From Nature Deficit Disorder to Wellness

Do you know that feeling when you walk in a forest and you breathe the fresh air, you feel your body relaxing, you have a sense of fluidity, your mind is quiet and you just feel at home? - that’s a nature connected moment, and we need moments like that to live well.

Currently, as a society, we don’t spend enough time in nature to experience how restored it can make us feel. Yet scientific studies show that connecting to nature makes us healthier, more creative, more empathetic and more available to engage with the world, each other, and ourselves. 

At this time in history, it became natural to check our phones around 2.000 times a week, but it’s often hard to find the time to connect to nature and to do the things that bring us real joy. 

We’re losing our connection to nature more dramatically than ever before. Leading us to a state of Nature Deficit Disorder.

Nature Deficit Disorder, as coined by Richard Louv, is what happens when people spend little or no time outside in natural environments, resulting in physical and mental problems including anxiety, mood swings, difficulty to focus, and depression. 

The effect of connecting to nature can be quantified not only on mood and well-being, but also in our ability to think, to remember things, to plan, to create, to be spontaneous, to daydream, to stay focused, and also our ability to socialize.  

Florence Williams, in her book The Nature Fix, reminds us that “We have gained much since the dawn of the Internet, but many experts argue we’ve also grown more irritable, less sociable, more narcissistic, more distracted, and less cognitively nimble. There are times when we could all be a little less reactive, a little more empathetic, more focused and more grounded. That’s where a nature dose can help.”.

So, how much time in nature do we need to balance all of this out? Studies show that spending as little as 5 hours a month in nature already generates an extraordinary impact in our lives, helping us feel grounded, gain a sense of ease, have the capacity to be more empathetic, be more focused and more creative. 

Because at this day and age it is easier to use our phones than it is to connec to nature, here are 11 easy ways to get you started:

1. Keep a hiking journal - identify hikes you can do in your area and be intentional about going out to explore them. Start with one per month, and work your way up from there. Write down where you went, which distance you walked, how long you walked for, what kind of weather you had, what plants you found on the way, which animals you encountered, and who you walked with. You’ll see how satisfying it feels to have new entries on your journal.

2. Go to a garden, a park, a forest, and choose an area of around 10cm² (1,5 in²) to focus on. Watch that little area for 5 minutes, paying attention to all the details, any movements, any animals that come, any changes of light. Stay focused on your area. After that, make a drawing of that area.

3. Find a rock in nature and create a story about it. You can tell it to a friend, journal about it, or post it on IG. Whatever pops into your imagination when you connect with the rock is a great start to the story.

   
   

4. Draw a plant that you find in nature. Explore your creativity and enjoy your unique way of drawing this particular plant. There’s no rule - draw it with all its details, or use your imagination and intuition to draw how the plant makes you feel, or your unique way to see it.

5. Grow herbs and vegetables. Be part of the entire life cycle of a plant that you will eat. Appreciate the rhythm at which it grows. Notice the elements that support its development and the conditions that make it thrive. As you prepare to eat it, appreciate the plant’s entire life cycle that you’ve been a part of.

6. Walk barefoot, or spend some time with the soles of your feet directly touching the ground in one spot. For a very long time of our existence as humans this connection was a daily reality. Experience it now and enjoy the exchange of energy that happens between you and the soil.

7. Wake up and watch the sunrise. As the power star starts to shine its brightness, greet the sun and salute the new day. Reflect on the magnitude of this daily cycle, happening for eons of time.

8. Make nature art. Go to nature and find a spot you like. Look around for materials - little sticks, rocks, acorns, leaves you like, whatever calls your attention. Then find a spot and create a nature mandala, or any other form you feel called to.

9. Sit near water - choose a river, a lake, an ocean, or any body of water. If possible touch the water. Reflect on how all the water of the world is connected, and how it changes form from ice to melted water to gaseous, to rain. See a parallel to the water you’re made of. Honour this connection in a way that feels natural to you.

10. Breathe with a tree. Find your tree, greet it, and sit next to it. Let yourself relax, and rest your back on the trunk of the tree. As you relax there, supported by the Earth and the tree, bring your attention to your breath. Notice how the tree is breathing too. And for a little while breathe together with the tree.

11. Lastly: Stargaze. Stars have been guiding humans forever, and it’s not because we’re all geared up with technology that we don’t need star guidance. Notice the amount of stars above you, and be aware of the place you are looking from. Think of the Earth as seen from the stars. Acknowledge our place in this beautiful galaxy, and embrace our condition, living here on Earth amidst many other planets, connected to many other galaxies.

These are 11 suggestions to get you started. I can think of at least 111 more. And I hope you have fun creating new ones and sharing them with your friends.

Remember that nature connection is essential to keep a healthy life, where you feel at ease, you’re creative and spontaneous, you’re able to focus and your social skills generate harmony. 5 hours a month will make a great positive impact in your life!

Let me know how your nature connection journey goes! Send me a message on my website or DM me on Instagram.

If you want to keep exploring this deeper, I offer 1:1 Eco-Psychology sessions where we expand your connection to nature and explore your eco self. You can read more about it here - let’s do it together!

I’ll also have a nature connection course coming out this year >> Subscribe to my newsletter to know updates & other nature related news!