stress reduction — Blog

Looking to expand your connection or re-connect with the natural world? There are many reasons to spend more time in nature, including stress reduction, creative inspiration, health, and overall wellness. Below you will find four ways to boost your connection to nature and get better in touch with your natural instincts.

1. Take care of a plant.

Whether you are brand new to caring for a plant or you are running out of space in your home to put them, consider how much houseplants can teach us about our connection to nature. Consider the warmth and color they add to your home and the satisfaction you feel from sharing your energy and time to care for them.

For those new to houseplants, the most important advice I can give you is: never give up. Focus on forming a relationship with your plant and a commitment to its survival will follow. Have questions about the health of your plant? Answers are never more than an internet search away. Good, hearty beginner species to try include: philodendron, pothos vine, peace lily, snake plant, lucky bamboo, and Christmas cactus.

If you have one or more houseplants already, spend some time examining them up close. Focus on strengthening your relationship to your plants or consider treating yourself to taking home a new species you’ve had your eye on. Examining the intricate and obvious differences between species will breed an appreciation for the abundance of diversity in this world.

2. Get creative.

Express yourself creatively using nature as a tool or as inspiration. Stack stones, collect items to build a mini-shrine and reflect on the time you’ve spent present in nature, journal, draw, paint, take photographs, collect and arrange bouquet of wildflowers. The possibilities of what you can create are as endless as the discoveries you will make as you spend more time in the natural world.

3. Take a hike.

Take a hike like you’ve never stepped foot in the woods before – play, experiment, touch, let your curiosity lead you and you’ll be amazed at the new things you find. Pay attention to the micro-world, spend some time in the dirt or sand or turn some rocks in a stream. There are stories in every puddle and under every decaying log just waiting to be experienced. Spend some time, also, in the darkness … and look up! Stargazing will enable you focus on what is big and beautiful and mysterious in a tradition that goes as far back as human existence.

Think about joining a hiking group. Websites like meetup.com and local community groups offer a chance to connect with others while you connect with nature. Many parks and nature centers also offer free or inexpensive guided hikes or plant walks with experienced naturalists. Here, you can bring the questions and curiosities from your own hikes and learn to see the natural world from a different perspective.

4. Celebrate the seasons.

Yes, even winter can and should be celebrated! Eat seasonal foods, decorate, make seasonal flower arrangements, pay attention to the weather and small changes in the natural world around you. Indulge in and appreciate all the nuances that constitute each season. Experience them completely and then let them go. Each season is fleeting – for the good OR bad – and this teaches us a powerful lesson on living in the present.