Nature Connections and Eco-therapy
It was during lockdown that I realized just how important it is to have regular time in nature. All those days cooped up in our flats and houses-it’s no wonder that I saw an unprecedented spike in people seeking out therapy. The truth is that we need connections in order to thrive-to each other, to forests, gardens, animals and to the beautiful countryside that is never so far away even when we live in the city. I know that many in the mental health world came to the same conclusion and even saw psychiatrists recommending time outside in green spaces alongside psychiatric medication. It was during Covid that I started to study ecotherapy courses with the wonderful Tariki Trust and Gaia Education.
What is Ecotherapy?
It’s an umbrella term for an activity that reconnects us with the living world. We so often talk about ‘Nature’ or ‘saving the planet’ as if it is something that is different from us, separate. It is not so-we are part of the living world and nature is our birthright. So much of our lives in the West is spent in built up areas, isolated from each other in our houses and offices, in front of computer screens. We owe it to ourselves to spend some time reconnecting to our natural selves and ecotherapy provides many ways of doing this.
One aspect of nature therapy that I have found very helpful in my work as a therapist is that time spent in nature gets us out of our heads and into our bodies. Mental health problems are almost defined as problems in the head. When we suffer from depression, stress or anxiety the thoughts just go round and round like a bluebottle in a jam jar. How trapped we feel! The tendency is to try and outthink our own thoughts but, in my experience, this just makes it worse. It’s so much more effective-and fun-to go outside and spend time in woodland making a den with the kids, or to whittle spoons by a camp fire, or to pick shells up on a beach.
