And one, and some of the problems with kids, I'm seeing, I think there's more and more stuff coming out, like there, there's younger children.
who have a lot of screens are more combative and reactive. What are some of the things where, we should, I think, be clear about what the green time is the antidote to. What are some of the problems that this lack of green time is causing?
[00:10:09] Dr. Pooja Tandon: Yeah, I think, the problems with screens or excessive screen or media use they're in a couple of categories.
One is the actual act of just being sedentary. Most screen use is sedentary, so the fact that, children are sitting and just consuming this passive information, or even if they're actively engaging, like in video gaming, they're for the most part sedentary. And that comes with a whole race, a whole range of health issues from lack of physical activity to unhealthy weight to metabolic, cardiovascular problems.
And then, there's the actual content of what's, what they're consuming. And so that can range from we talked about video games so violent or fast moving video games, both of which are problematic for different reasons. The fast moving part has been linked to problems sustaining attention, being able to focus on things when you're used to media, moving so fast.
There is advertising for unhealthy products that, that children might be exposed to. There is cyber bullying and just age inappropriate content that especially if there's not limits to the kinds of content on social media, for example. And then the opportunity cost, any time that you're spending on screens and.
It's usually not spent doing something that we might consider better for your, for a child's health or development or relationship. So spending time with loved ones reading and in this case, especially moving outdoors or spending time in nature, which comes with its own range of health benefits.
[00:11:42] Dr. Danette Glassy: So the green time is really even medical science has corroborated this, really improves the health of kids and can help promote development in a way that certainly the screen times are robbing from and perhaps harming kids. And that's why we were excited to write this book and help families find their ways around the barriers to more outdoor time.
[00:12:05] Hunter: Yeah I, the way it's been described to me that is sometimes that that the screens are like a stimulant, act as a stimulant on the brain. I think that Victoria Dunkley talked about this in the podcast that acts as a stimulant. stimulant in the brain, and then, but you're sitting still, and then when, you're off the screen, then that's when like attention, behavior, all that stuff, it gets a little crazy from this stimulant effect of this thing.
And then also a lack of energy output from actually that sort of sedentary thing. So you were saying Danette, that, that green time improves kids health and development. Can you tell me more about that? What are the ways it improves health and development?
[00:12:45] Dr. Danette Glassy: Absolutely. Just what you said about the way screens are perhaps making kids more inattentive and disrupting their attention.
Their attention and creativity being outside and playing outside has been shown to help improve children's attention span and ready to work. Coming back in from maybe recess and the more green that is, the more the effect. And so it's a it's, it really is this green time versus screen time in a way for that.
But there's so many other medical benefits of being in green time. Pooja and her team and her research were able to review all the world's literature on the medical health, medical and health benefits of being outside and Pooja, you should run through all of that in, from your published study.
Yeah.
[00:13:35] Dr. Pooja Tandon: Yeah. I can highlight a few key areas, especially there were, when we looked at this There were hundreds of studies on the relationship between nature contact and children's health and then we define that so broadly in terms of physical health, mental health, learning, all the things that we think are important for children's well being.
And the strongest evidence bases for physical activity and mental health. So those are the two areas that when children spend time in nature, in parks. even live near green space or parks. So neighborhoods or schools that have more green space and nature access they tend to engage in more movement and more physical activity, which we know is so critical for their health and development.
And also is related to improved mental health. And we know that given the really another epidemic if you will, of especially youth mental health. Problems right now how important those are so I would say physical activity mental health are the key areas but benefits for everything from improved vision like benefits to children that spend more time outdoors are, have lower odds of needing glasses, for example, for distance vision to just developing like their motor skills development and creative play and social connections and interacting with others. Yeah, a whole range of benefits that for children.
[00:15:31] Hunter: It's amazing. We never thought about that when we were just, the kids, they were just getting kicked out of the house, and the AD Simone was saying, oh it'll benefit their creative play and social connection and their vision, too. But my, actually, I don't even need glasses. Maybe it was all about getting kicked out of the house as a kid.
