Wellbeing

Connecting with nature on a daily basis is proven to help us to feel healthier and happier, so we decided to a give The Wildlife Trust’s #30dayswild campaign a go to see how we felt after one month in the great outdoors.

Improved self-esteem, mood and a better connection to the world around you - these are just a few benefits that come with spending more time outdoors. So you may be shocked to learn that the average person in the UK spends a rather miserable 92% of all their time indoors.

The Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild campaign is a helping to change that. For one month, you’re asked to connect with nature each day. These random acts of wildness can be anything from identifying a species of insect you’ve never seen before, building a bug hotel, or simply taking your lunch break in green space.

Anyone can get involved with the challenge, whether you live in the city, the country or somewhere in between, the campaign is asking us all to look just a little harder at the patches of nature around us, no matter how big or small.

So, I decided to rise to the challenge and rewild my life a little to see if the claims were true. For one month I agreed to connect with wildlife every day, documenting my thoughts and feelings along the way.

I was somewhat sceptical at first. As someone who spends a fair amount of time outdoors already, I questioned whether or not the 30 Days Wild challenge would really make much difference to my lifestyle. It turned out that it made quite a notable difference from day one.

My personal experience of nature has always been a positive one. Growing up in Dorset meant many happy, hazey childhood days spent falling out of trees and camping in the countryside - bruised, muddy knees were a favourite Tomboy accessory. As I’ve got older those same wild spaces have remained incredibly important. They’re somewhere where i can fully achieve headspace when things are busy or challenging and a place where I can feel completely at home no matter where I am in the world.

I began by speaking with Lucy McRobert, The Wildlife Trust’s communication manager and a keen nature lover, to find out why 30 Days Wild is so linked to wellbeing.

“If we start connecting more with nature not only is it great for wildlife because we’re caring more, but it’s also great for people because it helps us to feel more connected to the world around us.” Lucy told me.

“A lot of us are becoming increasingly disconnected from nature and it’s very bad for both our psychological and physical health. Nature is a fantastic resource for feeling healthy and it’s linked to people’s appreciation of beauty. If you notice beauty around you you’re more likely to feel happy and healthy” she continued.

Lucy was eager to explain that this beauty could also be found in more urban areas too, but that we may just need to look harder to find it: “We have loads of people in urban areas taking part and they’re noticing wildlife in places like the centre of London, Glasgow and Manchester, which is really exciting. We want to help people in cities who aren’t getting those wild experiences.”

I spent day one giving our house plant collection some long-needed tlc. Some of them had needed repotting for a while, so I brought them all outside for a sunbathe and pruned, hosed and fed the little dudes until they looked significantly happier. Okay, so I hadn’t climbed mountains or swum with any sharks, but I did feel more positive already.

The campaign is held throughout June when British weather is (usually) balmy and gardens are springing to life. A heatwave and some unusually hot summer days meant I was looking for any excuse to step outside, but making a conscious effort to engage with nature was a therapeutic addition to each day. If you missed this June don’t worry, #30dayswild is used throughout the year, meaning you can take up this challenge at any time.

A couple of mornings I sat and did a 30 minute garden watch while drinking my coffee, writing down each little thing that I noticed. If I saw a species of insect or bird that I didn’t recognise I would make an effort to identify it, something which I realised I don’t always make the time to do. If you’re new to this kind of thing the 30 Days Wild community provide plenty of support, something I discovered when trying to identify a Scarlet Tiger Moth while camping.

I began to see how 30 Days Wild could not only improve people’s wellbeing but also help them to care a little more for nature. Surveys taken after the challenge showed significant changes in people’s pro-nature behaviour, while it’s been found that identifying a species or volunteering for a wildlife charity can not only enhance our appreciation of what’s around us, but also lead to improved attitudes and mental wellbeing.

I live neither in the countryside or the city - more of a suburban limbo where I can access both quite easily. The coast is a half hour cycle from my house and I’m lucky in that I have a garden, so spend a lot of weekends outside, but it was the times in between which made the most difference. I made an extra effort to eat my lunches outside and not at my desk and felt far more switched on for doing so.

Studies have shown that simply stepping outside for our lunch breaks can boost productivity, lowering our heart rate and the hormones which make us feel stressed. Above all, sitting outside while I munched on a falafel wrap gave me some clarity and chance to stop thinking about work, not to mention that the food tasted all the better for it.

Over the course of 30 Days Wild my random acts of wildness varied from bigger things like building a bug hotel, to simply choosing the longer, scenic cycle to work. Once the month was up I realised just how much more positive I felt. I felt more connected with nature, just as Lucy had said I would and more mindful of my surroundings. I had never fallen out of love with nature but I certainly had a bigger appreciation of all the little wild things around me.

