Happy Dancing Blog

As winter settles in, many of us find ourselves spending more time indoors. Shorter days and colder temperatures can make it harder to get outside, but that doesn’t mean we have to lose our connection to nature. In fact, even small doses of nature, brought indoors or found close to home offer meaningful benefits for our minds. Studies continue to show that interacting with nature, even in small ways, supports emotional resilience  throughout the winter months. Research shows

Welcome to winter! It’s the middle of January, and we are in the Upper Midwest. Temperatures are hovering around freezing and most days we don’t see much sunshine. When we ask “What should we do?” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Probably not “go outside”!

Fall is in the air, leaves have changed colors, days are shorter, and temperatures are dropping. All these environmental cues are a signal to birds (and even some humans!) to start preparing to head south. Despite the misconception that birds don’t like the cold, many birds can survive freezing temperatures, so it’s not necessarily the cold that drives them away. It’s our waning resources.