Can you take a word out for a stroll and see what it reveals?

Is it time to put down something that is burdening you?

A reminder to look ahead with an open mind and heart.

This prompt is sometimes more revealing than you expect. How often do we take pause to notice where we’ve come from?

A reminder to look ahead with an open mind and heart

A call to the soul to make yourself sensitive and open to all the things you have stopped noticing.

You can use my Other Ways to Walk cards as a prompt to set an intention for a walk. Simply pull one card at random from the pack and use that as a guide. It’s a great way to bring new interest to a regular walk.

I’m doing that for you today - here’s your invitation to connect with nature by finding something precious to hold. Maybe you will go for a little walk together, before you do the last step.

The first smattering of rain is falling, staining the grey garden cushions with dark leopard print patterns. I stay, enjoying the sound and smell of the rain. The resident starling colony, numbers swollen by a successful breeding season, are making a cacophonous sound on the roof of my house, chattering, whistling and clicking at great speed and volume. With a whoosh, they take off, moving as one, briefly darkening the sky as they zoom overhead, then swerve left across the gardens, out of sight.

Here’s the full version of the Nature Connection Manifesto

Next week I’m giving a presentation about my Nature Connection Manifesto, developed during a knowledge exchange project with the University of Huddersfield, 2024. The manifesto highlights the significance of reconnecting with the natural world, for individual and environmental well-being and proposes six actions. In preparation for the Nature Connections 2025 conference I’ve been thinking about how the Six Actions relate to each other. In particular I’ve been thinking about the role of empathy.

I am a professional nature connection guide. But that doesn’t mean that my relationship with nature is effortless. I have to put the effort in, just like other relationships in my life, making time to reach out,  listen, consider other’s needs. I enjoy spending time with nature, but perversely the completion of short tasks (sending an email, checking a budget, coordinating a meeting) can be more enticing, offering instant gratification and a sense of achievement. So, nature connection is an intentional practice that I make space for, even on the busiest day.

I set my intention, to shift from a task-driven way of thinking to a more meditative and open-ended state of mind, better suited to listening to what nature has to share with me. 

The picnic bench invites me to dwell awhile, under the umbrella of white blossom. A cock pheasant paces back and forth behind me, rhythmically calling, steady squeaks, like a foot pump. His colours and markings remind me of the caged birds in the park when I was a child. My favourite was the Golden Pheasant, native to the mountains of China, with a golden crest, scarlet body, blue wings and a stripy orange ruff (like a cape). Now there are feral populations in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. There’s at least one bird in my local woods, though I’ve never spotted him.

In recent years nature connection interventions have become more common in parks, gardens, nature reserves and heritage settings. Their wellbeing programmes range from self-guided activities accessed via QR codes or printed guides, through to facilitated sessions with expert guides. 

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how beautiful the setting, and how well designed the guidance, it’s just not possible to relax and enjoy the moment. Maybe you’re too tired, have a worrying thought that won’t leave you alone, or just can’t switch off your busy mind. 

The woodland soundscape is all hiss and rasp of dry leaves. Birds rustle through brittle undergrowth, foraging for food. Above, I hear the prickly whispers of brown oak leaves clinging on to twigs, in defiance of the wind. There are one or two bird calls, but mostly the forest has an airy, quiet feel, that helps me to breathe a little slower and drop my pace.

It feels particularly ‘heart-warming’ to hear birds calling at the beginning of the year, bringing an optimism about the advancement of spring. After the quiet ‘hunkering down’ vibe of December there’s a definite lift in energy from here on. The robin song is especially welcome, as they start to establish breeding territories in readiness for spring.

This is a time of year when we can feel more isolated and become disconnected from nature, spending more time indoors cut off from the world. Out in the woods, the birds are beginning their mating rituals and the acorns are nestled into the womb of the earth waiting for the warmth to wake them.

Awe is critical to our sense of wellbeing and has the effect of calming our nervous system and triggering the release of oxytocin, the so called ‘love hormone’ that promotes trust and bonding. Awe is also shown to help us keep things in proportion and be little less self-preoccupied.

I am offering free P&P on all sales from my online shop this month

As a visual artist who primarily works in solitude, I welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with other researchers at the University of Huddersfield. My contribution involved sharing my practice of mindful nature connection, using it as a source of inspiration for new artworks.