Today we humans are more disconnected from nature than ever before. Our busy schedules don’t leave much free time anyways, and the few hours we do have, we often spend glued to the screen, instead of in nature. It is just more easy, more comfortable that way. However, the increasing disconnection from nature has many negative consequences. The term Nature Deficit Disorder has recently gained popularity. It describes the negative effects of children spending less and less time outdoors. However, not only children, but everybody benefits from reconnecting with nature. This is why I am going to introduce you to 9 simple tips for building a stronger connection to nature.
Benefits of Connecting with Nature
Firstly, what a lot of people seem to forget is that we, as humans, are all part of nature. There is no separation, no us vs. nature, no boundary. This is why it does not really come as a surprise to hear how important the human nature connection actually is. Spending more time in natural surroundings is said to increase our mental health, and lower our levels of depression and anxiety. Nature also improves our creativity, concentration, and helps us to feel more calm and joyful. Additionally, a deeper connection to nature also improves pro-environmental behaviors. This is especially important today, where climate change becomes and increasingly bigger threat.
Just to clarify, to connect with nature you don’t have to travel to the most remote corners of the earth. You can also just go to your garden, a city park, or a nearby forest. Even in urban areas, nature can be found in many places if you look for it. That’s the good news: it doesn’t really matter where you interact with nature, but more how you do it!
Tips for Strengthening your Connection with Nature
Take a Barefoot Walk
Walking barefoot, which is a type of grounding, is said to have various positive effects on the body. While grounding is currently still a bit under researched, some studies suggest that the electrical charges from the earth strengthen our immune system, reduce pain, and improve our mood.
But even if you are a bit skeptical to the general benefits of grounding, I would suggest to just give it a try. Just take off your shoes for a few minutes during your next walk in the forest, park, etc. It might feel a bit unfamiliar at first, and maybe even a bit scary, because your feet feel more vulnerable without shoes. But you still have your eyes to check where you are stepping. And if it doesn’t feel like something for you, you can just put your shoes back on. But who knows, maybe you will enjoy feeling the cool earth under your feet or the soft grass between your toes. And maybe this will even make you feel more in connection with nature.
Take a Mindful Walk in Nature
Like I already mentioned, strengthening our connection with nature is really about the how we interact with nature. Many of us might occasionally go for a walk in the forest, but are then absorbed by our phone or by thoughts. Next time you enter a natural area, try purposefully slowing down. Try to observe everything around you. Listen to the sounds of nature, feel the trunk of the trees, or maybe the grass beneath you. Maybe you can even smell the earth, or the grass, or some flowers. The main point is to consciously involve all of your senses. If you feel your mind wandering off, try to gently bring it back to the observation of your surroundings.
Sit in Nature and Observe
This one is similar to the previous one, except that instead of walking in nature, you pick a specific place to sit, and stay there for a while. You might feel like after a few minutes you have seen everything there is to see at this place. But if you pay closer attention, you will see that nature is constantly changing. There are insects flying around, coming and going, the wind is moving the plants, leaves are falling to the ground. You might even be able to spot animals after some time of sitting still, like squirrels, mice, maybe even foxes or deer.
The point is that really getting to know nature, even if it is just one specific spot, takes time. Maybe you want to come back multiple times to the same place. This way you can see how it changes depending on the time of the day, or throughout the year. This spot does not have to be far away, it can even be your own backyard.
Learn about Plants and Animals
A recent study found out that an average 10–14-year-old can recognize 1,000 corporate logos, but cannot identify 10 native plants growing nearby. This shows perfectly where we put our priorities in our society. This then explains why we still often put economic growth over environmental protection. To counteract this, we can start by teaching ourselves about plants and animals. It is truly an amazing feeling to go to the forest and be able to identify the different types of plants, or be able to read the traces of animals, or hear the differences in bird sounds. This will also make you feel much more connected with nature. Like you are opening the door to something that you were only able to see from the outside before.
Plant Something
This is another tip that you can try in your own garden, balcony, or even in your room. So, you can really deepen your connection to nature everywhere, without having to go far. There is something really satisfying about planting something into the earth, putting in a bit of your energy and watching it grow. Even research proves that keeping plants in your room has various benefits. These include reduced stress levels, increased productivity, and even increased well-being among people with depression and anxiety. But even taking all of this aside, keeping plants in your house is just a nice reminder that nature can be found everywhere, and that there is no contrast between the human and the natural world.
Keep a Nature Journal
A nature journal will help you to better remember your experiences in nature, make sense of them, and explore what you are seeing with curiosity and excitement. It can also help you to gather knowledge and information about nature. It doesn’t really matter how you want to structure your journal. Whether you want it to be mainly text or mainly drawing, more scientific or more creative, or a mixture of both, the main point is that it strengthens your connection to nature.
You can for example start by sitting in your garden or a park, and describe a flower in detail, and then add a sketch of that flower. This doesn’t have to be a professional sketch, it is just for you to look at later on. You can also write down what you are seeing, hearing and smelling while being on a hike. Or you can add sketches of animal tracks you saw in the forest, or literally anything that catches your interest.
Create Art about or with Nature
Creating art about nature is also something which you can do everywhere, even in your room. What type of art you want to produce doesn’t really matter, as long as it reflects on your nature connection. You might want to paint one of the plants in your room or a tree from your garden. Or you want to write a poem about nature. Maybe you also want to go to the forest to collect leaves or sticks and create art out of them, and thereby actually make nature a part of your work. There are literally no limits to your creativity.
Gather Berries or Herbs
Gathering berries or herbs is a perfect way to foster a deeper connection to nature. Before you can go into the forest to collect them, you of course first have to learn about what berries and herbs are edible and which are not. But don’t worry, it doesn’t take super long to learn. And learning about this will also teach you more about the human connection to nature in general. It’s pretty amazing to be able to collect something from the forest that you are able to eat afterwards. Gathering your own food is something that feels quite primitive, but in a positive way. It allows us to connect to our past, a time when humans had no choice but to collect the food they wanted to eat from the forest. And of course, forest berries and herbs are just super yummy as well.
Go Stargazing
When we think of nature, we often just think about forests, and fields, and maybe lakes. But we rarely think about the universe. However, gazing into the vast universe at night and seeing just some of the trillions of stars that surround us, can be a quite humbling, and sometimes transformational experience. It is the time when the world around us turns dark and we are remembered how big the universe is, and how small we are.
You don’t have to go to a specific place to go stargazing, even though in bigger cities it might be more difficult to see the stars. But in most cases just sitting in your garden or on your balcony at night surrounded by darkness will do. Just see how many stars you can count, if you are able to spot any patterns, and if you can maybe even name some of them. You will realize that the longer you look, the more stars you will spot.
There are lots of different ways to deepen your connection with nature, you just have to try out some things and find out what works best for you in the long run. Just remember that connecting with nature is possible everywhere and that the most important thing is being attentive and mindful!