Katy Bowman - Grow Wild: The Whole-Child, Whole-Family, Nature-Rich Guide to Moving More

Copyright Katy Bowman 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition, First Printing 2021

ISBN: 9781943370160

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021902155

Propriometrics Press: propriometricspress.com

Cover and Interior Design: Zsofi Koller, liltcreative.co

Distributed by Chelsea Green

The information in this book should not be used for diagnosis or treatment, or as a substitute for professional medical care. Please consult with your health care provider prior to attempting any treatment on yourself or another individual.

Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Bowman, Katy, author.

Title: Grow wild : the whole-child, whole-family nature-rich guide to moving more / Katy Bowman.

Description: First edition. | [Carlsborg, Washington] : Propriometrics Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781943370160 (paperback) | ISBN 9781943370177 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Outdoor recreation for children--Health aspects. | Movement education. | Nature--Health aspects. | Sedentary behavior--Health aspects.

Classification: LCC GV191.63 .B69 2021 (print) | LCC GV191.63 (ebook) | DDC 796.083--dc23

Table of Contents

Introduction

C hildren are like trees. To understand how, lets start with trees.

From the moment they sprout, trees sense the loads that move them. Imagine trunks swaying back and forth in the wind, or branches bending under the weight of accumulated snow. Think of animals brushing past or landing on tree limbs. Think even of gravity, constantly pulling a tree toward the earth. All trees experience a set of movementsa set of loadsthroughout their life. These movements bend and pull on the trees cells, and in response, growing trees adapt their shape. This allows them to withstand their unique environment. A tree that is repeatedly pushed upon by winds will add mass and grow its roots in the direction and length it needs to thrive in the wind patterns it experiences. Trees in very snowy places respond to heavy snow loads by growing thicker branches. This ability of trees to sense their mechanical environment informs the shape they become and how physically resilient they will be.

Certainly, a trees genes dictate its general appearanceoak trees always look like oak trees, and youd never confuse a cedar tree for a maple. Its genes contain the information for the general shape of the leaves or orientation of the needles, as well as the bark color and texture and whether or not it peels each year. But the specifics of its shape are not dictated by genes. Genes do not control the exact diameter of a trees trunk, the number or angle of its branches, the length and strength of its roots, or how many leaves each branch has. Instead, the trees genes direct its growth in response to the environment. The genes say, If you, an oak tree, experience X, you will respond with Y, just like other oak trees. These directions help the tree grow in certain ways based on what the tree experiencesmovement, soil nutrients, sunlight, water, etc. All oak trees will respond oakily to their inputs, but because the inputs vary from tree to tree, even oak trees beside each other will take a different oaky shape. The shape of a trees community affects a trees shape!

Now imagine a tree growing up in a greenhousean indoor environment, where there are far fewer natural movements than outside. Theres no wind, no snow, no animals nesting or climbing to stimulate a stronger shape. These sheltered plants never experience the loads that stimulate their ability to withstand forces of the world just beyond their greenhouse door. They become unable to survive outside.

Problems arise when you take these sedentary, indoor-raised trees outside into more complex environments. Now they suddenly experience loads that are much greater and more diverse than those theyve been regularly exposed to. Outdoor plants grown inside are not well suited (read: shaped) to tolerating these different loads. In fact, in order to produce heartier plants, some commercial growers stroke (move!) their plants every day to simulate natural movement. They recommend not over-staking and tying trees when theyre planted outdoors, so the trees get to experience and adapt to the movements in their new outside environment. This helps transplanted trees succeed in the long term.

Its also important to note that outdoor trees growing up inside dont really flourish there. They show telltale signs of living in an environment that doesnt fully meet their needs (for example, curled or discolored leaves, or spindly stems). Low sunlight, poor or excessive soil nutrients, crowding, lack of movement, unusual humidity, and a lack of other outside elements have predictable symptoms, even in trees cultivated to be kept inside. A frequent recommendation for raising healthy trees inside is to get them outside often.

Which brings us back to kids. As kids grow, they are shaped not exclusively by their genes, but also by how their genes respond to the inputs of their environment. Many inputs ultimately form a child, but perhaps none of these essential inputslove, food, sleepare as constant as movement. Our mechanical environment is moving us one hundred percent of the time. I wonder what shape the movements of modern environments are bending todays children into, and which environments will move them in the future.

STUDY SESSION: TREES ARE LIKE CHILDREN

Biomechanics, my field of science, is the study of how mechanics (or mechanical laws) govern biological (living) things. All living things operate under a set of physical rules, so it shouldnt be a surprise to find that the way plants develop their strength and robustness is similar to how humans do.

The phenomenon of plants being shaped by how theyre moved is called thigmomorphogenesis: thig means touch, morph means shape, genesis means grow. Nobody applies this word to the similar process of humans adjusting their shape to the loads they experience, but we could. If we had a word that quickly described how the way were moved affects how our bodies develop, it would make it easier to see how movement matters.