My verdict? 30 Days Wild is incredibly easy to do - you don’t even need a pair of khaki cargo trousers, just a willingness to connect a little more with the natural world. Because as Lucy says: “All our lives are better if they’re a bit wild.”

To start your 30 Days Wild adventure, why not sign up and begin making some random acts of wildness.

The arts have never been more accessible - digitalisation of art galleries means we can walk through the Louvre, livestream an opera, or create masterpieces on our phones without a palette or easel. The arts really are at our fingertips and yet it’s all too easy to forgo a couple of creative hours for a Netflix binge. But getting creative offers more than just a collection of fridge door masterpieces, it can help us to destress and has even been found to lower cortisol levels, the hormone which makes us feel frazzled.

Lush Spa research and treatment developer Hannah Lammiman explains why it’s so important to keep creative, she says: “There’s a lot of artistic things on social media and we’re probably more inspired than we ever have been, but we also need to be physically doing it, otherwise we’re going to end up with a society that isn’t actually engaging. When you are physically creative you feel like you’ve achieved something.”

Expressing ourselves creatively can be a great for wellbeing, whether that’s through drawing, painting, poetry or dance (pretty much anything that gets the creative juices going). There’s no correct answer in art, meaning we can experiment without boundaries and getting creative can even make us happier, giving us an outlet for our emotions.

Hannah comments: “If you’re feeling under pressure or a bit grumpy, step out and be creative or more mindful of what’s going on, you’ll feel happier and healthier for it. It could be as simple as taking a walk down the beach and looking at the colours of the sea, then coming back and painting your bedroom that colour. People’s creativity comes in so many different forms - colour, sounds, frequencies, feelings, emotions - it’s such a broad thing. Everything is a blank canvas so be inspired by everything.”

If you’ve ever indulged in an artistic activity then you’ll probably have managed to lose track of time at some point or another. According to psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, this sensation is regarded as a state of ‘flow’ - the point when we are totally immersed in something to the point where we switch off from everything else and focus only on the moment. Not only does this meditative-like state help us to forget our day to day stresses, pleasure-inducing chemicals in our brains are increased, helping us to feel good. Simply looking at a piece of art can create a surge of dopamine in our brains, the chemical released when we fall in love, showing just how powerful the arts can be.

Art helps us to be fully present in the moment, it requests us to slow down and pause, much like ‘mindfulness’ - a form of meditation that we can utilise any time of the day, no matter where we are in order to destress. Hannah comments: “When you enter an art gallery you are more quiet and focused. You come out feeling more inspired and in a different mindset to when you walked in. Sometimes we look at things very practically and we don’t think outside the box, but using the arts on a daily basis and looking at the world in a more creative way can help us to problem solve. It helps us to look at things in a different way because we are more in the moment and therefore more relaxed.”

GPs and nurses are now able to prescribe a range of non-clinical services known as ‘social prescriptions’. Prescriptions include activities such as art, volunteering, gardening and cookery and studies have shown improvements in quality of life, general wellbeing, depression and anxiety following these exercises. Organisations like The National Alliance for Health and Wellbeing and The Arts Council are helping to raise the profile of the arts, reporting their benefits, funding projects and supporting arts and culture across England. Many organisations are slowly beginning to acknowledge the genuine physical and mental benefits of the arts.

But you really don’t have to be an artiste in order to enjoy the benefits of creativity. If you’re not sure where to start then here a few creative activities for mindfulness to help you get going.

Mindfulness colouring books

If you thought you’d left the colouring books behind, think again. Mindfulness colouring books are a far cry from the colouring books of our childhood, but they can be just as enjoyable. These elaborate designs are intended to help focus the mind, enabling us to turn off busy thoughts.

Start a bullet journal

Unlike a diary, the bullet journal offers a more visual and imaginative way to chronicle every day. From illustrations to secret codes, journallers are getting increasingly creative. If you’re not sure where to begin, YouTube and Pinterest are full of inspirational bullet journal tutorials to help you kick start your own.

Face the music

Whether you’re listening to it or making it, music is proven to have enormous effects on wellbeing, from reduced anxiety and enhanced mood, to improved quality of life and self awareness. Why not learn to play a musical instrument, try singing lessons, or simply make yourself a feel-good playlist?

Shake it off

Aside from the physical benefits, dancing can also make us feel good. It can help improve confidence, while using a fair amount of brain power and coordination, making it a brilliant all round activity for mental and physical health. Join a dance class or just take some time during the day to physically express yourself, you’ll feel great after.

So next time you’re looking to switch off, why not disconnect from technology, get creative and join the self-care club? You can read more about the benefits of slowing down to speed up here.