But it's interesting, because you, in your book, so their book is “Digging Into Nature: Outdoor Adventures for Happier and Healthier Kids”. You talk about how much how much outdoor play or physical activity kids need per age in different ages, and I think this is so fascinating because there's one age bracket that really truly stands out so enormously, and it's so funny because I, I often check in with, this is where, we have some of the biggest challenges and we have coaching calls on with kids this age and all this, so you talk about infants need 30 minutes of tummy time, toddler 12 months old to 36 months old, they may need 60 to 90 minutes of outdoor playtime each day.
But then kids age three to five, which is such a like, challenging age for us parents, right? Need at least three hours of physical activity per day or about 15 minutes for every hour they are awake, which is like pretty, pretty amazing, three hours. And I'm wondering, that's, that seems like it's probably really hard for adults to accommodate three hours of physical activity per day for kids age three to five these days.
What are you seeing in your pediatric practices or in the studies on that?
[00:17:05] Dr. Danette Glassy: Yeah that's exactly what as we started to, both of us independently and then together started to think, how can we help families? It's not that people don't want to do this for their children or they don't have fond memories of maybe playing outside by themselves, or when they were growing up themselves.
It's the barriers and certainly time and access to safe green space, weather we've really got. several several iterations of where we've asked parents these things and found out it's recurrent on those probably four and sometimes others. And really we are encouraging families to really sit back and say why aren't my kids playing that much?
And how can I, if it's time and how can I do that after work or whatnot. That's where you turn to your your child care or your schools your extended neighbors and families and friends and look for ways that you can increase a child's outdoor time. Just make sure that their child care is providing that outdoor time.
Or that their schoolyard is more than just a big asphalt four square and jump rope opportunity. And weekends, maybe do more on weekends. So the time and access can be hard. It's always more awe inspiring and creative if your child is able to explore a green space a little bit on their own.
And so making sure that there's that safe access to that. Not every child has a yard. Not every child has 10 minutes of their home. Not every child has one that's safe. And could go explore. And so we've got lots of ideas that we've put in there to help families get around that. And then for weather especially there are more extreme weather all across North America, right?
Where your listeners are probably listening from the extreme cold or the extreme hot, or in our case, people really complain about the rain. and don't want to go outside and help their young children explore that or get their older kids to go outside in the rain. And so we talk about how you can do that with the right clothes or gear.
How do you know when it's too hot or too cold? It's, it does take some mindful planning. to make sure you're thinking about what's holding you back and how you can get around that. Pooja, I know you have lots of ideas too for families about getting around the barriers.
[00:19:41] Dr. Pooja Tandon: I think the biggest one is what you started with is that it's not just the responsibility of the parents or the family unit.
Children have many waking hours, but they're not always with their parents or the adults in their family. And so To me, and as a parent, and I worked full time through, most of my kind of pre when my children were preschool years and and really appreciate the the preschool teachers, the family friends, the neighbors, the family members and really thinking about, what are those indoor activities that we can bring outdoors?
What are the things that we, whether it's a, a play date or a celebration or even. doing for older children, homework for younger ones, maybe crafts or music or art, eating. So like thinking about times in your day that you're spending indoors that, could this be done outdoors?
Could this be done with somebody else in charge?
[00:20:37] Hunter: Yeah. Yeah. Let's think about, so there are these barriers, time, access, and whether But maybe before we get into sort of the barriers, what do you envision as being the ideal? What are we shooting for? We're shooting for, obviously, we're with kids age three to five, three hours of physical activity a day, and for other 60 to 90 minutes a day what do you envision as the green time that really is restorative as the ideal first, and then let's get into maybe some of the ways that we can.
Be creative about problem solving where it's challenging.
[00:21:11] Dr. Pooja Tandon: And just to be clear, those recommendations are for physical activity, so they don't have to be outdoors. They're not exactly the same of, as outdoor time they're the Venn diagram of ideal physical activity.
