Why being in nature won't help you de-stress

Have you ever heard that being in nature is good for you and is one of the best things for stress? Well, what if I told you that this is not true and simply ‘being’ in nature is just about as good as not being in nature at all and in fact, being in nature won't help you de-stress.

Well, okay. Being in nature can help you de-stress, but only if combined with mindfulness and connection.

Imagine for a moment that you are walking through a park. But you are wandering along with your eyes glued to the screen and your headphones in your ears. You flick glances occasionally this way and that around the screen, your thumbs absently scrolling, while your thoughts ruminate over worries and stresses, frustrations and anxieties.

How would you feel by the end of that walk?

I’m guessing that by the end of this walk, you would be feeling just as stressed as you were when you started it. In fact you probably would not have been aware that you had just completed your walk and wondered how you arrived at the end of it!

How to de-stress in nature instead...

Now, imagine walking through that same park. But this time, with you phone safely out of the way in your pocket and your senses turned outwards. You turn your head towards the sounds you hear - bees humming, grasshoppers strumming and birds singing vibrantly in the trees. You breathe deeply, enjoying the inhaled perfume of roses, lilac and hyacinths, cut grass and recent rain. Joyfully, your eyes wander this way and that, delighting in the sunshine and clouds, the dappled leaves, the fluttering butterflies and the beautiful flowers.

How would you feel by the end of this walk?

I’m guessing you would be feeling pretty good. Definitely less stressed and perhaps more hopeful, energised and content.

These two walks were both in the same place, but the results are so different. This is because while doing the second walk, you were present and aware, using your senses and noticing all the amazing things happening around you. But during the first walk, your attention was directed inside your own head, leaving you unaware of what was going on.

I believe it is this mindfulness, which makes the difference in helping you de-stress when in the presence of nature. Not simply the act of being physically in nature. What do you think?

Why not try it the next time you are out and see if you notice a difference.

Goodbye for now and happy nature walking,

Leila x

What next?

Spring Nature Study Ideas

Spring is a special time for nature study, due to the unique phases of growth and development occuring in this season. The buds on the trees, dormant through the winter, swell, grow and burst. We can observe the change and maturing of catkins and blossom. Flowers emerge providing splashes of colour to delight the senses. Birds begin their dawn chorus and can be easily seen flitting through the trees. And of course, babies of all shapes and sizes can be found skipping and playing in the meadows, woods, ponds and riverbanks.

So, what sort of projects can you do as part of your spring nature study? Here are my favorite spring nature study ideas:

Examine buds, twigs, catkins and blossoms
Get to know local birds, their nests and their nest building behaviour
Observe flower structure, seed and seedling growth
Enjoy the growth and development of baby birds, insects and animals

Let's have a look at how to use these ideas...

Start a tree nature journal

Trees are a great starting point for nature journaling and spring is the perfect time to begin observing and documenting their seasonal changes and cycles. Some of the things to look out for, are:

Tree buds - Buds are a great way to identify trees in the winter and early spring before they have come into leaf. Examine different trees and look for differences and similarities in their leaves. See if you can work out which trees they are. Then, observe how the buds grow, swell and burst into leaf over time and see if your identification was correct.

Twigs - Twigs are another way to identify winter and early spring trees and they can tell you a lot about the age, health and growth of a tree. Look for leaf scars, bud scars, direction of growth and general orientation. Take a look and decide if they slender or stubby, straight or zig-zaggy, curving upwards or pointing down or if they have spikes or thorns.

Catkins - One of our earliest visual clues to the arrival of spring, are the welcome sight of catkins. Pay attention and watch how they grow from short, stubby stumps into long, soft, dangly lambs-tail catkins. Take on in your hand and examine it. Notice its tiny details - its colours, patterns and texture and its tiny, individual flowers and dusty yellow pollen.

Blossom - Who can resist stopping to admire a dainty, puffy blossom? Notice the number and arrangement of the stamens, the shape and colours of the petals, and the colour of the anthers. See if you can identify a tree by examining its blossom.

Explore seeds, seedlings and flowers

I don't know about you, but as spring arrives, I can't wait to go out into the garden, find the first flowers and get my hands into the earth. I love handling and preparing the soil, getting to know my seeds and watching them as they grow.

Spring flowers - Take the time to notice all the wild and cultivated spring flowers in the woods, parks, lanes and gardens. How do the flowers unfurl and open? Do they open and close in bad weather or follow circadian rhythms? Are the flowers and leaves both growing at the same time or are there only flowers?

Seeds - Plan, prepare and sow your new year's vegetables, herbs and flowers. Get to know each species' seed and observe how it puts out its roots and shoots. Notice the size, shape and number or its cotolydons or first leaves. Examine its root growth, roothairs and rootlets and see how each plant matures, blossoms and fruits over the year.

Soil - As you prepare the earth and sow your seeds, take time to really get to know the soil you are working with. Notice its content, colours, smells and textures. Get to know the creatures living in and dependent upon it.

(You can check out this nice video on spring flower identification.)

Get to know your local birds

As spring approaches, I think the songs of the dawn chorus seem louder and more melodious as your neighbourhood birds begin declaring their territoties and searching for a mate. This makes spring a great time to start listening in and getting to know your common species.

Birds - While the trees remain leafless, it is easier to spot birds nesting, roosting and singing in the trees. Listen for their songs and try to spot them, then try to work out what they are. You can do this by taking a closer look with some binoculars, or try your hand at identifying them by their songs.

Nests - Try to spot nests in the trees, too. Do different species prefer different trees? And, where abouts in the trees do they prefer to build - the top of the tree, hidden amongst the twigs or near the forks of larger branches. See if you can spot them gathering nesting material too - what are they collecting?

