Image by Tom Laws. Words by Grace Wilson
I was recently invited to join Dr Em Pope on a Purposeful Adventure in North Wales to talk about all things nature connection and how it evokes emotion. I spend so much time in nature in different forms and I know how it makes me feel but it’s not often we have the opportunity to slow down and articulate these feelings into words.
The first time that I remember thinking about this was a few years ago when I saw Rachel Crewesmith talk at Kendal Mountain Festival. Rachel recounted how she loves to sit on a hillside and take in all the different colours of green across the landscape. It’s funny how I can’t remember what I did last week but I still remember thinking wow that’s so interesting and resolved to have more mindful moments outdoors and do it myself.
Nature evokes all sorts of emotions and the main feeling for me is a sense of calm and peace. If I’ve had a stressful day or something is on my mind I know that going for a walk in nature, or sitting on the beach listening to the waves crashing will lighten my mood and massively help with my mental wellbeing. There are multiple ways to spend time in nature whether running, hiking or, cycling through a landscape or just sitting in and enjoying a picnic. It brings you back to reality and into the present moment and it just makes me feel more content.
I love sitting to watch a sunset and observing the various colours in the sky or reaching the top of a mountain and feeling a sense of awe at the landscape below. There’s a Japanese word called ‘yugen’ which explains this feeling quite well. It means ‘an awareness of the universe too deep and meaningful for words’ so sometimes I can’t explain all the emotions that being in nature makes me feel… I call these Yugen moments. I love looking for highlights on komoot to find the best sunset spot, waterfalls or a classic bench with a view. I’ll plan a route around these and sometimes take a picnic and that can be the purpose behind my adventure.
I think it’s so important to weave connecting with nature into our everyday lives. I am sometimes guilty of sitting on my laptop all day and not leaving the house. This is especially difficult in winter when you could easily go days without getting some sunlight! If I haven’t been for a walk in even just two days I can tell that my mood starts to feel low, I need to get my nature and movement hit. We can do simple things like having plants in the house, scheduling breaks outside or walking instead of driving to the shop. I also like arranging to meet a friend for a walk or meet up outside instead of indoors which feeds two birds with one seed!
No matter where I am I always find time to get out whether I am travelling for work, staying with my parents or when driving long distances. I will open up komoot and search for a route around me or look for a new route to keep things interesting locally. I prioritise these small everyday adventures as much as I do food (ok maybe I am weird) and I see it as my mental health medicine to keep my low moods at bay. Even if it is just a quick 20-minute walk or a short run I always feel grateful for being able to move and for having those moments of peace away from a screen.
I feel like I understand nature more and feel more ‘at one’ with it when researching topics that interest me. I’ve begun building an understanding of the seasons and what foods you can forage at different times. Some apps use your smartphone camera to identify plants and I am always astonished by the number of edible varieties I walk past every day. I also love the app Merlin which allows you to record bird sounds and tells you which species it is. So, no matter if I am out in the forest or sitting at home, I can listen and take a moment to understand what birds are around me. I also recently started to be interested in the moon and understanding how it changes the tides or that the sun sets at different places on the skyline as the year goes on which is really interesting. I like to use komoot to share some of these finds on my routes so that other people can understand too… a place that is great for sunset in June might not be great in December and I can share all this information on the highlights. So I think the more we understand nature the more connected to it we feel and as Rich from Trash Free Trails says it’s not connecting with nature it is reconnecting… because we are nature!
Comments