it's harkening us back to the things we need to be healthy.
We need to count on other people.
We need to have people we can call at 3 a.m.
in a crisis. And we like to do that in return for others.
And so these social prescriptions that enable us to hold other people accountable and be held accountable are I think just some of the most beautiful expressions of humanity.
This is what we do. We try to make it through together.
We count on each other. We notice when we're not there and we celebrate when we are.
So you know how so many of us go to the doctor and leave with a prescription for whatever else is usually in the form of a pill or capsule or shot or serum.
What if your healthcare provider looked you in the eye, then wrote you a prescription for dancing or nature or making art often with others.
You'd probably look at them like they lost their minds.
And yet some physicians are starting to do just that.
It's called social prescribing and the results have been astonishing.
My guest today is Julia Hots and she offers a powerful represcription for what it holds us and wraps us of truly living good life.
In her groundbreaking book The Connection Cure, the prescriptive power of movement nature art, service, and belonging, she introduces this radical concept of what she calls social prescribing.
Addressing our deep human needs through powerful antidotes like community gatherings, art classes, nature, immersion, volunteer service, and physical activity now being prescribed by doctors.
Julia is a solutions focused journalist based in New York.
Her stories have appeared in New York Times, Wired Scientific American and more.
She helps reporters bring new ideas to light at the Solutions Journalism Network.
And with the connection cure as her first book, she's at the forefront of an emerging health revolution that could transform how we really view wellness and living good life.
So if you've been yearning to experience more meaning, a joy and belonging, those essential ingredients for life were lived lean into this conversation.
Julia's insights into the prescriptive power of reconnecting through movement nature art, service, and community, and how that's actually starting to be prescribed literally in the medical profession may just start to provide the antidote that your soul has been craving.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project.
Okay, you can do this. I know, I know, Carvana makes it so convenient to sell your car.
It's just hard to let go.
My car and I have been through so much together.
But look, you already have a great offer from Carvana.
That was fast. Well, I know my lessons played in Van My Heart, and those questions were easy.
You're almost there. Now to just accept the offer and schedule a pickup or drop off.
How'd you do it? How were you so strong in letting go of your car?
Well, I already made up my mind, and Carvana is so easy.
Yeah, true. And sold. Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way.
Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my hundreds mid commercial.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so,
so, so, so invest in these things the same way we invest in a gym membership, this will lead them to make those life-sustaining connections, find sources of joy, get them out of the house, and rely less on medical care.
It just makes so much sense when you think about it, and it's so much more enjoyable.
Also, it's like bringing things back into our lives that I think so many of us have walked away as we strive for sort of like this modern conception of quote success, you know, it's like it means, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move
further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you
know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further
away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you
know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further
away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you
know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further
away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you
know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further
away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you
know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further away from it, you know, we move further
away from that we left behind and we work harder and harder and harder often in the name of so we can get back there faster, not realizing that we're also deepening into the damage.
So true. Yeah, we're weird.
If there's one thing I've learned, like in a lot of it, you know, good life projects is a dozen years old now, it's like universally we are strange.
But I think we're all just trying to make sense, you know, I want to deepen into some of the different areas with you, you know, because you brought up these, these different areas, movement, nature, art and a couple others will drop into.
And I also want to tease out a distinction here, which is the distinction of saying yes to certain types of activities and doing them in solitude versus doing them in community.
So I wanted to deepen into something what you actually mean with the word social here, because I think, and this was what I said when we started a conversation, I was like, oh, so it means like socialization.
That's not really what you're talking about if I'm understanding properly.
It's a good question because it's a little bit confusing.
Socialization is a social determinant of hell, but not all social prescriptions have to involve these sort of group experiences.
Many of them do, but for people who are introverts, for example, for people who might really thrive off of one close connection in a very controlled environment, we don't want to discount them either.
I think introverts will especially find a home in arts prescribing, you know, creating and consuming art.
And intensely individual experience versus the movement prescriptions for things like cycling groups and see swimming classes or community potluck dinners.
So it's a range. And like we've said, you've had Dr.
Robert Waldinger on here, tremendous researcher who's demonstrated that your relationships are one of the most powerful predictors of your health and happiness in the long term.
That is one pillar of these social determinants in our environment, but it's also sources of joy and sources of meaning.
I think when we have social prescribing and there are other people present or even that it's not even so much about other people, but that it's at a time, a place, there's an expectation that you'll show up.
But that sort of holds us accountable more than say a doctor saying you should try to get 75 minutes of exercise a week or you should really go try to make some friends.
Like this is giving people a vehicle to do that, but on the terms that make the most sense to them.
So just as one example, one of the case studies in my book is this man named Jonas, Jonas grew up, fact that child like wonder as this amazing explorer of other worlds.
He loved fantasy novels, he loved computer games.
And as he got older, he had some experiences in the real world.
He was bullied a lot where he withdrew from his environment and developed severe anxiety disorder.