Birdsong - As mentioned above, spring is a great time for getting to know the orchestra that is the dawn chorus. See if you can listen in and focus in on individual songsters. Outside of the dawn chorus, listen for territorial songs - can you hear two or more birds answering and sparring with each other? See if you can spot who's singing.

Bird flight - Another aspect of birds that we often forget, is getting to know them by their flight. Because, all birds have their own characteristic flight pattern. Some flap and glide, some flap, flap, flap. Others fly on a more or less straight line, while others dip and bounce in a wave-like up-and-down motion. Next time you spot a bird flying, stop and take a look.

Look out for baby animals

Baby animals can be spotted in the distance while driving alongside fields, observed if you're quiet on nature walks, or found on our ponds and rivers. And don't forget, this includes wild animals like foxcubs and fawns, as well as domestic animals.

Tadpoles - Keep your eyes open for frogspawn if you live near a lake or pond and watch how the grow, metamorphose and develop from frogspawn to tadpoles to froglets, to frogs. If you have the facilities, you could even hatch some frogspawn at home and watch them grow before returning them to their original location.

Caterpillars - Watch out for caterpillars too, because, while we might associate them more with the summertime, there are some species which overwinter as pupae before emerging in the spring. See which plants they are seeking out and try to find out what butterfly or moth it will eventually turn into.

Ducklings, cygnets and goslings - While on the look out for frogspawn, keep your eyes and ears open to spot baby water birds hiding among the reeds and rushes. Ducklings, cygnets and goslings may be obvious, trailing behind their mothers, but other species such as moorhens and coots are a little more shy and secretive.

Lambs, calves or foals - Finally, look out for lambs, calves and foals capering in the fields and fox cubs, leverets and fawns frolicking in the meadows. See how they interact with their mothers, with each other and with their environment. You can even observe them over time, learning about their stages of development from newborn to fully mature.

Summary

Well, there we go! A quick overview of some of my favourite spring nature study ideas. I hope you enjoyed this article and would love to hear your thoughts.

P.S. If you did enjoy this article, don't forget to subscribe by completing the form below x

Wild Berries - Easily identify our wild hedgerow berries

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About this tutorial

Hello! In this tutorial, we are going to meet some of the most common berries you are likely to find on a late summer or early autumn walk in the country. Are you ready? Lets get started!

Which are our most common hedgerow berries?

One of the best places to start looking for wild fruits and berries are the hedgerows bordering our roads and country lanes. And, if you take a stroll and keep your eyes open in late summer and autumn, you are sure to see all sorts of wild fruit adorning the twigs and branches. Some of these berries are edible and some of them are poisonous - so be sure to know with exact certainty that the berries you are picking are edible if you go foraging.

Here are some of the wild fruits and berries you can expect to meet:

Blackthorn (sloe)

Blackthorn berries can be black or deep blue with a light blue bloom. They are small, round and have long thorns.

Brambles (blackberries)

Brambles are one of our most easily identified hedgerow berries and I am sure, need no description.

Damson

Damsons can be purple, reddish or blueish, and egg-shaped or round. Unlike blackthorn, they do not have thorns.

Elder

Elderberries are small, deep-purple or black berries growing in large clusters joined by purple or red stems.

Guelder rose

Guelder rose berries are bright red - almost translucent, nearly perfectly round and hang in clusters.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn berries are slightly elongated with a raised bottom. They are deep red and hang in small bunches.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle berries are smallish, round and bright red. They grow in small clusters between the paired leaves.

Rowan (mountain ash)

Rowan berries hang in clusters and look like minature, bright orange or red apples, with inward dimpled bases.

Wild rose

Wild rose hips are, smooth, orangey-red egg-shaped, pinched at the bottom and ending in a slightly tufted base.

What other wild berries are there?

In addition to the fruits and berries mentioned above, there are of course many others. When trying to identify them, remember, that some berries change colour as they mature, e.g. tutsan starts off red and turns black. Here area few of them:

Red: Whitebeam, yew, nightshade, holly, bryony, tutsan, raspberries, strawberries, wild cherries, lingon
Black: Bryony, nightshade, ivy, tutsan
Orange: Whitebeam, sea buckthorn
Bright pink /orange: Spindle
Brown: Service tree, wild pear
Blue: Bullace, bilberries, blueberries
Bubbley berries: Wild raspberry, dewberry, stone berry
Ground dwelling berries: Cuckoo's pint, wild strawberries

Which wild berries are edible?

Please remember, never attempt to eat or taste any wild berry unless you are absolutely certain of its identity and know it is safe to eat. Many of our most tasty-looking berries are poisonous. With that said, here are a few of our most common edible wild fruits: bilberries, blueberries, bramble (wild blackberries), elderberries, hawthorn, raspberries, rosehips, rowan, damson, wild raspberries, wild strawberries and sloe (blackthorn).

Please note, that even though these are edible, some of them need to be cooked before they are eaten. (Much like potatoes... they are edible too, but only once cooked!)

Which berries are poisnous?

Once again, remember, never eat or taste any berry, unless you are absolutely sure of its identity and the fact that it is safe to eat. Some of our most common poisonous berries, are: bittersweet (woody nightshade), black bryony, deadly nightshade, holly, honeysuckle, ivy, lords and ladies (cuckoo pint), spindle and yew (seeds).

Where else do wild berries grow?

Anywhere shrubs and trees and plants grow, you can find wild fruits growing: Along cliffs and coast lines; high up on the slopes of moors and mountains; down amongst the bogs and swamps; beside lakes and riverbanks; in fields and meadows; scattered amongst our forests and hedgerows; and hidden in wastelands and thickets.

Summary

Well, there we go! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have a better idea now, about some of our most common wild hedgerow berries. To be notified about new nature walk tutorials, you can join the Nook below x

Why being in nature won't help you de-stress