Mindfulness is the practice of centring yourself in the present. Dwelling on the problems of the past or worrying about the threats of the future is a common past time in the 21st century Britain and this can negatively affect your mood and mental health. Nature offers one of the best places to practice mindfulness which can improve your life in a number of ways:
- It improves your wellbeing
Mindfulness is an activity anyone can take part in. It is the practice of becoming conscious only in the current moment of your life – not the future or the past. When you focus on the ‘now’ you cannot worry about what happened at work last week or what misfortunes could happen in the future.
In the ‘now’ there is just you and whatever is around you at that moment. This lowers stress and improves your overall ‘wellbeing’, which includes your mental and physical health. Mindfulness can be practised anywhere, but nowhere is it easier that within nature.
- It teaches skills that can be transferred to personal and work environments
By regularly practicing mindfulness, you can develop and even learn new skills that can be transferred to other areas of your life. You can use these skills in the workplace, family home and other stressful scenarios you might find yourself in.
- It gives nature extra importance to our lives
For the wildlife too, mindfulness is beneficial. The more people that use mindfulness in nature, the more essential nature becomes. Today, we rely on the natural world for our food, water and other resources. But with ever increasing pressures, the natural world is still under threat despite our dependency on it. So regardless of the existing benefits, more needs to be done to prove the advantages of conserving nature across the planet.
Mindfulness in nature provides a long-term solution to show more people that nature is vital to our day-to-day lives. Just twenty minutes can improve your well-being. Why not try next time you have a break – find any green space and just sit, stare, listen and see what you notice.
Sign up to our Coaching Service
If you’ve enjoyed this blog and would be interested in developing nature skills in communication, confidence and public engagement, why not sign up for my eco-tourism coaching service I am currently developing.
Throughout my years in the eco-tourism sector, I have seen both an increase in public knowledge of the importance of protecting and an increase in the pressure that nature faces. I have always believed that showing people how incredible and essential nature can be is essential to the protection of thousands of species.
Drawing from my years of experience, this subscription service will provide support for people who also want to make a difference by learning or improving their skills in public education and engagement of the natural world. You will get access to detailed blog posts designed to help anyone in the eco-tourism sector, whether you are just starting in the UK and you want to improve you confidence or are an experienced guide in New Zealand and want to develop your skills further.
For £25 a month you will receive:
- Access to 4 training blogs each month with videos and resources
- Access to a private facebook group with information, videos and live training sessions
- Access to a private whatsapp group where you can ask for help and advice
If you are interested, please contact via email russ@naturetalksandwalks.co.uk. We will begin in spring this year.
Until then, take care and remember, stay on the wild side!
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