Hit the Blues with Blue Skies

Getting out and about in the great outdoors has long been acknowledged as one of the best ways of dealing with life's stresses. Everyone in the family can benefit from the healing and calming effect a stroll in the park or local woodland has on our psyche.

The traumas of step-parenting, divorce, family breakdown and difficult child access and contact can have on us doesn't go away easily but getting back to nature seems to make us happiest and less stressed.

Park Life surveyed nearly 20,000 people in the UK and found that using green spaces was a good way to improve physical and mental health. The survey showed that 25% of the people visited a park to relax and think. 22% just went there for peace and quiet whilst 31% visited simply because they enjoyed the beauty of the surroundings, 44% wanted fresh air and 46% loved to walk. The survey hopes to encourage more people to join in with Love Parks Week (24 July to 1 Aug) Paul Bramhill, CEO of GreenSpace, says "Parks and green spaces benefit physical, mental and spiritual health."

Dr William Bird of Natural England who already have a following of 40,000 people says "It has something to do with how we interact with nature. We feel happier, less worried, more engaged with what we are doing and more energetic"

Getting Involved
There are many walking groups around and a walk to your local library may well spur you into joining.

You can, of course, simply get the kids out and about without it being an organised event. There's no excuse for not making the effort. Getting the children away from the computer and television is in itself worthwhile.

If you are an organiser why not come onto the mychildcontact.com's forum and organise a walking event to support our petition to Government to have a dedicated Minister appointed solely for Child Contact and Access (see/join our petition http://bit.ly/esMUO4).

Copyright 2011 Kenn Griffiths, All rights reserved.

About the Author:

Kenn Griffiths is a writer, Investigator, Social Worker and Founder of internationally acclaimed website http://www.mychildcontact.com

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Whilst you are out and about why not get the kids along and show them some of the wonders of the natural world. Tell them how trees work, and why they are so important to our environment. Let them climb a tree, or better still climb one with them. Find a stream and play Pooh Sticks. Watching the racing sticks float down the stream is an ideal way of bonding with both children and adults. It's fun!! The Great Outdoors is Fun.

Throw the sat' nav' in the back of the car and learn to map read using a real map! Make sure the kids know what a real map is and show them how to use it to find direction, or locate hidden geological features.
If you can't map read then join a local walking group and learn. Fresh air is a tonic and you should both enjoy it yourself and introduce the rest of the family to it.