Habits. A New Year. A time to perform a good review of what has worked and what has not worked. I find myself at the beginning of this particular year wanting to break up with old habits that no longer suit me and start new ones that will help me on my wellness and happiness journey.
Creating healthy habits is not easy, even on my best days, I still find it difficult to make everything happen for myself. Certainly scheduling the habit helps- if it is not on the calendar it doesn’t get done, right? But, even when you schedule time for wellness, you need to have the grit to keep doing it. Consistently. Every day.
This year, I am starting with being gentle with myself. I know I am not going to get it right 100% of the time, and that is ok. Well, I can write that, and I know I mean that for you, my readers, but meaning it for myself is a completely different thing. So, I am definitely on a journey not listening to my inner critic, doing my best for myself every day and letting go and remaining gentle with myself.
For my best work to happen, I know how important it is to create mindfulness and wellness habits into routines so they continue to suit me consistently. What better way than to incorporate one change per week to two weeks! Trial a new wellness activity, see if it works for you and makes a difference to how you feel. Then, if not, change to something else and see if that works for you. If the change seems to work, makes you feel better, then create a habit by inserting the idea into your life, connecting it with another routine, setting aside the time in your calendar- anyway that works for you so that you will always, consistently do the new activity and reap the benefits of well being. Stacking behaviors and activities together will make the outcomes even stronger.
Over the course of this year, in this blog, I want to share with you some of my best wellness activities. I shared my morning rituals (habits) last week, this week I want to share my wellness habits around nature.
One of my most favorite, and most effective wellness activities is simply being in nature. A study called the “Noticing Nature Intervention” found that after two weeks, subjects in the study noticed significantly higher levels of well being, simply from paying attention to everyday nature! Imagine if you created a healthy habit (behavior) of intentionally incorporating nature into your everyday life! What if we went beyond just noticing and actually interacted with the natural environment?
Have you noticed after a holiday on the ocean, or a lake, when you have spent days with your feet in the sand and water, breathing in the healthy air of the mountains, that you feel rejuvenated and refreshed? Your body is actually spending time being connected with the earth (grounding- more on that later!), your mind is able to relax and unwind from being in the daily grind- the effects of nature are immense! Those effects seem to be driven not only by the physical nature of connecting our bodies to the earth, but also by the expansiveness of nature, we are filled with awe and wonder when we come upon a scene that is larger than ourselves. Our emotions of happiness, joy and contentment are stimulated as we look upon and experience the natural world. Many feel their best by the sea, others by rivers and lakes, still others experience nature best when surrounded by trees (forest bathing anyone?). What would happen if we spent time each day in a nature scene that stimulates feelings of well being? If we are fully involved, our senses are engaged and we are absorbed in the features of the landscape, we may feel more happiness, joy and a sense of wellbeing.
I came upon the scene in the picture of this blog while on a nature walk with Jason and Ella over winter break. It was January 1, 2023, a beautifully sunny, unseasonably warm day in Maine. We were walking through a nature preserve near the Sheepscott River- coming up over that rock and seeing the view of the water, sky and clouds was breathtaking to me. Those moments when we feel awe make our bodies resonate with natural connection. We spent the afternoon walking through the woods and checking out vistas that overlooked islands, rivers and beautiful scenery. We also did a bit of forest foraging, looking for pretty rocks, pine cones and moss for our natural landscapes and Ella’s famous terrariums.
While many of our busy lives seem not to be able to incorporate daily time in nature, knowing that it makes us feel so good, how could we immerse ourselves daily so that we reap the benefits of this incredible mood booster?
I will admit I haven’t figured this out quite yet, especially in the dead of winter. Dark when I wake up in the morning, dark when I get home from work- it is especially hard to find time to be out in the sun during the height of the day when I am working. Albeit, the spring, summer and fall are easier- sneaking out for a quick walk around the block at lunchtime is doable, scheduling time for a nature walk at the beginning or end of the day when it is still light outside is also doable. Winter seems to be the hardest time to get sun on your face and put your feet directly on the ground.
Because I know how much better I feel when I am in nature, a new habit I am forming is to spend time in nature, with nature, in any way I possibly can, everyday. Often, it is just my first cup of coffee being outside- even in winter- even when it is cold- just sipping and experiencing the awe of the early morning sky- stars, full moon and all. Stacking my nature time with exercise is also my goal- taking a walk by the river (I am so fortunate to live near the Farmington River)- listening to the sound of the river racing by, watching the waves, occasionally seeing a river otter all makes me smile and makes my body feel good. When spring and summer rolls around this will get even easier, as life moves to the great outdoors, there is gardening and chores to be done around the farm that require lots of outside time in the sun. Weekends are a good time to catch up on this outdoor time, but part of work this year is attempting to incorporate nature on a daily basis. The habitual, consistency of everyday nature elements is my goal.
Is this going to be hard? Probably. Work, life and trying to balance everything we have to do along with all our self care habits is hard. But nature is a non negotiable for me. And once you decide that the habit and healthy behavior is non negotiable, then you make sure it happens everyday.
Do you have a healthy nature habit to share? How do you make sure you have the time to do it consistently?
Be well,
Teresa
Some Resources:
The Nature Fix, Why Nature Makes Us Feel Happier, Healthier and More Creative, Florence Williams
Return to Nature, The New Science of how Natural Landscapes Restore Us, Emma Loewe
Rewilding. Meditations, Practices and Skills for Awakening in Nature, Micha Mortali
Passmore, et al. An extended replication study of the well being intervention, the noticing nature interventions. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23, 2663-2638 (2022).
The Wild Trees, Richard Preston
Seaweed Chronicles, A World at the Water’s Edge. Susan Hand Shetterly
We took to the Woods, Louise Dickinson Rich
Upwards, The Story of the First Woman to Solo Paddle the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, Laurie Apgar Chandler
Entangled Life, How Fungi Make our Worlds, Change our Minds and Share our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake.