TIPS FOR CONNECTING WITH NATURE 🌳

May 2, 2021

CONNECTING WITH NATURE

being surrounded by nature affects your mental and physical health.

☀️🌲🌸

🌿 nature heals, restores, and connects 🌿

The sounds of the forest, the scent of the trees, the sunlight playing through the leaves, the fresh, clean air-these things give us a sense of comfort, there's no doubt about it. Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. Nature helps us reflect on our own lives and our connections with others through inducing feelings like awe, wonder, and reverence, all emotions known to have a variety of benefits, promoting everything from well-being and altruism to humility to health.

Here are ways to get in touch with nature this May

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Bring Nature Indoors

Research done in hospitals, offices, and schools has found that even a simple plant in a room can have a significant impact on stress and anxiety. When you place plants strategically around your living space, you can enjoy the benefits of purified air in kitchens and bathrooms and easy breathing while you sleep in the bedroom.

To Purify: Snake plant, Spider plant, and Aloe Vera

To Increase Oxygen Levels: Pothos, Areca Palm, and Gerbera Daisy

Did You Know?

Monoterpenes are compounds found in the essential oils extracted from many plants, including fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs. Monoterpenes help to support the respiratory system, and are responsible for many of the antibacterial, antiseptic and antiviral properties in essential oils. Monoterpenes are natural air purifiers and deodorizers.

here are the essential oils we recommend to diffuse in your home for these purposes:

Eucalyptus Globulus Essential Oil

Pine Needle Essential Oil

Tea Tree Essential Oil

Go Forest Bathing.

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is a practice derived in Japan. Shinrin in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses. It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Shinrin-yoku is like a bridge. By opening our senses, it bridges the gap between us and the natural world.

How Do You Do it?

Leave all of your technology at home or in a backpack out of sight. Pick a spot in nature, even if it's a park or somewhere simple.
Wander around and let your body guide you savoring the sounds, smells and sights of nature.
Listen to the birds singing and the breeze rustling in the leaves of the trees. Look at the different greens of the trees and the sunlight filtering through the branches. Smell the fragrance of the forest and breathe in the natural aromatherapy of the plant life around you.
Once you have reached a calm state of mind and experience feelings of joy and peace, you have connected with nature.

Gardening Is Good For You

Planting flowers and vegetables can reap bountiful bouquets and delicious harvests for your dining table. But did you know gardening also can do wonders for your well-being?

Growing your own food can help you eat healthier. If you have a vegetable or herb or fruit garden, you’re getting fresh produce that you know hasn’t been treated with pesticides or hormones.
Gardening can build your self-esteem. When you put in all the hard work of tilling, planting and nursing your plants and start to see growth, it makes you feel accomplished!
Gardening reduces stress. It gives you a chance to focus on something and put your mind to work with a goal and a task in mind, which is especially helpful to combat depression and anxiety through watching something living grow and thrive.