MH page 264

Physicians and nurses should encourage their patients to be much in the open air. Outdoor life is the only remedy that many invalids need. It has a wonderful power to heal diseases caused by the excitements and excesses of fashionable life, a life that weakens and destroys the powers of body, mind, and soul.

Outdoor life can serve as a primary remedy for diseases caused by artificial or excessive lifestyles. It asserts a direct medical-like remedy of outdoor life for specific lifestyle-induced conditions.

How grateful to the invalids weary of city life, the glare of many lights, and the noise of the streets, are the quiet and freedom of the country! How eagerly do they turn to the scenes of nature! How glad would they be to sit in the open air, rejoice in the sunshine, and breathe the fragrance of tree and flower! There are life-giving properties in the balsam of the pine, in the fragrance of the cedar and the fir, and other trees also have properties that are health restoring.

Natural environments and tree fragrances offer restorative properties and relief to weary invalids. The text combines appreciation for nature with specific empirical assertions about the health-restoring properties of tree fragrances.

To the chronic invalid, nothing so tends to restore health and happiness as living amid attractive country surroundings. Here the most helpless ones can sit or lie in the sunshine or in the shade of the trees. They have only to lift their eyes to see above them the beautiful foliage. A sweet sense of restfulness and refreshing comes over them as they listen to the murmuring of the breezes. The drooping spirits revive. The waning strength is recruited. Unconsciously the mind becomes peaceful, the fevered pulse more calm and regular. As the sick grow stronger, they will venture to take a few steps to gather some of the lovely flowers, precious messengers of God's love to His afflicted family here below.

Living amid attractive country surroundings and natural settings aids in restoring health, happiness, and peace of mind. It mixes descriptions of emotional and physical recovery with a direct claim about country surroundings and physiological parameters.

Plans should be devised for keeping patients out of doors. For those who are able to work, let some pleasant, easy employment be provided. Show them how agreeable and helpful this outdoor work is. Encourage them to breathe the fresh air. Teach them to breathe deeply, and in breathing and speaking to exercise the abdominal muscles. This is an education that will be invaluable to them.

Patients should be encouraged to spend time outdoors, engage in light employment, and practice deep breathing. Provides practical instructions for caregivers and patients regarding outdoor activity and breathing techniques.