He would get panic attacks when he would think about socializing.
So you could imagine how for Jonas, a doctor saying, hey, Jonas, you need to go and meet friends.
Maybe that'll help with your social anxiety.
That wasn't going to be the way in for him.
Instead, his health worker really got to know what he liked as a kid and prescribed him what are called culture vitamins.
And these are group activities, but they're pretty individual experiences.
They're structured. So a culture vitamin included a shared reading session at the library where people could just come and listen.
They didn't necessarily have to participate or joining a concert or going to a film night or going to a museum.
Right. I think that the range of socialization really depends.
But I think what's powerful about social prescribing is that it is an official thing in the community as opposed to just a recommendation that kicks the burden of figuring out where and how to do that back to the patient.
And thanks for teasing that.
It's helpful for me because my default was to just keep going back to like, oh, this is a thing that happens or you do with other people.
But you know, it's more broad.
It's more. This is a thing that we engage in that is sort of like nontraditional medical prescription that brings us closer to joy to meeting to all these these childlike experiences to wonder to all.
And probably the level of actual social interaction that that you're bringing to it.
It's going to depend on your social orientation.
What feels nourishing to you for some people it may be a giant crowd in a club, you know, for other people it may be, you know, being in an art class where you actually never talk to another person, but you're all kind of in there.
You feel their beings, but you're doing your same thing, which again brings it back to kids like toddlers go through this phase.
You know, any parent knows that it's called parallel play.
You've got like, you know, two anybody kids sitting next to each other playing, but they're not actually playing with each other.
But they're enjoying the presence of each other like they feel it they sense it.
There's a certain joy that comes from that is did I get that right.
I love that I'm going to have to look into that.
Yes, absolutely for someone who is not seeking social connection necessarily that's a beautiful way to put it because it's still connecting them to the play element of it.
It's about changing their environment so that they can change their perspective, which can then translate to some real changes and symptoms as well.
So that's exactly it. Yeah, I love that it's funny as you're describing that also.
So I'm a writer and I have learned that over the years I actually like to write in public spaces.
I like to write in cafes.
But I don't want to talk to people.
So I'll be in this when I was in New York City to you know, I'm in in the cafe and everyone's elbow to elbow and there I've got a tiny little piece of a table in the corner.
And I would have noise canceling headphones on listening to something.
So, but I want to hear enough of the noise around me and I wanted to be around people.
But I didn't necessarily want to be there was something about just the energy of being around them that allowed me to drop into a really generative creative space much more quickly and deeply that if I'm sitting at home in my own completely controlled environment.
And I'm an introvert also.
You know, so it's interesting the way you're sort of like team this up and the way that we can step into social context without actually being social and that's still being something that we earn for.
Definitely. Wow, you've just between that and the parallel play.
I think that's a beautiful example and an illustration of it.
You're totally right. And I think a lot of that has to do with the way we evolve, you know, we evolve to live in groups and that doesn't necessarily mean we're always chatting with the group about the weather and how their day was, but we just evolved to exist in community.
And I think you're tapping into something very primal and real there that we are the most human when we exist alongside other people doing their own human thing.
And we'll be right back after word from our sponsors.
Your wedding will be one of the happiest days of your life and Blue Nile can help you celebrate it with a gift that'll last a lifetime.
Whether you're looking for wedding bands, a gift for your partner or an unforgettable thank you to your bridesmaids, Blue Nile offers a wide assortment of jewelry of the highest quality at the best price.
Plus expert guidance to ensure you find the perfect piece, experience the convenience of shopping Blue Nile, the original online jewelry since 1999 at blue Nile dot com.
Blue Nile dot com. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down.
So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing.
Mint Mobile unlimited premium wireless.
I'm going to get 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month.
So give it a try at MintMobile.com slash switch.
45 dollars left for three months plus taxes and fees from our new customers for limited time unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month.
So it's full turns at MintMobile.com.
Wow! Nice! Yeah! What you're hearing are the sounds of people everywhere putting on bombas socks, underwear, and t-shirts made from absurdly soft materials that feel like plush clouds.
Yeah, that plush. And the best part for every item you purchase, bombas donates another to someone facing homelessness.
Bombas, big comfort for everyone.
Go to bombas.com slash a cast and use code a cast for 20% off your first purchase.
That's bombas.com slash a cast, code a cast.
Good life project is brought to you by Merrill.
So we all have goals. Big things we're working toward in life.
Like saving for college, renovating home or what's increasingly my focus later on life planning.
But achieving those dreams can be complicated.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed.
Merrill is here to help.
They know life twists and turns and are ready to guide you.
A dedicated Merrill advisor will create a personalized plan to help you turn your dreams into a clear path forward.
And what life changes, Merrill changes with you with the bullet your back, Merrill's with you every step of the way.
So if you're ready to chase your dreams, give Merrill a try.
Go to ml.com slash bullish to learn more.
Merrill, a bank of America company.
