Walk: Texture and Spring Buds

There is a lot of research detailing how Nature is good for our wellbeing.

It is said that if you considered the span of human existence to be a week, it is only in the last three seconds of that week that there have been more city dwellers than countrymen and women.

Connecting to nature is embedded in us – in our nervous system, in our immune system. We respond to nature in ways that we don’t even realise.

And it doesn’t even take much for nature to have a positive impact on us. Our brain registers nature even if we just walk past it.

However, to get the best out the impact that Nature can have on us, it is best to be outside – and use your senses.

It might be that you don’t know what you’re looking at – and that’s absolutely fine! You don’t need to know the Latin names of plants or what medicinal use they have.

You can just notice that they’re a lovely colour, or have an interesting texture.

An easy way of embracing Nature and using your senses is to have a theme when you go out for a walk – even if it’s just for 10 minutes.

You might want a new theme each walk, or perhaps you’re so drawn to something that it gives you great pleasure to go back to it time and time again.

Use your senses.

It might be that the most obvious sense to use is your sight. In my walks this weekend I focussed on texture – mainly texture of a new budding interest I have in moss. However, I couldn’t draw my attention too far away from the buds on plants as Spring starts to bloom.

Maybe your sight isn’t great, or you want to do something different. Why not try sound?

This weekend a walk took us along a river with a number of waterfalls. We were accompanied by the sound of running and rushing water, with the swoosh of the wind as it rippled through the trees. We heard black headed gulls and at one point I stopped to listen to a chaffinch.

You don’t need to know what bird it is that you’re listening to. Just stand and enjoy the sound.

Or, use an app that can identify bird sounds, such as Merlin.

My new interest in moss comes from a variety of places – but one of those is that I see it as the underdog in the plant world. Who normally notices moss? But when you get up close, and you really look, moss is amazing! I’ve taken photos of numerous types on the walks this weekend.

Moss is ideal for touch – running your fingers across silky fronds or spiky fingers. Take a moment to touch the bark of different trees – what differences do you notice?

I don’t know the names of the different moss types – I’m at the start of my journey – but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re out there, wherever ‘there’ is, just noticing and using your senses. I dare anyone not to feel more relaxed and calm at the end of it.