The denaturalized life is the dehumanized life. Modern society is, in many ways, increasingly lived in unnatural ways. Our homes are concretized, many stories above mother earth, our food is either shipped from chemical farms across the world, or much worse, produced in factories and stored in warehouses. The air we breathe is more increasingly more conditioned, and I’m sure the day isn’t far when companies start selling us packaged bottles of ‘fresh air’. Our relations are increasingly superficial, and social media often has an effect contrary to its name, by making us increasingly more self conscious, increasingly more lonely, increasingly more anti social. Our species, in many ways, is now leading sub-optimal, sub-human lives, because of the increasing distance between us and nature. Our quest to create civilizations is quite often at the cost of all the things that made us human, that made our species what it is. Studies have shown that there is a decrease in our sensory perception only because we spend less time engaging all our sense simultaneously. Studies have shown a direct correlation between a denaturalized life and intelligence, problem solving ability, attention, motivation towards learning and creativity. Lack of exposure to nature is shown to increase likelihood of depression, disease, cause problems in interpersonal relations. In fact, a simple nature walk was shown to lead to 92% of the people surveyed feeling less depressed, 86% feeling less tense, 81% less angry, 80% less fatigued, 79% less confused, 56% more vigourous. In the time when pharmaceuticals seem to be the only industry immune to any form of economic recession, and attention stimulants like Ritalin and adderall being increasingly used, perhaps we’ve lost touch of the greatest low cost medicine we could ever hope for. Although corona has hijacked most of our headlines, there are several epidemics of depression, loneliness, and ill health, which are just as damaging, but far more insidious. It would seem then perhaps that, humanity is suffering from a severe case of Nature Deficit Disorder. Joining me today, is Pooja Bhale, a trained wildlife biologist and conservationist, who among many things, operates a incredible organization called the Protecterra Ecological Foundation, with the mission of educating, spreading awareness, and conserving nature. Pooja also runs The Farm, a refurbished patch of land which is home to over 1800 trees, plants, and saplings, 40 animals, 3 human families, and countless other ecosystems. Since the lockdown, the Farm is currently facing a slight financial crunch, which is why I’m going to do something I’ve never asked any of you to do, which is donate an amount of your choosing to this incredible venture. You can find the payment details in the show notes, or simply check out @thefarmandlove on instagram. No, Pooja didn’t ask me to promote the Farm, I’m doing so because I recognize the role that organizations like hers are going to have in an increasingly unhealthy world, with toxic food and unbreathable air. We need the Farm, hers and the many more out there to survive, if WE want to survive. What is the nature deficit disorder, how is man inextricably linked to nature, is the answer to our current myriad of problems spiritual ecology, and indeed, what does it even mean to be spiritual, are answers I attempt to unearth, in this week’s episode of What UnEarth. Gpay/PayTM details: Pooja Bhale - 9960100550