What would you like the power to do?
Investing in vault risk, Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fender and Smith incorporated register broker dealer registered investment advisor, member SIPC.
Let's drop into some of the specific prescriptions.
You've referenced a couple, but one of them that you T have barely on is is movement.
And we've all heard, you know, like quote, yeah, exercise is good for you.
It's important. We've all seen the data, all the sign, sign, sign, sign, signs.
You take a more interesting kind of holistic approach to this.
For sure. I mean, as I'm going through all the studies suggesting that movement is one of the best preventative health things you can do.
We should get 150 minutes of activity a week.
I'm imagining the reader saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this.
I know we've been told this from when we were kids, right?
So why we took those like gym tests in school, but I've also talked about how the joy has kind of been sucked out of movements.
Like if we think even back to those gym class tests at my school, we had to do pushups and sprints and run back and forward to this beeper.
That is coming from a strong sort of capitalistic push to move in order to be fit for the military.
We've also seen how movement has become very commoditized.
Like, you know, gym memberships cost money, joining a sports team often costs money.
And there's some real data showing that there is a huge access gap between people who can have free spaces to move.
It's very much determined by what you can afford.
So what I love about social prescribing to movement is number one, those logistics are covered.
Like I talk about a cycling group prescription where everybody who's prescribed this gets a free by coach.
And two, you're coming back to the joy of it.
So the man Frank who's prescribed this cycling group, his doctor literally asks him, what's something that you love to do when you were a kid but haven't had a chance to do since.
And he says, I loved riding a bike, but I haven't done that in 50 years.
So his doctor, Ali says, I've got just the group for you.
They teach a cycling confidence course.
It's for people like you who are over 50 and are maybe a little scared to ride a bike.
So what social prescriptions for movement do is anticipate those barriers also of maybe being insecure about your body or your ability level.
And it's been found that of course movement is great for our physical health or cardiovascular health.
All that's true. But what I loved and was surprised to learn is also incredibly effective for our mental health.
And some studies suggest that running movement something that gets your heart rate up, any kind of activity like that releases serotonin in the same way that SSRIs or anti depressants do.
That's why movement is increasingly being prescribed as an additional therapy to an anti depressant because of these very real effects.
And that one came through a sea swimming prescription again 50 year old woman hasn't been swimming said she was a kid and let alone in the cold open sea in the winter time.
But this group actually trains people some basics of sea safety meets early morning and gets them moving their bodies together.
So those are just two, but I'm sure your listeners could think of lots of other movement prescriptions as well.
What I love that you brought up also and again, I think this is part of where we move beyond just saying go exercise to say like no, this is a social prescription for movement is your anticipating the potential barriers to doing this thing and saying, OK, so how can I think about what are the most common barriers and then how can we actually set somebody up for success
along the way. And that's unique in this in this scenario.
Yeah, absolutely because I think it harkens us back to the whole purpose of social prescribing.
It's about really understanding someone's environment, shifting from what's the matter with them to what matters to them.
And within the elements of what matters that also includes a person's introversion extroversion, what they can afford what they have access to what insecurities they have.
Social prescribing is really a vehicle for that more holistic form of care that sees us as people with flaws and fears and limitations, but also builds their strengths and assets and interests.
Yeah, that makes so much sense to me.
I have a background in the fitness industry and then the yoga world.
And I remember always going deep into the data because I want to understand.
One of the consistent data points was always something like 85% of adults in the US at least know that they should be exercising.
They want to be exercising, but they will never join or stay a member of a sort of traditional commercial health club.
And I was always like, what's going on there?
And then you start getting deeper into the research and you realize people are terrified by so much of the environment.
I've had a number of conversations you probably have also curious whether this came up at all in some of the research you were doing where people would say some version of the phrase, I want to go to the gym.
But first I need to get a little bit fitter.
I need to lose a little bit more weight.
I need to like check this box so that when I first show up in this place where I'm supposed to actually feel better and get healthier, I need to be able to show up in a certain way because I'm terrified.
I'll be judged if I don't.
And there are so many barriers rather than just facilities.
And I think there's like a newer wave of solutions in the industry that are anticipating that I think doing a better job of inviting people in and saying it doesn't matter where you are.
Like we will take you as you are like show up.
We've got you will take you by the hand will introduce you around.
This is for you. But I think that's still the outlier in this space.
Absolutely. I'm so glad you said that the book talks a lot about this phenomenon of gym timidation.
It's this catch 22 where working out would make people healthier.
But because they're already so ashamed of their body image, they won't go and work out.
So I love it because social prescribing is about addressing that.
The cycling group I mentioned has a firm rule.
Nobody's allowed to wear lycra, you know, like, and that's just a silly thing expressing their very real commitment to all sizes, all abilities.
It's not about going fast.
It's about cycling together.
And the second thing where I think this distinguishes social prescribing a little bit from, for example, recommending somebody go to a gym even if it is an inclusive gym, which is great.
