April 9, 2024
Evolution has set us up to need connection. Nearly a century of research has demonstrated that a lack of social connection is so stressful, it can harm our health as much as a heavy smoking habit. More recently, attention has turned to the effects not only of connection with other people, but also with the non-human world: natural spaces, and the plants and animals that we share them with. In this article, we look at why connecting with the natural world is an effective recovery activity, and some simple ways to bring more connection into your daily routine.
Why connecting with nature reduces stress
Seeking our natural environments is cross-cultural, suggesting that it's an innate human need. The naturalist E.O. Wilson suggested that our biophilia could be explained by the resources to be found in the kinds of environments we often prefer: they're often rich in sources of fresh water, food and shelter.
There's probably more to the story, though. Natural landscapes also reliably create feelings of calm and awe. Calm comes with an effective separation from the manufactured environments in which we usually experience greatest stress. Awe moves our attention outwards, reducing our focus on ourselves and increasing our sense of being part of something larger.
Together, these experiences of abundance, calm and awe work against the stress response, bringing the body into the rest-and-digest state it needs to recover.
How to connect (even if you don't want to hug a tree)
Connecting with nature doesn't require an expedition into pristine wilderness. It can be as simple as visiting a local park and getting familiar with the plants, birds and other animals that live there. The more often you visit, the more you'll notice.
If you'd like to deepen your connection, you could try one of these practices drawn from Indigenous cultures around the world:
Dadirri
Dadirri is a deep listening practice taught by Dr Miriam Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, a Ngangiwumirr teacher, artist and activist from the Northern Territory. Dadirri involves finding a quiet, natural space and simply sitting and listening deeply to the sounds in that environment. Gradually tune out internal chatter and pay close attention to details you might otherwise miss. It's an effective way of bringing the natural world in all its complexity into focus.
The sit spot
Finding a "sit spot" is a practice shared by many North American Indigenous cultures. Like Dadirri, it involves turning the attention outward, but takes place over multiple visits to the same place. To develop a sit-spot practice, find a place you can access easily, if possible at roughly the same time of day. Each time you visit, notice what you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste. What changes over time? What stays the same? As you notice how plant growth and animal behaviour changes over the course of your visits, your sit-spot will become an increasingly valuable source of connection.
