I’ve always loved the time when day loses itself into night. The ebbing of the light is magical for me at any time of the year, but in February I run contrary to popular opinion in my longing for a bit more dark wintering time. The dark days bring me a sense of comfort, meeting my need to withdraw and rest.

We tend to think that resilience is about being strong, keeping going in adversity, not giving in. Powering through.

But the science proves this wrong and there’s lots of evidence that overwork and exhaustion are the opposite of resilience.

In biology there’s a concept called homeostasis which maintains a constant internal environment in the body to continuously resource and sustain wellbeing. it takes more time and energy to maintain and restore this state if we don’t rest.

it is widely recognised that we are losing the language to describe nature. And if we don’t have the words for it, how will we recognise things like biodiversity loss. Words that describe nature appear less in contemporary literature and film than they did a decade ago as our lives become more urbanised.

I’m always a bit nervous of this question because there’s so much evidence that developing a meaningful relationship with nature can have such a broad range of benefits that it sounds too good to be true. But the scientists are in overwhelming agreement, it really does have far-ranging benefits.

Unfortunately green spaces like parks, beaches or woodlands are not accessible to everyone. For example, some people don’t live near to a green space, or don’t feel safe going there. People may not have transport or money to get to green spaces, or those spaces may not be accessible due to disability or illness.

There is a difference between having contact with nature and connecting more deeply with nature. Contact happens when we walk through the park, but our attention is elsewhere – perhaps planning whatever we’re going to do when we reach our destination, or thinking about a recent conversation. We might even be enjoying the scenery or appreciating the brightly coloured flowers but we’re not really taking time to absorb ourselves in this experience – so we’re missing out on the full benefits.

There is overwhelming evidence from hundreds of international studies that connecting with nature online and outdoors can help improve reduce ruminating and anxiety.

Many of these studies have been replicated in different settings with different control groups and they all agree that being in nature is good for our mood and general wellbeing.

When I first started connecting with nature for my own wellbeing I noticed that sometimes it seemed to ‘work’ better than others. I became curious to understand why; could I create the perfect recipe for ‘optimum nature connection’ – and were there things that dampened the experience - things I needed to avoid?

There are lots of indicators that our relationship with nature is breaking down as our urban lives become faster paced, cocooned from the impacts of our own wasteful consumerist behaviours and attitudes; we only need to consider climate change or the crisis of biodiversity loss to see this is true. Simultaneously, antidepressant prescriptions in the UK have almost doubled in ten years and severe mental illness is on the rise with more young people being particularly susceptible.

It really is reassuring to walk through a woodland and fall into step with a world that is comfortable with itself and makes no demands - nature knows exactly what it should be doing, whether that’s squirrels hiding caches of nuts in the autumn, stoats in their winter coats in the snow winter or birds staking out territories in the spring.

Studies have shown that time spent connecting with nature can restore and improve your concentration capabilities. This is thought to be because it can give the part of the brain that is responsible for active concentration time to rest.

One of the most simple and effective techniques for improving wellbeing is to Notice Three Good Things in Nature. Multiple studies have shown that if you do this daily you will strengthen your levels of optimism and boost your mood.

If we want to keep ourselves emotionally and mentally well, we need to be able to shift from being busy, stressed or trapped in cycles of rumination and move towards calmer, more receptive frames of mind.

One of my favourite ways of doing this is taking a few minutes to Notice Details in nature – close gazing at a single leaf or feather.