But is this bit of accountability for Frank who took this cycling course they had a meeting time every Tuesday 10 am if it's 10.05 Frank is getting a text.
Where are you Frank? So some people in the group said to me, I showed up.
They compared it to getting a dog.
They're like just as you know, you can't let the dog down.
You can't let your fellow cyclists down.
They're counting on you to be there.
And that's where the socialization bit comes in to.
It turns out this cycling group realized they actually had a lot in common.
They'd meet up at the weekends for tea and holiday parties.
And that also made it more fun and inviting more exciting to be moving your body.
Not just this thing that, you know, we're told we should do or once I had a bad experience with in the eighth grade gym class.
Yeah, I love that. I think cycling is such an interesting example too because there are built in windows for not being social within the actual activity.
So and like no matter who how social you are, how you know introvert extrovert, amberverted you feel.
You have like the activity itself built into it is the opportunity to kind of like choose the social context you want.
And when you're on the road, when you're cycling with people sometimes you're in a group sometimes you're one firm the other and their windows were built into the activity.
There's quite. You know, there's a certain amount of solitude, even though you're surrounded by people.
So it's a really it's such an interesting example.
And the notion of accountability, I think, is really fascinating to but not accountability like somebody's like going to shame you or be like you committed to this or you paid money for this.
It's like there are people who are counting on you.
You know, like you need them and they need you and you kind of want to honor that commitment because these are people that you feel like you want to be good in their eyes and you want them to be good in your eyes.
Absolutely. That's exactly it.
You know, it's hard getting us back to the things we need to be healthy.
We need to count on other people.
We need to have people we can call at 3 a.m.
in a crisis. And we like to do that in return for others.
And so these social prescriptions that enable us to hold other people accountable and be held accountable are I think just some of the most beautiful expressions of humanity.
This is what we do. We try to make it through together.
We count on each other. We notice when we're not there and we celebrate when we are.
I love that you also talk about the social prescription for nature, which to me is fascinating.
You know, I spent 30 years of my life in New York City three and a half years ago moved out to Boulder, Colorado, where now I walk out my front door and I'm surrounded by the both breathtaking nature and I'm in nature all day every day.
And I've always said my entire life like this is in me.
This is this has to be a part of my life yet for the 30 years or so as in New York City.
I was kind of like I'll get to it.
You know, I'd sneak into Central Park where I go for a walk along the Hudson that that helped.
But it's different. So take me a little bit into the notion of nature as a social prescription.
Totally. Well, as a fellow New Yorker, I can relate.
I'm a little jealous. So nature is kind of like movement, a pretty intuitive one.
Like we know that we should move our bodies and we know that we evolve to be in nature.
We evolved to specifically pay attention to nature.
If we knew, you know, which fish were in the river, which bird were in the trees, that was very advantageous for our survival.
And the first deep primal part of us that has evolved to be in nature and these amazing researchers in the 1980s came up with a theory to encompass this.
They called it the attention restoration theory.
So they were working for about context of, you know, constant distraction, video games, movies, neon signs, you know, all these things were capturing our attention and leading to something they call directed attention fatigue being so overstimulated by our environment that we can't pay attention to anything.
But then building on the work of Eo Wilson and others who've long talked about indigenous traditions as well, long talked about the incredibly healing power of nature.
They hypothesized that there's something about nature that enables us to pay attention to it and it doesn't give us that directed attention fatigue.
It actually restores our attention the same way that a good night of sleep restores our energy.
And they said this is because we evolved to pay attention to nature and invite something called soft fascination.
We're intrigued by it. And when we come away from it, not only do we feel less stressed, you know, I know you've had Robert Sapolsky on here, less stressed or calm, but you also feel better at judging the stressors that you came in with.
And this has been shown that doses of nature are incredibly effective for kids struggling with ADHD.
Some studies have found that walking in nature versus a walk in a busy city skate.
There's less activity.
There's less neural activity after the walk in nature.
In the part of our brain, the subgenual prefrontal cortex that's associated with rumination.
In other words, I'm picturing you out in your beautiful mountain skate, then you're experiencing all the opposite state of rumination.
That's very real down to the neurochemical level.
So that's a bit about nature.
And my book talks about people who are prescribed nature for stress and the symptoms of stress, chest pains, insomnia, and a man who's prescribed a fishing group for his ADHD.
And I don't want to spoil it, but based on, you know, what I've just told you about the science, I'll tell you that this was incredibly effective for both of them.
Yeah, I can imagine it's just a transformative experience for me.
I hike three or four days a week now, which is just a stunning blessing.
And it's funny because in it's built into my calendar, you know, my team looks at my schedule, they'll say, you know, like hike 90 minutes.
And it's generally in the middle of the day.
And for a while, I was framing that as, you know, oh, I'm not working.
What I realized was that this 90 minutes was so essential to yes to my well-being, to my physical and emotional well-being.
You know, you got me moving, got me exercising.