And we want as much of it to be outdoors as possible. We think that there are additional benefits to moving outdoors. In fact for, for adults especially, there's research that talks about green exercise. When they've done studies that when Adult runs on a treadmill indoors versus running on a, a beautiful path through the woods that there are adjunct additional benefits to their mental restoration and their stress response that definitely feel that yeah And I think you know many of us have experienced that you know walking indoors versus you know in a mall or versus outdoors in a park so there is that piece, I think that as much as possible, we want that physical activity to be outdoors, but recognize that if that's not possible, then movement is better than no movement.
And sometimes, that has to be indoors, whether it's in all different ways. But
[00:22:13] Dr. Danette Glassy: to that Rather than piling on families for just another thing that they've got to make sure is just right. The ideal greens. is whatever you can access, I have to say, even if you're stuck in a high rise and looking out the window, being intentional about watching for birds or, cataloging the clouds or the faces of the moon bringing pine cones and rocks indoors to everything that, of course, a beautiful park with trees and water and green and fresh air and free movement.
For kids also, there's another dimension of the ideal green time and that is we know there's benefits of playing with your parents and your caregivers, that interactive building your relationship together and bringing along developmental milestones in that interactive way is on steroids when it's out, outdoors and in a green space.
But also letting children play. Figure out what they're going to do in this green space, whatever it is, whatever you can access, whenever you can access it, through whom you can, whoever you can access it, because children who are bored have to be are naturally their curiosity is more stimulated, I think, in a natural area than they've been looking at for the last six months.
And of course, then solving problems and being in stimulated. One of the important things about gross motor development for the under serviced Six year old group is being able to move on uneven surfaces and starting to climb, and you're not going to get that as easily indoors.
And any outdoor space, even if you're walking down the street in a city, you're going to start to get some of that stimulation and improvement in your gross motor skills or big motor skills. That way the fine motor skills if you're trying to pick up every little tiny stick and create a little village for imaginary fairies who are coming later, it's going to stimulate your fine motor or small motor skills.
So we could go on and on, and we did in the book.
[00:24:35] Hunter: Yeah, there's so many, there's so many ideas. I loved that. That was a big thing that cousins did for my daughters, and they're up at my parents houses. There was a lot of fairy house building. But you're talking about, just to paint the picture of the ideal, it's I'm just kind And imagining encouraging the listeners say Hey, let's practice to maybe, it's time to get yourself a really good if you have the resources, get a really good cushion for to get yourself to actually go camping or try to do some things that are a little, maybe, pretty amazing.
Thanks. outside your comfort zone if you don't like mosquitoes or you don't like bugs or things like that, but maybe this might be something that's good for you to try to do for the sake of your kids. What are some of the, do you see one of the barriers being just adults and our challenges and our attitudes and our wanting to be comfortable?
Is that one of the things that kind of holds people back?
[00:25:28] Dr. Pooja Tandon: I think that, yes, I think that what we as adults or as parents. Our own experiences and perspectives on outdoor times influence a lot, like influence so much how we parent and how we think about the outdoors for our children, and we do address that specifically.
Sometimes it's a parent attitude. Sometimes it's a child who, who is, for whatever reason, have decided that they are not an outdoorsy person or don't feel comfortable there. Probably a lot of, socialization and what they're been exposed to. And there's a couple of many different ways to approach it, but one thing we talk about is this idea of nature mentors and nature allies.
And again, going back to the idea, like you don't have to do this alone. And there are others out there that are probably doing it. So I love what you said Maybe pushing yourself a little bit but it doesn't have to, if you're, if it's not a comfort zone, you don't have to go backpacking in the next month, but maybe finding some other families with children similar ages or neighbors, somebody who's, willing to go on a hike with you or tell you about an easy trail that you've never done or even a picnic in the park with family members or a group that you're already comfortable with.
And I think especially as children get older or they're the reluctant ones, including friends or, similar age peers. So kids from a sports team, a club, a class. Classmate can be just that little push you need to try something new. And as parents, I feel like we're doing that all the time.
Like maybe trying to encourage our children to try things or do things that we may not feel 100 percent comfortable with and discover that, oh, We actually like this more than we might have imagined.
