Spending more time in nature can improve your health and wellbeing through simple actions like installing bird feeders next to your windows and pausing to observe the trees and clouds.
Change up your routine
A study from the University of Exeter Medical School found that spending two hours in nature each week, even in brief bursts, significantly improved health and wellbeing. The study’s principal investigator, Dr. Mathew White, hypothesised that serenity might be important. A easy technique to promote calm is to start your day with a cup of coffee in the garden or simply close to an open window. Other suggestions include taking your lunch break outside or spending some time before bed gazing at the stars.
Be mindful of your surroundings
Leanne Manchester from the Wildlife Trusts exhorts people to examine plants, trees, and even weeds more closely. “Pause to observe bees swarming around flowers. Life is all around us, but it is so simple to overlook it. Instead, take your time, stop, and pay attention to it. A five-mile hike is not necessary to spend time outside and connect with nature, according to Claire Francis of the nonprofit Sensory Trust. To stimulate your senses, Jo Phillips, a director of the Forest School Association, advises looking for “five wonderful things.” It might be a flower, a cloud, moss on a tree, or the sun.
Together in nature
Manchester suggests that easy strategies to enhance exposure to outdoors include getting off the bus early or taking a stroll during breaks at work. Phillips advises pointing out features that have struck your attention if you’re strolling with someone, especially if you’re with kids. “Taking care of the world must become a top concern, so we should do everything in our power to ensure that the parents of the future have cherished experiences in nature, so they may give that knowledge to their children,” the author says.
Locate green areas online
In Great Britain, there are more than 62,000 urban green areas, so one should never be too far away. The Wildlife Trusts offers a list of accessible nature reserves along with a searchable online map of its nature reserves, almost all of which are open to the public for free. The most complete listing of green areas in Britain is reportedly found in the Ordnance Survey map layer called Greenspace.
Bring the outdoors to your window
Bird boxes near windows and planting and caring for plants on a windowsill can also offer year-round pleasure for people who are unable to go outside, according to Francis. A bundle has been created to encourage residents in care homes to feel more connected to nature as part of the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild campaign. Each year at the end of January, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds hosts its Big Garden Birdwatch. This requires an hour of bird watching, which you can do even from a window with a nice view.