I didn't care. I didn't know.
I was like working really hard, but it and it really helped reset my mental health.
You know, if I was spinning, if I was stressed out, I would go on the trail.
Somehow everything was so much better when I got that, but I also realized that I would come back and I would sit down and whatever problem I had been focusing on, whatever creative task or thing that I was working on, maybe I was stuck.
I would come back with new ideas and feeling less stuck.
So there was a business use case for this saying like this actually should be in my calendar on a regular basis.
I'm not slacking off. I'm not stepping away.
It's not just about honoring my commitment to mental and physical health.
It is. But it actually really let me show up differently in a contribution context as well.
You are so spot on with that.
I'm so glad you said that because people hear about nature prescribing for stress and they think, what?
I don't have time for that.
This is why I'm stressed.
I don't have time for nature.
But you're exactly right.
That investing and that attention through nature is actually a really wise investment because you will come back better focused, better at concentrating.
Calmer. A lot of studies show that we reduce our cortisol production.
Just a really quick anecdote about one of the first places to really systemically embrace nature prescribing.
This was in Japan in the 1970s.
So their economy post world were to grew so quickly people were so productive people were pouring into cities.
And yet you ask a doctor who was alive at that time and you saw increasing rates of heart disease increasing rates of mental illness increasing reports of stress so much so that there was a new term coined around this time.
So the government realized we have a real crisis on our hand.
Yes, people are working harder, smarter, faster.
They're working harder and faster but they're not working smarter.
And our nation's health is really faltering because of it.
So what did they do? They invested in this government campaign for forest bathing.
Forests have been something revered in Japan's ancient shinto and Buddhist traditions.
But because people were leaving the cities or leaving the country to pour into the city.
So there's a lot of them abandoned that essential part of their culture.
And so this was a big campaign.
It was called Shinrin Yoku forest bathing to actually send people back out into the forest.
Immers with their full five senses into it.
See, does this actually have a medicinal effect on stress and sure enough, I interviewed Dr.
Qing Lee, he's one of the leading forest bathing researchers in the world.
This helps with so many things and increases our NK cell natural killer cell activity, which helps boost our immune system.
It lowers our cortisol and a dreamling production.
It lowers our heart rate.
It lowers our blood pressure.
And it just goes to show that to exactly your point.
You know, how could it be that these totally busy Japanese businessmen would get on board with something like forest bathing?
Well, because it was an investment in their health and attention in the long term.
Yeah, it just makes so much sense to me.
I read a lot of that research also.
I'm sure you're more up to date on than I am.
But when I was reading it, and this was many years ago now, I was working on a book actually.
And at that point, the research was showing, yes, we can identify all these benefits.
But they were struggling to identify the mechanism.
We can't tell you exactly why this happens, but we know when people go into the woods, it happens.
Have you seen more updated research that in some way can identify the actual mechanisms at all?
Or is that still a bit of a mystery?
Yeah, I mean, I think all of this stuff is like all of our mental health is a little bit of a mystery.
I think on the other hand, a lot of it is very primal.
We evolve to be in nature.
But I think a lot of it comes back to that attention restoration theory, the research in the 80s.
It's really interesting that all forest bathing attention restoration theory, biofilia from E.O.
Wilson, all of this came out around the same time.
And I think the mechanism is this idea of soft fascination restoring our attention without taxic it.
And certainly in the 40 years since then, there have been many, many, many, many empirical studies showing that time in nature is so good for the traditional biomarkers of stress, but also of attention.
Like another one of my favorite studies, a little bit after the 80s came out where they compared patients, gall bladder surgery recovery patients who hospital rooms were overlooking a brick wall versus those who were overlooking a nature skate.
And sure enough, they found that the patients who were overlooking the nature skate recovered faster, had a better mood.
The healthcare staff reported that they were easier to work with less cranky.
So I think to your question, it's a little bit of a mystery.
It's a little bit intuitive and it's a little bit down to this science of nature being incredibly powerful for restoring our attention.
Yeah, totally agree. And we'll be right back after word from our sponsors.
Hey, it's Nikali from Sidehouse of Pro from a local business to a global corporation.
Partnering with Bank of America gives your operation access to exclusive digital tools, award winning insights and business solutions so powerful, you'll make every move matter.
Visit bankofmerika.com such bank you for business to learn more.
What would you like the power to do?
Bank of America and eight copyright 2024.
Get back to school ready at Whole Foods Market.
The best and class event is packed with sales on organic seedless grapes.
Organic honey crisp apples, apple gate, deli meat and more.
Start your mornings with 365 by Whole Foods Market, organic frozen waffles and better than cage free eggs.
Then put dinner on the table with bread at chicken nuggets, savory swordfish fillets and fresh salad kits.
Make Whole Foods Market your back to school destination.
Summer is supposed to be an opportunity to slow down, but when you look at your kids, you can't help but notice that your kids are growing up fast.
