For me it can be as simple as standing in a river.
The current winds past trees and fallen rocks before flowing around my feet. Cold water splashes on my skin. I can hear the steady roar of the river on all sides. So if I can connect—and that’s a big thing—I realize I’m standing alone in nature. I am a part of it.
Research shows that spending time in nature nourishes our health and well-being and promotes pro-social behavior in many ways. However, just as a distracted student in the classroom doesn’t necessarily benefit as much as an engaged student, just being in nature doesn’t mean we feel connected.
Psychologists use this term the connection of nature to describe feeling close to the natural world. Perhaps you’ve had times when you’ve truly felt this connection—when you’ve watched dramatic clouds change shape and color at sunset, or looked up to find a sky full of stars, or crossed paths with a majestic animal you rarely see.
If you had this experience, what was the difference for you between spending time in nature and actually connecting with it?
Some people find connecting with nature more difficult than others. More and more people live in cities where natural beauty is scarce. We are too busy immersing ourselves in the ways we want to. External distractions like technology—or perhaps even more commonly, internal distractions like everyday stressors—get the better of us. attention and makes it harder to connect.
So what really helps people feel more connected to nature in everyday life?
I recently with Holly-Anne Passmoreone of the leading researchers studying nature’s connection, about three practical strategies supported by the strongest psychological science. Nothing requires time, money, special equipment or access to the wilderness. They all involve a different mode of attention.
1. Notice nature and how it makes you feel.
If you want to try this experiment, pay attention to how natural elements and objects in your daily life make you feel. You don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary; just focus on nature while living. Then you can write down a few words that describe what you observed and how you felt. For example, you may feel calm, surprised, interested, or in panic. You can also take a picture of what you observe and come back to it later. See what happens if you do this every day or at least 10 days for two weeks.
I find this strategy. Nature Talk Intervention is said to be the simplest way to connect more with nature because it simply involves being aware of nature in your everyday life and how it makes you feel. it efficiency shows that focusing on our emotional experience of nature helps us feel more connected to it.
2. Identify three good things in nature.
To test this, write down three good things you notice in your daily life. For example, you can note the cuteness of the rabbit in your neighborhood, the beautiful colors of the flowers, or the freshness of the morning air. I imagine many people find this part of their morning or evening routine easy. See what happens if you do this every day for a week.
This activity reminds me gratitude practices that I have used over the years, but with a focus on nature. it efficiency suggests that thinking about what is meaningful in nature helps us connect.
3. Pay attention to your character strengths in nature.
Many of the strengths we value in ourselves can also be found throughout the natural world. Psychologists have identified a number of strengths and character traits that people regularly exhibit. Examples are curiosity, persistence, kindness, justice, self controland purpose.
If you want to try this experiment, see how your best strengths can be seen in nature that you encounter in your normal routine. Then write down what you notice. For example, persistence in a tree growing on a rock, kindness in a mother bird feeding her young, and purpose in opening a flower pollinated by a bee. Do this every day for a week and see what happens.
Important environmental readings
Reflecting on strengths in nature another way to deepen the meaning. If you’re like me, doing this can help you think about nature differently than you might.
Why is this important?
As Dr. Passmore emphasized in my conversation with him, these three actions point to an important insight: feeling connected to nature is not just about spending time outdoors. It’s also about how we pay attention when we’re there or when we think about it.
These interventions demonstrate various positive effects on well-being and efforts to promote environmental sustainability. For example, people who exercise perceive a greater connection to nature, experience greater well-being and meaning, and report lower levels of depression. anxiety and depression compared to those assigned to the control group. There is some evidence that these practices motivate people to help with caregiving environment.
However, many people pay very little attention to the natural world around them. In a large British surveyfor example, 80 percent of participants reported that they rarely or never saw wildlife or smelled wildflowers, while 62 percent rarely or never listened to birdsong or took a moment to see butterflies and bees. Of course, many of these participants have encountered wild animals, wild flowers, birds, butterflies and bees during their ordinary lives. Encountering nature is not about observing or connecting with it.
Maybe that’s why these simple actions are so important. They remind us to stop, notice, reflect, and connect with the living world around us. And in doing so, they can improve both people and the natural world.
So which of these three practices can you try this week? Think of it as a personal experience and see if you feel anything different afterwards.
