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In early April 2022, about two dozen children and their families gathered beneath the redwoods in a regional park near Oakland, Calif. They sat with a physician, Dr. Nooshin Razani, beneath the branches of the ancient giants, breathing the fresh air and discussing the phenomenon of fairy rings—when a mama tree is cut down, the baby trees grow up in a circle surrounding the stump of the parent tree.
These families were taking part in a program Razani runs at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. (Marc and Lynne Benioff, who are philanthropic supporters of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, are co-chairs and co-owners of TIME.) The program, called the Center for Nature and Health, takes pediatric patients who are dealing with conditions like anxiety, autism, obesity, or developmental issues—and who live in areas without much nature nearby—into local parks on excursions with park staff each month.
“When I talk to patients, I really talk about trying to connect with the life cycle and life forms other than technology if you can, so even connecting with each other like having eye contact and like snuggling your child is connecting with nature or looking up at the moon and watching the cycles of the moon or keeping a moon journal if you’re lucky enough to have access to the stars, that’s a way to connect with nature,” says Razani.
If a simple trip to a local park does that much good, just imagine the good which comes from a farm & forest preschool!
Sequia’s Treehouse