Help them build confidence as they grow with green light.
Green light is a debit card and money app for families where parents can keep an eye on kids money habits, kids learn how to save, invest and spend wisely.
It's the easy, convenient way to raise financially smart kids.
Get your first month free when you sign up at greenlight.com slash a cast.
Imagine the softest sheets you've ever felt.
Now imagine them getting even softer over time.
That's what you'll feel with bowl and branches best selling signature sheets in a hundred percent organic cotton.
In a recent customer's survey, 96% reply that bowl and branch sheets get softer with every wash.
Start getting your best night sleep in sheets that get softer and softer for years to come.
Try their sheets with a 39 guarantee.
Plus get 15% off your first order at bowlandbranch.com, code, buttery, exclusion, supply, see site for details.
One of my fascinations around this awesome, so curious what your take is on this is there will be times in people's lives where they literally cannot get into nature.
Maybe they can bring a little bit of nature and they can put plants in and there's some interesting words around that.
But there will be times where there will be just folks who really you can't get there or maybe you're struggling with your ill, you're injured, you're a bed bound or you're room bound.
I'm so curious now with the advent of not just AI but AR.
Can we actually have somebody put on a pair of goggles that will allow them in a small fixed space to have the tactile and the visual experience of navigating nature.
And would that have the same effect on them or do you actually really have to be there?
I haven't seen anybody exploring that yet, but I think it's a fascinating question in my mind.
That is such a fascinating question.
I would love to see that research.
Two things I can say is that let's go back to forest bathing for example.
This is about engaging all five senses in the forest.
Dr. Qing Li before I left Japan, he gave me this like block of wood.
I still have it, it's in my kitchen.
And it releases the scent of the Hinokey trees and on which you know it really common in Japan because it's been found that this scent alone triggers in our mind.
Oh, okay, we're in a forest where around nature that's good.
We can calm down. That's very true and real.
I don't think it's as rigorous.
I don't think it's been as rigorously studied as actually being in nature, but that's one point.
But another, I think you make a really important point about those of us who might not have such easy access to nature.
And that's very real. And that is why doctors, I'll shout out one, Nushin Razzani in San Francisco.
Again, anticipating all the barriers that could come up about why wouldn't kids and adults be able to access nature.
She's organized programs that actually bus kids out to a nature experience from the inner city for the weekends because I think a true social prescription, you know, takes into account all of a patient's social determinants and that access barrier, even if you have a car, if you live nearby is very real.
It's so fun learning about all these different things where people like how can we solve not just for part of the problem, but for like a much fuller part of the experience.
You talk about art also is an interesting social prescription, which I'm like always fascinated to me as somebody who's both, you know, at various points in my life has been an artist and with different media and different domains, but also who has found myself in tears standing in front of a painting at the Guggenheim.
So it feels like this is this is one of those prescriptions also where somebody made immediately like the hair on the back of the next I'm not an artist like this is going to work for me, but it's big and in that it's more about the it sounds like the way you're team it up.
It's more about just the experience of what art can do around and with us.
Absolutely. You're not alone.
I'm definitely with you.
I almost hear it when I heard your voice today because your podcasts have moved me so much and there's something very real about that.
But yeah, I think a person is absolutely right to have a little bit of hesitation saying I don't want an art prescription.
I'm not an artist. I think there's two kinds of art prescriptions.
One of them is about creating art.
My book focuses on the story of a woman named Cune who had always loved art.
She's an aspiring novelist, but grew up in a really harsh environment developed PTSD, developed anxiety, developed depression.
And I'd always have this voice in her head that she wasn't good enough.
You know, she hears her mother's voice telling her all the time, you're not good enough.
You're not good enough.
So she was really scared to try this art prescription that she was given.
And the facilitators of this Caitlin Marshall and Lizzie Rose, they run a great program called Creative First Aid in Australia.
We're very intentional about making sure that nobody was forced to do the art here again, you're anticipating all the barriers, all the reasons why a person might not want to participate.
But just like exposure therapy does in clinical settings, right, exposure therapy, this idea that exposing us a little bit to the thing we're afraid of to the thing that's giving us anxiety is actually really medicinal for treating that anxiety.
I think art prescribing gets into that.
Cune's story is one of, you know, she again didn't want to really go to this told herself she wasn't good enough ends up becoming this extraordinarily prolific artist ends up filling her home with plants, which she considers a form of art, even though she grew up having a really negative association with plants, her mother always criticizing her for when they weren't
doing well. So that's one form is when we create the art and that's we know for any art therapists listening incredibly effective for our trauma because it invites us to create sort of a new story about our trauma and access it without verbally accessing it.
Another one has to do with consuming art and maybe this will resonate with you, you know, when you're listening to that song that brings you to tears art, just like movement and nature is something that we evolved to do.
We evolved to share stories with one another because this is a way we cope with all the emotions that come with being human.
