Coming Home: Small Ways of Incorporating Nature Into Your Everyday
The benefits of spending time in nature are immense. According to various studies highlighted in The Nature Fix by Florence Williams, being in nature supports the parasympathetic nervous system, lowers blood pressure, lowers stress, improves mood, can ease depression and can have a lasting impact on our immune systems. Many of us know this to be true, but it can be hard to find ways to really incorporate nature into our routine, our everyday life. That’s because we are often pulled in many different directions and roles. From family responsibilities, to maintaining friendships, to having to work way more than what is good for us in order to afford our lives… we are busy.
That’s why a big part of what I do in my counseling work is to try and help people break the cycle of busyness, stress and burnout. I call this “being over doing.” Being over doing changes the way we see success and productivity - turning instead toward slowing down and prioritizing presence. Being with nature can be a tool to help us turn inward, bringing more presence into our lives making us more intentional, thoughtful, whole people. We can come home to ourselves.
Ideas for how we can bring nature back into our everyday lives:
- leave your phone inside and spend 10 minutes in your yard… playing, gardening, sitting and watching the nature in your neighborhood, going on a walk
- window gaze: set a time for 2-5 minutes and just gaze out a window. notice what nature you can see and pay attention to your internal experience
- sensory walks: go on a walk in your neighborhood or at a local park, tune into all your senses on this walk. what do you smell? how many sounds can you hear? what various colors do you see?
- start realizing how alive the more-than-human-world is… on your way to work or during a lunch break, pay attention to how much aliveness is all around you (from the hundred year old trees to the tiny ants on the sidewalks)… life is all around us thriving and growing - the trick is to start paying attention to it
- find a nature buddy to connect with - pick one tree close to your house or start with your pet and just notice what it’s like to make more time with that part of nature
As you try some of this out, don’t put too much pressure on yourself! Just try a few things and see what you like. The most important thing is that you are creating space and allowing yourself to simply be. Trust that we are here for more than just the 9-5/Monday-Friday work cycle; we are nature and we are meant to be here. Wishing you many small moments of connection with yourself and the natural world going forward!
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