[00:27:07] Hunter: One of the things that my kids did that I think has been the amazing that made me, I love that they're actually really big nature freaks now, which is wonderful.
My senior wants to go study botany and my youngest daughter is really into animals, but they both did scouts. They actually did like the BSA, which is that they had an all girls Boy Scout troop, but Yeah, it was wonderful because they went camping like every month of the year. My daughters are like Navy SEALs.
They've gone camping with, it was like nine degrees. Something I would never ever want to do. Like I do, maybe a camp once a year. I don't know, but so it's. It's, there are wonderful organizations like Scouts, which I think has been great for us anyway. And as well.
Stay tuned for more Mindful Parenting podcast right after this break.
[00:28:36] Dr. Danette Glassy: Even for children who have maybe mobility issues, or mobility disabilities, or other special healthcare needs there are lots of organizations that are available to help children get more nature exposure and accommodate what they might need. And the part of the country that you live in and what's available if there's not scouting, maybe there's 4 H and many others that maybe your your local groups are curating and then the whole idea of Maybe just go explore a park every week or once a month or one pick, picking out parks and go see what's there if you can swing that in your limited amount of time.
[00:29:22] Dr. Pooja Tandon: Yeah, and I think after school programs and summer camps are just perfect ways for families that either, the fam, the parents don't feel comfortable, don't have a lot of experience or time. Or nearby resources to to connect your child, with a summer program or an after school program that, that does, and, that was for us when we used to think about summer camps, because we needed, year round child care and summer camps were a part of that, is I always tried to choose at least one or two themes or camps that That pushed my children's boundaries a little bit in directions that the, the school or kind of the academic year didn't.
So whether that was cooking or wilderness exploration there are different ways to do it. And I think including a nature based experience. It's a wonderful way to do that.
[00:30:10] Hunter: What do you do, what do you suggest for parents who have kids who are highly sensitive or have fears about bugs or heat or cold, like that, what do you, what should parents like that do?
[00:30:23] Dr. Danette Glassy: It's very normal and predictable that at certain phases in a child's development they will have fears, like separation anxiety or. Or after experiences, fear of bugs or things like that. So it is common. I think it's something that every, nearly every parent has to face is helping your child through a fear or a reluctance to, to do something that you want them to do.
And certainly the way we always recommend them parents to start is to Think of yourself as that scaffold. To help the child lean on and build their competence and acceptance of what they're learning. what has been frightening them or making them not want to do something. So meet your child where they're at talk about it first, understand what is the fear or the reluctance because you may be assuming it's this and it's really this and there's an easy way, easier way over there.
And then talking about what might help, reading about how other people maybe have gotten through this. There's lots of children's books about bugs and things like that. And then encouraging and recognizing any steps forward. Taking it slow first let's try it in on our, let's try going outside and seeing what bugs fly by us when we're just outside the front door.
And if it's too much, we'll go back inside that baby steps kind of way that you're scaffolding that up and really watching your child for that. Now it's too much. We need to back up, be patient. Be patient with the process. There could be two steps forward, one step back, maybe three steps back and start over.
And there's little fears and there's big ones. There's little reluctances and big ones. But I think taking that idea that you're going to be the scaffold and being patient with the process is really important.
[00:32:24] Dr. Pooja Tandon: I'll also add that, being outdoors or being in nature can look like a lot of different things and you don't have to camp or necessarily be amongst bugs.
You could an older child might be interested in nature photography or nature art. So I think that, and there may be camps or activities or just something you come up with that helps ease that transition so that it's not that you have to sleep outdoors or anything like that, but you might try gardening or you might try, yeah, photography or or an outdoor sport.
For some children that are inclined towards sports or, team sports and that's All they do, and it takes up a lot of their time getting them into mountain biking or kayaking, or if those things are available, or again, those programs, those might be ways that they they'll enjoy the, either, the movement or competitive aspect of being outdoors, but But also soaking in some natural settings in the while doing so.