And for some methods of consuming art one way is bibliotherapy being read a story in which the character maybe reminds us of our own struggles that's incredibly effective for treating anxiety because it allows us again to just sort of softly identify with the story without having to fully expose ourselves to that story.
In other words, it's a way for us to explore our emotions without having to fully reveal them to a therapist, for example.
And so for someone like Jonas who was prescribed culture vitamins, literally that's what it's called for his severe anxiety, you know, those shared reading sessions where he could read about other people who dealt with anxiety was incredibly powerful for him.
Yeah, I think that art just gets into art, by the way, comes from the etymology of the imitation of nature.
So I think when we create and consume art, we are on some level being the most human we can be.
Yeah, also just to tease it a little bit more when when you talk about art, I think a lot of people immediately, they're like, they think visual art.
Right, you're talking more expansively writing music like all these different aesthetic experiences that in some way evoke something in you, right?
Absolutely, I'm talking about anything that could be a method of telling a story, whether we are the creators of that story through words or paint brushes or cartoons, whatever it might be.
These are just some of the social art prescriptions that I investigated or we are the consumers of that story.
We're going to a concert, we're going to the library to be read to where going to a museum to learn sort of the art of the civilizations that have come before us.
All this anything that immerses us in a story is what I would consider art, but that could be a whole book.
I mean, what is art, right?
Exactly. The other thing that occurs to me about art is that I've been thinking about this recently and curious what you take as is it's one of the experiences that allows me to time travel.
If I hear Pink Floyd's dark side of the moon, I can tell you exactly where I was when I was a kid lying on the floor of my basement with headphones on listening to that just completely gone, transported somewhere else.
When I hear that song now, I'm back there again.
I would imagine if you were measuring all these physiological indicators in my body that you would see a really meaningful shift in them.
For me, music tends to be the thing that really allows me to time travel, but also visual art as well.
I wonder if that's something you've thought about or explored at all.
Definitely can definitely relate both to the artist and the experience.
I think a couple of things are happening there.
Number one in your story, you know, you are being transported to a time in your life that you associated with a lot of joy and meaning.
And not only does that kind of just feel good physiologically, but I think subliminally it's also a reminder that of how good things can be.
You know, if we turn to art when we're feeling really low, especially I think Susan Cain talks a lot about this when we're listening to sad music, we are just reminded of the depths of being human.
And if we're feeling some of that sadness or anger, we find comfort in the fact that wow, this artist is expressing that I can feel that I think that's exactly it.
You know, it is connecting us to our most deeply human states.
And here's the spoiler alert with social prescribing whether it's movement nature art.
These are just gateway drugs for us to shift our perspective on things, whether that's telling ourselves that it's going to be okay.
This thing you're feeling right now, it's going to be okay.
This stress that you're experiencing, we're going to make it through this exhaustion and lethargy and sadness that feels so unbearable.
We're going to get to the other side of that and social prescriptions I think can help us get there faster, especially art.
I have a soft spot for art.
Yeah, you and you both. And there's something about it.
You know, you also write about service and you write about belonging as one thing, but if you zoom the lens out, you know, in an all five of these different categories, you know, like service belonging, art, nature and movement.
If there is this opportunity to step into all of them in a way that makes you feel less alone, I think.
Like you were just describing, even if you're not in the presence of other people, like you can listen to a song or see a work of art or read a paragraph in a book that was written by somebody else and you're.
You are alone in your room, consuming it, but there's something about the act that makes you feel less alone, which is amazing.
Isn't it amazing to think that these five ingredients that have sustained our civilizations for thousands of years are the same ingredients we can turn to today and feel a sense of connection to these people and to one another.
I don't know if you had this experience with with the good life project or the writing you've done, but sometimes you discover your reason for writing it or doing it while you're doing it.
And that was true for me.
I didn't realize how lonely I was and how frustrated I was and unwell I was until I realized that it's true that I might not be able to relate to the depths of depression and anxiety and chronic pain that other people I talk about have experienced.
But all of us by virtue of being human can relate to the experience of being a little bit unwell and I think that is extremely connective.
I think that is extremely hopeful that all of us can find some amount of healing and some combination of these ingredients because they remind us especially now in our times of intense division that we are all going through these ups and downs together.
And I really needed to hear that, but you know, I needed to write a book to prove it.
That has been like every book I've written.
It's always been scratching my own it.
It's like, and I don't really know at the itch.
I think I know what it is going into it and then halfway through like, oh, right.
This is about something entirely different and it's about me.
Right. And hopefully this will be interesting and valuable to other people too.
But you also bring up a really interesting point.
This is something that I've noticed, which is that nobody talks about this.
I'm really curious about it.
I have found that one of the most powerful connecting energies is commiseration.
And we don't like to think about it because like we don't all want to like have some sort of shared suffering or angst.
So we don't talk about that in general.
And yet if we go back to art as an interesting example, you can have two people standing in front of a work on a wall.
