The Challenge:
The more urban our society becomes, the less time we are spending outside. As contact to nature is becoming less common, connectedness to nature is as well. So here are ways to encourage that connectedness when you are in nature.
Tips/Reasons/Steps:
Unplug for a walk, take your pockitudes journal
Intentional grounding practice in open green spaces
Botanical gardens & other outdoor initiatives
Elect to walk when you can and use your journal to track natural occurrences
Dine on patios or rooftop gardens
Shop at farmer’s market
Conclusion:
When living in a city, connection to nature can prove to be more challenging. But when you take your Pockitudes journal with you, it makes it much easier!
You can’t go anywhere now without looking around you and seeing some version of construction happening. Whether there’s a new apartment building, a new office, or even a new subdivision–our cities are constantly growing.
This should be exciting! This means that there are new opportunities and growth being created. But so much construction can also create a distance from the natural world.
And when that distance is present, you might notice things like:
Higher levels of stress
Symptoms of depression
Anxiety
Feelings of loneliness
We’ve been there before. A few times.
If you don’t know, we are big on Gratitude practice. It’s actually our whole thing. An important piece of that practice includes making a conscious effort in creating time for nature in your life in some way, shape, or form.
Luckily, even in the most urban area, there are so many ways to still encourage connection with nature.
Unplug and go on a walk
In our society, our cell phones, tablets & laptops rule our worlds. Especially in this era of remote work.
Technology is evolving in ways that are making us even more reliant on our devices. You’re probably even using your smartwatch to track your habits and sometimes take calls on.
When you don’t have your tech gadgets with you, don’t you feel like something is missing? So much of our identity relies on these tools now.
And so much of our identity can take a toll because of them.
Schedule a walk in your day where you intend on taking no electronics with you. Or turn them off. Fully unplug.
Disconnect to connect to nature. Allow yourself to be fully present with all your attention on your walk.
Find an open green space and ground yourself
If you haven’t heard about earthing, you are in for a new favorite meditative practice.
Look for an open green space in your neighborhood. Somewhere easily accessible to you that you don’t have to go way out of your way for. You can find this in a sports field, a public park, or even off of a walking trail.
Take your shoes off, and walk barefoot on the grass or dirt. Focus on the points of your feet as you step down.
When you have this as a regular practice, there are many mental benefits such as:
Improved sleep patterns
Lowered stress levels
Decreased muscle tension
While you’re practicing earthing, this is a perfect opportunity to also practice mindfulness. Check-in with your thoughts. Where did they start? And where are they going?
Go and find the city’s outdoor initiatives
Even though the cities are growing–and growing fast–there has been so much creativity put into the outdoor initiatives cities have. Connectedness to nature is being prioritized by the city and the community alike.
Go and explore what outdoor, nature-centered spaces there are near you.
Places like botanical gardens, arboreteums, outdoor sculptures, or nature and science centers. Some cities even put on outdoor movies in a local park during the warm months.
There are several natural spaces that are intended for immersion in nature.
Take your Pockitudes journal with you
When you are going to spend some time outside, bring along your Pockitudes journal. Include your gratitude practices with your nature time.
Combining both the journaling piece with the nature piece is an easy way to make an impactful connection. And that connection is established much faster this way, too.
A few things to consider putting in your journal when you are connecting to nature would be:
Quick doodles of plants or animals that you are seeing
Write down what each of your senses is experiencing
Write about what the weather is like and how it makes you feel
There are many ways that you can include your Pockitudes journal in your connection to nature.
Choose to dine on the patio
When you are going out to eat, are you generally a booth person or a table person? Have you considered being a patio person? The patio is a favorite place to dine for a few different reasons.
For one, you get some fresh air while you’re eating your food. And if you are sitting outside while you are eating breakfast, you might hear some birds singing their morning songs for you.
If the patio has some good sun exposure, you also might get the opportunity to bathe in the sunlight. Soak up some vitamin D on your skin.
You’ll mainly get a chance to enjoy some time surrounded by nature and connect to the outside world while you are eating.
A good patio at a restaurant is going to have:
Misters and fans for the hot summers
Tons of greenery is planted around
Plenty of space to feel comfortable at your table
Shop at a local farmer’s market
Another way to take some time to connect with nature is to skip the grocery store. Instead, opt for going to your local farmer’s market.
This is a wonderful way to combine your outside time with completing an errand. And farmer’s markets make connecting to nature easy.
Look for some fresh flowers to decorate your home with. This is a beautiful way to bring some nature inside.
When you’re doing your grocery shopping at farmer’s markets, you’ll also be able to include your body in your nature connection by finding local, organic foods to nourish yourself with. You can never go wrong with nourishing both your mind and your body.
There are so many ways to connect to nature
These are a few favorite ways to connect to nature in the big city. There are a several more directions that you can take to make daily nature contact easily accessible to you.
Once you’ve made contact with nature a daily habit, then you’ll notice significant improvements in your mental wellness.
You won’t be feeling as lonely, and you’ll start to find that your symptoms of anxiety (or depression) will become minimal.
As these changes start to happen, don’t forget to write them down in your Pockitudes journal. Include them as something that you’re grateful for.