5 tips to connect with Nature
Take time to touch. Make sure you stop and feel the nature that is around you: The foliage, wood, rocks, water, sand. Notice the texture and temperature and what they remind you of.
Slow your sight down and drink in the colour and the shapes. It is easy to run our eyes quickly over things as we are so used to images on media that we skim through daily. Pause on objects that catch your eye and notice as much as you can.
Hone in on your hearing. Focus on your hearing and listen to sounds close to you. Gradually shift your awareness out in ever increasing circles to see how far you can hear and what that might be?
Seek out the Smells. Smell is our most basic and intense sense, the olfactory nerve, being the only one in the body that has a ‘hot line’ straight to the brain without going through any nerve synapses. It is responsible for sensing danger, poison and delight, and triggers memory the most easily out of all our senses. Move your nose close to the flowers and greenery to smell the subtleties – what do some of these natural things smell like? Treat it like a fine food or wine and note the hints of other things.
Taste your picnic. Although there are things to eat in nature I wouldn’t advocate using your sense of taste, unless it’s the picnic you’ve brought with you, and then feel free to slowly and mindfully eat your sandwiches!