How Can Connecting with Nature Boost Your Wellbeing?

Getting back to nature really can improve your physical and mental health. Here are a few ways you can connect with nature to keep you happy and healthy!

Ever feel worse in the winter when you’re all cooped up inside? Or perhaps living in the concrete jungle of a city gets you down sometimes? Well, you’re not the only one. As humans, our connection to the natural world is really important to our physical and psychological wellbeing. In fact, numerous studies have shown that not being able to connect with nature on a regular basis can be pretty detrimental to our mental health. One study into our relationship with the natural environment even suggests being in nature can make people as happy as Christmas does.

But for many people, connecting with nature isn’t that easy. It might be because they live in an urban or suburban environment that doesn’t offer much in the way of natural spaces. Or perhaps they have with mobility problems that restrict access to the great outdoors.

Improving your mental health 

So, how can you get back to nature and boost your wellbeing without going off grid and buying a house in the middle of the woods? If you’re able to escape to the country once in while that’s great, but even if you don’t have access to the countryside, there are things you can do to bring a bit of the natural world back into your life.

1. Find your nearest park and take a visit. If you have mobility problems, you might be able to ask a family member, friend or carer to help you. Even if you can’t wander about too much, just sitting and enjoying the fresh air and greenery could do you the world of good.
2. Get out into the garden. From weeding and watering to planting and potting, there are lots of jobs that will get you interacting with nature. It’s also a great place to sit, relax and enjoy a cuppa. Even if it’s cloudy, sitting in the garden a little every day will help keep your Vitamin D levels topped up – which is really important for your physical and mental health.
3. Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to have a garden, particularly in a city. If you don’t have an outside space, you can still bring nature indoors by getting some house plants or potted flowers to care for or planting a few herbs in a window box to use in the cooking. If you’re fairly active, you might even be able to apply for an allotment or find a local community garden to get involved with.
4. Connecting with nature means having contact with animals as well as green things. If you’ve got a small outdoor space like a garden or yard, why not get a bird feeder or two? Watching the birds and listening to their cheery chirping can brighten the dullest day. And you’re helping them survive in an urban environment, especially through the winter months. There are even bird feeders that you can stick to the window if you don’t have a garden, so you can sit in your favourite armchair and watch them enjoying a snack. If you’re lucky, you might attract a squirrel or two as well.

Your ability to connect with nature obviously depends on your personal circumstances – whether that’s the place that you live or the health and mobility issues you deal with. But with the right support, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to get back to nature when you need to.  It’ll make you healthier and happier!

Helping you get back to nature

Keeping our customers happy is at the very top of our priority list here at Bluebird Care Bromley. As well as delivering the practical bits of home care, we do all we can to support people to live the way they want to, get out and about and live life to the full. Enabling people to get outside and interact with the greener bits of their environment is a really important part of what we do.

If you’d like to know how we can help you live well at home, get in touch. We do everything from 24 hour live-in care and daily visits to respite care or simpy helping you get to the park for a day out. Just give our friendly team a call on 020 8315 0236.