[00:33:23] Hunter: Yeah, and you have a lot of great, so the book has lots of great tips for, overcoming all those barriers we talked about earlier as well and, including like how to get, as I know from the The REI prices, like it can be expensive to get out in nature and certain weather, right?
And you have tips for How to find great rain or snow clothes for your kid at low or no cost and etc. All kinds of different ways to overcome different things even for for kids who have mobility challenges. What do you suggest for, what is what are some of the things that help people for, with mobility challenges?
[00:34:06] Dr. Danette Glassy: One of the great innovations that Google has done with Google Maps just in the last couple of months is you can look on a Google map and find all the parks nearby. And if you click on that, they've curated in most areas now, What amenities might be there? And are there trails that are wheelchair accessible or paths that a child with crutches might be able to move along?
The other thing is, if you're on this idea of, let's check out all the parks in a, in our county you can go to the park website and see what the accommodations are there. Everything, of course, from the paths that are more accessible or boardwalks along shorelines to even wheelchair mats that are put down in sandy beaches and whatnot.
And then there are the programs, nearly, we, just looking around the country and talking to pediatricians around the country. There are many non profit organizations that are, and state departments of Children with Special Health Care Needs that are bringing groups together to help children experience nature despite their disability or even with their disability.
There's lots of ways that you can do that. And, of course, depending on their disability right within your home or in your yard at your school, being sure to talk to fam, to the administration about how are we going to make sure my child with autism is having some outdoor time and here's what we do at home.
I need you to do this at school kind of accommodations.
[00:35:55] Hunter: Yeah, I love that. I love that. And a lot of people, a lot of parents who listen to the podcast have kids who are dealing with Attention Deficit Disorders, ADHD does that I, my imagination is that it's nature, time and nature is only going to be good for that.
Am I right about that? Yes, 100%. There's actually research.
[00:36:16] Dr. Pooja Tandon: There are, and really good studies where they've work with children with ADHD and compared how they perform on kind of attention and executive function. So these tasks that often can be challenging for children with ADHD, part of, having ADHD, they have them, spend time and walk through a forest versus spend time on a busy urban street and then complete those tasks and and many other studies where just movement and physical activity is shown to be beneficial, so children after being physically active, are better able to focus and so yes, 100%, and I've worked on some projects as well, in my kind of research life where we're working with families of children with ADHD to do give them tips and tricks on how to Support Children with Movement Behaviors, so getting enough physical activity, limiting screen time, and enough sleep, so that 24 hours of movement.
We think of it, 24 hour movement behaviors. And a good solid body of evidence that shows that can be a really important part of their management of ADHD.
[00:37:20] Hunter: Yeah, to me it only makes sense. Evolve to be another animal in nature as all animals are in nature, right? And that As we separate ourselves to be more comfortable in our little houses or boxes and things like that, then we, it makes us disconnected.
It causes us to suffer. It wasn't the environment we evolved to be in, which like creates more homeostasis for us, right? So it makes so much sense to be separate. To me yeah, I had to, I once lived in the city and I was like no, I gotta get myself to a place with trees. That was important for me.
Not that it's bad if you live in a city, dear listener, but for me, it wasn't, was not gonna work, but it just makes a lot of sense to me that it, as we see all these studies, like the, a Forest bathing and all these different things that show that how our systems are just calibrated to being out in nature.
I even saw something that said, the larger the body of water you were in front of, the more it was like soothing to the nervous system. It was like, Oh my God, no wonder I love the ocean so much. No wonder everyone's obsessed with it, right? It's just, it makes so much sense. I love that your. We're putting this out here so to overcome all these little, all these barriers that help overcome all these barriers that can get in our way.
Is there anything that we miss that you want to share with the listeners?
[00:38:43] Dr. Pooja Tandon: One thing that I thought of when you were just speaking about, children with ADHD or just any range of behavioral challenges that we've heard from teachers, preschool teachers. Grade school teachers that often the children that are, quote, problematic or having challenges sitting still in a classroom, they thrive when they're outdoors or when they go to an environmental education program or an overnight kind of nature program.
