musings
 

A closer relationship with nature helps people feel good and function well. Like drinking water when we are thirsty, each new connection we learn to make with the life of Earth improves its, as well as our wellness and joy, and happily we are biologically built to naturally connect with the Earth through our senses. This relationship to nature and a more meaningful, worthwhile life has been found to be four times more important than the existing benchmark of socio-economic status.

The evidence of the benefits is such that it is argued that nature connectedness is a basic psychological need.

Taking time to wander and wonder in nature is often not high on peoples’ priorities, but it is crucial for our physical, mental and spiritual health to feel connected to the earth we inhabit. There are many simple ways groups and individuals can enhance their sense of belonging in nature, on this amazing, living planet. Nature based mindfulness, and nature-connection practices can easily be brought into everyday life to boost feelings of wellbeing and contentment. In addition, our connection to nature is much more important to our cognitive needs than many realise, and even limited exposure to the living world has been shown to improve creativity as well as improve mood.

Just as rewilding the countryside restores natural balance to the land, rewilding our souls, or our essence, our spirit, does the same for human beings. We are not ‘part of nature’ we ARE nature.

When I speak of reconnecting to the primal, meaningful ways of living our ancestors did for thousands of years, I am not advocating that we go back to the old ways of hunting and gathering, living off the land as our foremothers and forefathers did thousands of years ago. That is not possible - and few would want to anyway. Connecting people with nature cannot be about demonising technology, or going back to (non-existent) halcyon days.

A deeper connectedness with nature must be part of a modern, increasingly urban lifestyle…We live in a modern society where ‘progress’ has taken us far from a natural existence, with machines and processes that will never be un-invented. We live in a world of television, wifi, social media, internet shopping, instant gratification. However, we can learn to reconnect with Mother Earth on a profound level - and we must for our own health and that of generations to follow us.

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Reconnect, Recover, Restore, Revitalise: Rewild your soul.

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