How to connect with nature

Well, I don't know how it's been for you, but it's been pretty easy to #connectwithnature today from the comfort of my consulting room!

It was hard not to notice it. It started with sunbeams streaming through the windows. The windows were then pelted with pointy hail stones, as thunder rumbled, and lightning illuminated the suddenly dark skies... and then came the chorus of renewed birdsong announcing the storm had passed.

That said, I started the day with a walk. I was in a hurry, fitting it in before the start of a working day, but I challenged myself to notice colour and texture, to look up and look down.

Back at home, when the hail came, I opened the back door and listened to it hammering at the slate roof, watched it ricochet at random angles off the garden furniture, observed it gathering in slushy piles.

And that is as simple as it needs to be sometimes, to quieten the fretful mind - just stopping and noticing, being in the present moment, gently focusing on what's happening here, now.

Connecting with nature doesn't have to involve planning, or adventure, or special scenery. It can be just noticing, quietly observing.

What did you notice today? What might you stop and notice tomorrow?

Connect With Nature is the theme of the 2021 Mental Health Awareness Week, driven by the Mental Health Foundation.