Take a moment to imagine that you are sitting on a beach with the sand between your toes and the sound of the waves breaking on the shore ringing in your ears. Hold that space and notice how it makes you feel and remember these emotions and sensations.
Now, as you sit with these thoughts change the location of your imagination to a busy street in the heart of a city, with road works, traffic, and people. Notice how your emotions and sensations in your body change.
Having taken part in this small exercise, you may have noticed that the scene of nature helps bring a sense of calm and relaxation, whereas the scene in the city may feel busy and stressful.
Nature can mean many things to different people. For example, you may refer nature to being forests, rivers, beaches, mountains, etc. But nature can also mean something closer to home. It can include your garden, a tree planted down the road, or even house plants that sit on your windowsill. No matter how small your connection to nature is, it is important to recognise the health benefits of having this connection.
Why is spending time in nature so important?
Having a good connection with nature has many benefits. It has been found that many people who have a good connection with nature are more likely to feel joy and are happier. It has also been found that nature can also help some feel their life is more worthwhile by helping us feel a part of something greater than ourselves.
Nature also encourages positive emotions such as a sense of calm, and creativity. Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and stress can be reduced with a better relationship with nature. For example, stress can be reduced as spending time in nature forces you to take a break from everyday issues therefore reducing mental fatigue.
In some situations, being out in nature can help with peer support and being part of a group or local community. This can be through being a part of walking groups, volunteering in community gardens or by taking part in many other social activities that take place outdoors. This in turn can help to reduce feeling isolated and lonely.
Spending time in nature can also have a positive effect on not just our mental health but also our physical health. This can be through walking or being more active whilst carrying out activities such as gardening, which is a great way to burn off calories.
So now that we have explored some of the benefits of spending time in nature, let’s look at ways we can improve this connection.
Green Activities
Grow your own – One way of improving your connection with nature is by creating your very own growing space. Here you could grow food such as vegetables, or bright and colourful flowers. This space does not have to be large if you don’t want it to be. If you are wondering how to make this work with very little access to green spaces, you can always bring your growing indoors by planting herbs on your windowsill.
Shared spaces – Sharing spaces is another amazing way to improve not just your connection with nature but also with people is by joining a community garden or allotments. By doing this you do not need to have lots of experience as there will be people around to help you.
Nature art – Another way of connecting with nature is by collecting nature items when you are out and about and either use them to decorate your home or creating a piece of artwork using the items you collected.
Photo Album – Photography is another creative way to develop your connection with nature. Nature photography could include anything from open landscapes, wildlife photography or even macro photography of flowers.
Get creative – You can also connect to nature by getting creative. This could mean drawing, writing songs or poetry, or any other form of writing. This is something nice you can do from your window if you don’t have access to as many green spaces as others.
Watching the stars – Star gazing can be a fun way to open your eyes to the expansive world we live in. You can either go as a group or on your own and count how many constellations you can identify.
If you feel like your connection with nature needs improving why not try some of these activities. We will also be exploring different topics such as working with the seasons and forest bathing in our latest series here at Learn Your Flow.
