"microbe" an extremely small living thing which you can only see if you use a microscope. Some microbes can cause diseases 顕微鏡を使わないと見ることができない、非常に小さな生き物。病気の原因となる微生物もある
"bacteria" very small living things, some of which cause illness or disease 非常に小さい生物でその中には病気の原因になるものもある (細菌）
More recently, there’s been an explosion of interest in the human microbiome — with people taking probiotics, seeking food with live cultures and “rewilding” their microflora. At the same time, scientists have been discovering how broad a role dirt microbes can play in our mental and physical health.
When we’re touching soil or even just out in nature, “we’re breathing in a tremendous amount of microbial diversity,” said Christopher A. Lowry, a professor of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
A recent Finnish experiment found that children attending urban day cares where a native “forest floor” had been planted had both a stronger immune system and a healthier microbiome than those attending day cares with gravel yards — and continued to have beneficial gut and skin bacteria two years later.
フィンランドで最近行われた実験によると、自然の林床が植栽されている都市部のデイケアに通う子どもたちは、砂利敷きの庭（gravel yards）のデイケアに通う子どもたちよりも、免疫系（immune system）が強く、マイクロバイオームも健康的で、2年後も有益な腸内細菌と皮膚細菌（beneficial gut and skin bacteria）を維持していました。
It’s not just good for kids; adults can also benefit from exposure to soil-dwelling microbes, Dr. Lowry said. So this spring, make a little time to go outside and get grimy.
Activities like mountain biking, camping and hiking are easy ways to come into contact with a diverse microbial ecosystem, Dr. Lowry said. “I think we underestimate how much exposure we get from simply being outside.”
The U.S. Forest Service allows you to volunteerfor projects like trail maintenance and even archaeological excavations. Or you could try a little forest bathing — a mindful, sensory way to walk in nature — and scoop up a handful of dirt.
米国森林局は、登山道の整備や考古学的発掘などのプロジェクトにボランティアとして参加させて(allows you to)くれます。あるいは、森林浴（自然の中を歩くための、心や感覚を刺激する方法）をして、土をすくってみるのもいいでしょう。
“Spend some time looking at it and inhaling the aromas,” said Amos Clifford, the founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs and the author of “Your Guide to Forest Bathing.” “Sift it through your fingers, then bring your hands to your face.”
Gardening has long been associated with reduced depression, anxiety and stress, and it calls for plenty of time spent working in the dirt.
When people ask him how to get started, Leigh Johnstone, a gardener and mental health advocate in Southampton, England, whogoes by “The Beardy Gardener” to his 21,000 Instagram followers, asks them one question: “Well, what do you like to eat?”
「時間をかけてその土を見て、その匂いを吸い込んでください」、「指で土をふるい（sift）、手を顔に近づけてみてください」と、自然・森林セラピーガイド・プログラム協会の創設者であり、"Your Guide to Forest Bathing （みんなの森林浴ガイド）"の著者でもあるエイモス・クリフォード氏は言います。
リー・ジョンストンさんは、土いじりを始めるにはどうすればいいかと尋ねられると、いつも次のように聞きます。「何を食べるのが好きですか？」（リー・ジョンストンさんは、21,000人のインスタグラムのフォロワーに "The Beardy Gardener "の名で親しまれている（go by）イギリス、サウサンプトンの庭師でメンタルヘルスの提唱者です。）
Tomatoes are one of the easiest things to grow, said Mr. Johnstone, because they need very little maintenance and can be planted in a pot or hanging basket on a balcony. He also suggested strawberries and herbs like basil, mint or chives.
Or create a habitat garden, which uses native plants to attract and feed wildlife, said Mary Phillips, who leads gardening habitat programs for the National Wildlife Federation. Plant orange milkweed to welcome monarch butterflies and asters to lure honeybees.
Jill Dreves, the founder of Wild Bear Nature Center in Nederland, Colo., has a simple recipe for getting dirty: Make a mud pie.
She suggested throwing something similar to a sip and paint event: Ask everyone to bring an old cake pan and get creative with mud.
“Bring out some rocks and beads to press into them, collect some pretty leaves, press your hands or feet in,” said Ms. Dreves, who has organized mud pie parties with her staff. “We save that kind of thing for little kids, but really, as adults, we need to be doing more of it.”
ムラゴン ホーム