And so Really, I think it can be really empowering for children like that, that maybe have started to think of themselves as, problem kids or not good students to be in environments that are more conducive to the ways that they need to be. They like to learn and they need to learn. Yeah, I wanted to just put that out there as well.
[00:39:29] Dr. Danette Glassy: I guess I would like to add that it's not just children who benefit from nature time, but parents and caregivers do too. And that certainly makes you a better caregiver and parent when your cup is filled up with some nature as well. And the, it doesn't have to be. All the hours that we listed, it's just what you can do and striving for more and more creative ways.
But it's good for everyone in the family.
[00:40:00] Hunter: I love it. What a beautiful place to end. Danette Swanson Glassy and Pooja Sarin Tandon- I'm going to include your middle names this time- are pediatricians and the authors of “Digging Into Nature, Outdoor Activities for Happier and Healthier Kids”. This has been such a pleasure. I hope that we helped. Get more people outside, even if it's even if it's winter, these doctors have help for you in digging into nature. So go check it out. Thank you so much for for sharing and for coming on the Mindful Parenting podcast today.
Hey, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Like I said, it's going to be part of a four-part Kids Health Series. So look for next week: we're going to be talking about combining Western and holistic medicine for your child with pediatrician Dr. Joel Gator Warsh. And we'll be talking about kids eating further down the line and bones. So all part of the November kids health series. Make sure you're around, downloading for all of those. Tell your friends.
And if you liked this episode, there are some others that I think that some other things like we've mentioned that We talk about, of course, screens and things like that. So two other related episodes I think you might like to dive into are episode number 370, “Tech Making Kids Moody, Crazy, and Lazy?” with Dr. Victoria Dunckley and “The Healing Power of Nature” with Sandy Schwartz- And that's episode number 225.
And thank you so much for listening. I hope this episode has benefited you and your family and all of that. I love your feedback at find me at Mindful Mama Mentor on Instagram and Facebook. If you wanted to give me some feedback on that episode, I would love that. I love that all the time. And I'm wishing you all the best. I'm wishing you a great week. I hope you guys get outside. This inspires you to get outside and stomp in some puddles or to, pick up some leaves, run, hike, jump, play, get mud, all those things. So good for us. Let's do it. Okay. And I guess we'll be back in your inbox next week or in your podcast player and we'll be talking about Western and holistic health together. And yeah, glad you're here. Thanks for being here, my friend. And I will see you soon. Namaste.
[00:42:44] Mindful Mama Member: I'd say definitely do it. It's really helpful. It will change your relationship with your kids for the better. It will help you communicate better. And just, I'd say communicate better as a person, as a wife, as a spouse. It's been really a positive influence in our lives. So definitely do it. I'd say definitely do it. Do it. It's so worth it. The money really is inconsequential when you get so much benefit from being a better parent to your children and feeling like you're connecting more with them and not feeling like you're yelling all the time or you're like why isn't things working. I would say definitely do it. It's so so worth it. It'll change you. No matter what age someone's child is, it's a great opportunity for personal growth and it's great investment in someone's family. I'm very thankful I have it. You can continue in your old habits that aren't working or you can learn some new tools and gain some perspective to shift everything in your parenting.
[00:43:47] Hunter: Are you frustrated by parenting? Do you listen to the experts and try all the tips and strategies, but you're just not seeing the results that you want? Or are you lost as to where to start? Does it all seem so overwhelming with too much to learn? Are you yearning for community people who get it, who also don't want to threaten and punish to create cooperation?
Hi, I'm Hunter Clarke-Fields, and if you answered yes to any of these questions, I want you to seriously consider the Mindful Parenting Membership. You will be joining hundreds of members who have discovered the path of mindful parenting and now have confidence and clarity in their parenting. This isn't just another parenting class. This is an opportunity to really discover your unique lasting relationship, not only with your children, but with yourself. It will translate into lasting connected relationships, not only with your children, but your partner too. Let me change your life. Go to MindfulParentingCourse.com to add your name to the wait list so you will be the first to be notified when I open the membership for enrollment. I look forward to seeing you on the inside. MindfulParentingCourse.com
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