Mental Health Awareness Week: Connecting with nature

Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Week (10^th-16^th May). As you may have seen, the theme for this year is ‘Nature’.

The Mental Health Foundation explained that they chose nature because “45% of us reported being in green spaces had been vital for our mental health” over the last 14 months.

I couldn’t be more pleased with this decision as personally, being out in nature, whether it was for walks, runs, or socially distanced catchups with friends, was a saviour for my mental health.

This isn’t to say I didn’t have some challenging moments but appreciating what was around me and exploring new green areas in my hometown brought me peace that I had not felt before.

Not only did it give me a new perspective in the way I look at my life, but it deepened my connection with nature more than ever.

Our connection to the natural world has never been more important for our psychological and emotional health.

It’s important to remember that being in nature will not fix all the mental health struggles we experience, but it plays a huge part in helping us manage those struggles.

When we feel good mentally, we can look after ourselves in a more productive, kinder, caring, and patient way.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here are a few ways that nature can improve our mental health:

• It can bring about positive emotions such as concentration, harmony, and serenity.
• It can give us a greater appreciation for the smaller things in life.
• It increases our ability to connect with others.
• It boosts endorphins.
• It can positively affect the way we treat others.
• It can help to declutter our minds and let us have a clearer focus.
• It makes us more self-aware.
• It increases our creativity.
• It teaches us patience.
• It helps boost your immune system.

Quote: Nature can bring you to stillness, that is its gift to you’ – Eckhart Tolle.

How to experience and connect with nature:

A lot of us see nature as our local park or nearby woods, but nature can come in other forms too.

The plants in your bedroom or sitting on your kitchen table, that’s nature. Your tiny or large patch of grass in the garden, that’s nature too.

Experiencing nature is far more than just walking around outside.

It’s noticing the sounds of the birds in the trees, the rustling of squirrels in the bushes, the colour of the flowers, and the leaves. It’s the light that shines through trees on a sunny day, the scents of different plants, the fresh breeze we feel on our faces.   

There is so much more to nature than we think and when we notice those smaller details, that’s where our connection with it deepens.  

Taking the time to notice the beauty and good things about nature, helps us to appreciate the smaller, beautiful details in other aspects of our lives too.

As the Mental Health Foundation explains, “a strong connection with nature means feeling a close relationship or an emotional attachment to our natural surroundings”.

If one truly loves nature, one finds beauty everywhere.

Vincent Van Gogh

Final Thoughts:

Nature is something we should all be able to have access to, and I hope that the more we talk about its importance on our mental health, the easier this access will become.

Noone’s mental health journey is the same so if there is one thing that I ask all of you to consider and remember, it’s that everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.

Be patient, be respectful, and most importantly, be kind. Please, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it at all.

If any of you reading this are struggling, I have attached links below to some amazing mental health resources:

Mental Health Foundation: www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Mind: www.mind.org.uk / 0300 123 3393

Papyrus: www.papyrus-uk.org / HOPELINE UK: 0800 068 4141

Rethink Mental Illness: www.rethink.org / 0300 5000 927

Samaritans: www.samiratans.org.uk / 116 123

YoungMinds: www.youngminds.org.uk / 0808 802 5544