"What's Your NQ?" Nature Quotient for Home, Health, and Happiness

Life is Sweeter in Nature

NQ - "Nature Quotient" measures our personal understanding, access, and integration with the Natural World. Our Nature Quotient tells a lot about who we are and how we network with the wider "We" of Life all around us. Knowing our NQ and improving our Nature Score can mean the difference between suffering the effects of Nature Deficit Disorder, and robust vibrancy for physical, mental, and emotional health. Like taking our blood pressure, counting steps, lowering added sugars, or monitoring sleep apnea, NQ is an emerging awareness stat that requires our daily attention. Here's why.

Since humanity's shift away from largely Nature-immersive existence to Nature-averse, sterile, indoor and tech-saturated settings, we have adopted a predominantly sedentary lifestyle, spent mostly behind screens, anesthetized and separated from Nature.

"Over the last 30 years, physicians, scientists, and journalists have come to suspect that we are experiencing a “nature deficit disorder,” or “extinction of experience.” With the loss of direct exposure to Nature has also come diminished knowledge of where food comes from, an inability to recognize plants and animals, fewer opportunities to experience awe (being in the presence of something vast that transcends current understandings of the world), and a failure to develop positive emotions and empathy toward other people and the non-human world." (Browning, etal., "Quantifying Nature..." https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10876217/#R23)

Go deeper. Take a look at where you live. Every. Single. Day. Where you live has a significant effect on your NQ. If your realtor neglected to include a Nature Score for your current residence, you might check it. No, really. You want at least a "Nature Adequate" (40-59.9), if not a "Nature Rich" (60-79.9) environment. Who really wants to live near a nuclear waste disposal site, a cacophonous intersection, a noxious industrial energy plant, or any other toxic water, soil, or air-polluted vortex? And it's not just because of property resale value. It just feels better to be near Nature.

There is a direct correlation between physical, mental and emotional health and having regular access and immersion in Nature. While residential qualities of "walkability" and "accessible green space," or "quiet neighborhoods" are known to increase property values, we have yet to indicate prominently in residential real estate listings what the home's Nature Score is. We should.

In one particular model, your home's Nature Score might range from "Nature Deficit" (0-19.9) at one end of the scale, to "Nature Utopia" (80-100) at the other, measuring for access to natural elements, blending data sets such as "satellite infrared measurements, GIS and land classifications, park data and features, tree canopies, air, noise and light pollutions, and computer vision elements (aerial and street images)." There's an app for that, from a broad spectrum of collaborating entities studying and quantifying the effects of Nature for human health and wellness.

Go deeper still. Another model, E-Natureza (e-Nature), aims to investigate the relationship between health and Nature through the lens of Complex Adaptive Systems.

Navigating change in a posthuman context when global climate change threatens Earth's integrity is challenging. In this model, four integral experiences are investigated: "(1) Aesthetic and emotional experience; (2) Multisensory integration experience; (3) Knowledge experience; and (4) Engagement experience. Each experience within the model targets affective, cognitive, and behavioral aspects, with a specific focus on fostering a deeper connection with Nature." (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10478274/)

In short, our connection with Nature is endemic to enjoyment, sensory perception, knowledge integration, and the capacity to navigate change through connection and adaptation. It is essential to our happiness.

Knowing our NQ is only the beginning for personal and communal health. It's also an ethical issue. The principles of environmental justice guarantee equal access to Nature's bounty, and equal protection from Earth's degradation. Those without economic stability and robust wealth are those most adversely affected by unhealthy natural environments. And those who are deprived of healthy natural access in their home settings must work harder to immerse themselves in natural settings on a regular basis. Ethical considerations in real estate development take this into account, but it's largely up to us to monitor our NQ. A weekly personal prescription for healthy natural immersion can also be measured, a Nature Dose. Tracking how much time spent in Nature on a regular basis may help make it a focus, even if access is more difficult. Access to Nature is a basic right for everyone.

This Beautiful River is Alive! Water is Life for ALL our Kin.

Now, go deeper. What about a healthy NQ for the Biosphere as a whole? Earth's health is wavering. The globe is warming at an alarming rate, causing mass species extinction, global toxification of air, water, and soil, and severe weather-related catastrophes more frequently than at any time in human history. Our natural seasons are even out of sync, a symptom of global hotspots causing significant biodiversity loss and extinction.

When we monitor our health, diet, relationship, or exercise patterns, we are paying attention to those habits and practices that contribute to overall health, wellness, and happiness. Why wouldn't we pay attention to our personal and communal connection with Nature when it has such a profound effect on not just individuals and communities but Life as a whole? Why wouldn't we pay attention to ALL our kin?

Let's start asking the ones we love, "What's your NQ?" Raising awareness is the first, fierce step toward healing and wholeness. Go outside to go inside. Teach your kids. Tell your friends. It's fun. It's awe-inspiring. It's imagination-catalyzation. It's gratitude-stoking. And Our Life depends on doing it well.

"What's Your NQ?"