And maybe the work represents something where it's keen them both into a similar loss that they've experienced to profoundly different people who have different beliefs, different faiths, different upbringing, different histories, different politics.
But in that moment, they're having this shared experience and that whatever that losses that is being a vote is triggering all the emotions that goes around it and simply seeing them like next to each other, knowing that they're experiencing that same thing is which is a form of commiseration.
It's to me, there's such a powerful source of connection that we really ever acknowledge.
I think it's just an uncomfortable thing to acknowledge.
Absolutely. That's so beautifully said.
And I'm sure we can all relate to when we are commiserating whether the source of that is, you know, the loss of a loved one or a breakup or something really frustrating happening at work, whatever it is, we feel our environments make us feel like we are the only one that is going through this.
We are so in our own heads and that's what rumination is, right, where we're dwelling on these negative thought patterns and where it convinced that it's not going to get better because again, our environments are encouraging this.
But what I think is so powerful about social prescribing is that it reconnects us to some other thing that takes us out of our head, brings us to other people, like we said, with parallel play sometimes more passively.
Sometimes more actively, but other people that can relate to those ups and downs, that is the only thing that will get us through them ends.
You know, I want to be careful because I think there's definitely a place for medication.
I think there's definitely a place for therapy.
This is not about replacing those forms of medicine, but I do think that sometimes those medicines are designed to just treat the symptom and make it go away when actually that symptom is telling us something about our environment.
It's telling us that this pain that you're feeling right now is real and you are going to be okay.
You are resilient. You have evolved to get through this and to help you get to that understanding faster, a social prescription can help you feel like you are not alone in your commiseration.
If somebody is listening to this conversation right now and they're kind of nodding along and this makes total sense to me, where do I even begin?
Obviously reading your book is a great place to begin, but if it's something sort of thinking about the first step in, what might you offer them?
Totally. Well, I think I know you have a big global audience.
I imagine most are in the United States, so you might be frustrated that this doesn't really exist quite yet in our healthcare system mainstream.
The good news is that this is coming.
There's a great group social prescribing USA that's determined to make these available to every American by 2035.
If you're a health worker listening, you can get involved with them.
If you're a researcher, a policy maker, it's definitely go get involved with them.
But in the meantime, for the everyday person, the other good news is that you probably live in a place where there are communities doing this work.
There are communities delivering art prescriptions, nature prescriptions, movement prescriptions, service prescriptions, belonging prescriptions.
The only difference is that a doctor or a therapist might not be prescribing it to you.
You have to prescribe it to yourself.
Of course, I hope people read this book, but I hope they participate in both joining some of these local community groups and contributing them themselves.
You might have a listener who leads their own Saturday nature walks or cycling groups or art classes.
We've created a website, socialprescribing.co, that organizes these kinds of social prescriptions by ingredients free or donation based.
Because again, this is all about not creating barriers to things that should be free, where people can go and prescribe themselves these things in the meantime.
So in the back of the book, there is something we call the CrowdSource DSM, which will help you direct yourself to what kind of social prescriptions might be especially valuable based on what you're feeling.
So if you're feeling stuck and sad, movement is a great antidote to that.
If you're feeling burnt out, stressed, can't focus nature, great antidote to that.
If you're feeling worried and anxious, great antidote.
If you're feeling really frustrated, angry, self-pitying right now, service to your community, volunteering, great antidote.
If you, like many of us, are feeling lonely, are feeling alone in that commiseration, belonging.
Groups with an intentional purpose of creating a sense of belonging can be really medicinal.
Love that. I love all the resources that you put together as well.
It feels like a good place for us to come full circle.
So in this container of good life project, if I over up the phrase, to live a good life, what comes up?
To live a good life, I think, is to be extremely present in your life, to reconnect with the sources of joy, meaning, and relationships that have been sustaining us for thousands of years.
That's a good life to me.
Thank you. Thank you so much, Jonathan, such an honor.
Hey, before you leave, if you'd love this episode safe, but you'll also love the conversation we had with Robert Waldinger, about the role of relationships and our ability to live good lives.
To find a link to his episode in the show notes.
This episode of Good Life project was produced by executive producers Lindsey Fox and me, Jonathan Fields, editing help by Alejandro Ramirez, Christopher Carter, crafted our theme music and special thanks to Shelley Dell for her research on this episode.
And of course, if you haven't already done so, please go ahead and follow Good Life project in your favorite listening app.
And if you found this conversation interesting or inspiring or valuable, and chances are you did since you're still listening here, would you do me a personal favorite, a seven second favorite, and share it?
Maybe on social or by text or by email, even just with one person.
Just copy the link from the app you're using.
And tell those you know, those you love, those you want to help navigate this thing called life a little better, so we can all do it better together with more ease and more joy.
Tell them to listen. Then even invite them to talk about what you've both discovered because when podcasts become conversations and conversations become action, that's how we all come alive together.
Until next time, I'm Jonathan Fields, signing off for Good Life Project.
You
