I am a big advocate for reaching out to nature to support good mental wellbeing. I myself walk each morning to ground myself and charge up for the day, and I seek out nature when my mind becomes uncomfortably busy.
Why? Feasting on nature with all our senses is a reset for our nervous system and by taking time to reconnect with nature we can reduce anxiety and increase wellbeing.
Here are my top tips for hitting reset and easily connecting with nature …
Feeling overwhelmed?
Get out in nature (even if it’s your garden), take off any footwear and walk on the grass, really dig your toes in, feel the earth beneath your feet and breathe in deeply. This helps us to feel more grounded and connected with something bigger than ourselves.
Finding it hard to make a decision?
Get out of adult and into child to open our creative thinking ability! Find some grass, remove your footwear (can you see a theme here?), walk around and then sit cross legged on the ground, ask yourself ‘what would a five year old do?’ and play with the ideas that come up.
Feeling tense or anxious?
Take 15 minutes to step out into nature, find a tree you can stand next to (or lean against) and breathe in deeply. Research shows that trees release the best oxygen at dawn so to take this a step further go out just before dawn, find a tree and breathe in deeply next to it. Feel the oxygen fill your lungs and connect with gratitude to the tree.
Take a mindful walk
You do not need to be approaching crisis or overwhelm to benefit. Make walking part of your daily routine. Mindful walking means being 100% present in nature, noticing what you see, hear and feel, so walk slowly and take in everything around you completely and fully, if you notice your mind wander just focus on binging it back to what you see, hear and feel.
I run a 6-week stress management course for busy professionals. If you tap into your inner calm this is for you.
