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Get Grounded in Nature

Life is busy and faster than ever – with school, social lives, and technology demanding so much time and causing unwanted stress. It is important to take the time to:

  • Stop and step out of your small world (your phone, home, school, sports/activities, whatever it may be)

  • Get outside to remember just how big and beautiful our world is

​ Spending time in nature and incorporating it into your daily environment can boost your mood and decrease your anxiety, along with many other health benefits. In fact, spending time in nature has been shown to:

  • Lower blood pressure and decrease stress

  • Improve mood; decreases depression, anxiety, and anger

  • Improve concentration and focus

  • Help heal physical ailments and illnesses faster

UMN – How does nature impact our well-being?

Yale research – How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health

Explore your environment – Make sure you take the time each day to get up and outside. Getting sunlight and breathing in fresh air is so important for our well-being.

It doesn’t mean you have to be a super outdoorsy person – there are infinite ways to get outside and get the endless health benefits of nature:

  • Go for a hike or walk outdoors – AllTrails app

  • Spend the day at the beach, by a river or a lake

  • Visit a nature center, park, botanical garden, or arboretum

  • Sunset or sunrise viewing

  • Gardening, farming, tending to the Earth

  • Stargazing

Large Tree in nature

Outdoors

95 Ways To Spend More Time Outdoors

When we appreciate Mother Earth and all that nature provides us, we bring an inner peace and graciousness to our lives. Around every corner awaits something beautiful to be discovered; allow yourself time to explore the outdoors and to reset and recharge.

Care For The Earth – Exploring and caring for the Earth can easily come hand in hand. Finding small ways to contribute to a cleaner and greener future in your daily activities can have a significant impact on our well-being.

Treat every day like it is Earth Day! There are a million things you can do to make a conscious change and play your part, here are a few of our favorites:

  • Beach clean-ups

  • Helping out at your school garden or community garden

  • Participate in a town beautification project

  • Biking or walking instead of driving around locally

  • Volunteer with a nature preserve or conservation center

  • Use a reusable water bottle and reuse containers and bags

Bring Some Outside In – The benefits of nature aren’t limited to time outdoors. Just looking and adding nature to your indoors can help boost your mood as well! Add some of the outdoors to your room/home:

  • Take care of a houseplant

  • Start a mini indoor herb garden

  • Collect rocks, shells, and sea glass to keep at home

  • Bring back feathers, pine cones, rocks for art projects

  • Have your phone or computer background of nature

  • Listen to the sounds of the elements

  • Hang artwork or photos of nature

  • Watch national geographic, planet earth, or other shows and movies on nature

UW – Dose of nature at home could help mental health, well-being during COVID-19

Animals

There are times when no words can be expressed, our thoughts are cluttered and we are stressed beyond our limits. At times we feel we can’t manage the responsibilities of being a human, spending time around animals can help us shift our point of view and relieve stress.

“The Universe has also surrounded us with the perfect teachers. Animals, for example. Animals are in the present all the time, and their secret power is to pull us in with them.” -Jen Sincero

Have Pets? – The easiest way to spend a lot of time around animals is to get a pet. Taking the time to care for and love a pet gives us the companionship that humans might not be able to fill.

The Power of Pets

The Health and Mood Boosting Benefits of Pets

 

Don’t Have Pets? – If you don’t have a pet, are allergic, or just don’t like domestic animals, there are many other ways to see animals up close or from a distance:

  • Get outdoors and increase your chances of wildlife encounters

  • Attract birds and pollinators to your home

  • Visit a local nature center or farm

  • Take a trip to an aquarium or zoo

  • Watch shows or movies about animals and their habitats

  • Get books and magazines on your favorite animals

  • Volunteer at an animal shelter

  • Help at The Humane Society – https://www.humanesociety.org

  • Sign up to be a dog walker

Resources

  • The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams

  • Nature CureThe Well-Gardened Mind: The Healing Power of Plants, Earth, and The Outdoors by Sue Stuart-Smith

  • The Healing Power of Plants: The Hero Houseplants That Will Love You Back

  • Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich LifeYour Guide to Forest Bathing: Experience the Healing Power of Nature by M. Amos Clifford

  • Finding The Mother Tree: Discovering The Wisdom of The Forest by Suzanne Simard

  • Plant Tribe: Living Happily Ever After With Plants by Igor Josifovic Grounded: How Connection With Nature Can Improve Our Physical and Mental Well-Being by Ruth Allen

  • The Wild Remedy: How Nature Mends Us by Emma Mitchell

  • Tiny Victory Gardens: Growing Food Without a Yard by Acadia Tuckertion go to app settings and press “Manage Questions” button.

  • Paws To Comfort: An Everyday Guide to Learning How You Can Help Mend Our Disconnected World by Jen Marr

  • Animals That Heal By Stephanie Taylor

  • Peace, Love, Goats of Anarchy: How My Little Goats Taught Me Huge Lessons About Life by Leanne Lauricella

  • Smart Ass: How a Donkey Challenged Me To Accept His True Nature & Rediscover My Own by Margaret Winslow

  • The Hummingbirds’ Gift: Wonder, Beauty and Renewal of Wings by Sy Montgomery

  • The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion: Surprising Observations of a Hidden World by Peter Wohlleben

  • The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked The Secrets of The World’s Favorite Insect

  • World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Landsharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Healthy Coping Skills