How to connect with nature in the city
There are undeniable benefits to spending time in nature. we’ve all read the studies and articles saying we’re generally nature deficient. We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, improves health outcomes and builds nervous system resilience, among a host of other benefits. As a country mouse who grew up in a big city, I jumped at the chance to move to the woods as soon as I could. But that’s not feasible (or desirable) for everyone.
Sinixt Homelands
If you’ve been hanging around here at all you’ll know how much I refer to and centre nature in my work. It’s in my imagery, my coaching frameworks and all over my website. I frame my work around creativity in the context of the abundance of nature. If the natural world is so abundant and diverse, then it means that you, as part of the natural world, are adding to its diversity and subject to its abundance alongside all the other creatures.
But what if I don’t live near nature?
Ok cool, you might say. Do I have to move deep into the Rocky Mountains or the jungles of Bali to feel this connection? No. You don’t. A city mouse deserves connection too. And I’ll tell you how.
Homelands of millions
Perspective shift: we are part of nature and so are our creations.
If it’s true that we are part of nature, then it’s possible to see nature in the densest of city-scapes. Just look at all the people around you. Take out your camera or sketchbook and explore the wild diversity of expression in your fellow humans and the environments they create. The key is slowing down and paying attention.
And (news flash) just because someone lives close to nature doesn’t mean they can’t still be deficient in it. You may get way more up close and personal with birds and trees walking to work in a big city than you might while living in a rural area and driving everywhere. Connecting relies on making a choice to see things differently. To take them in and let them impact you. To find the beauty in them.
Bring the natural world into your spaces.
As for the benefits of the outdoors, I won’t pretend that touching concrete is the same as touching plants and soil. Or that breathing exhaust fumes is as restorative as standing near a waterfall. But it is usually possible to find a tree to befriend somewhere. Mine was a big oak tree near a swing set in a schoolyard that I would visit at night. The more-than-human world is usually waiting for any tiny crack in our illusion of control. Something green and alive is likely pushing apart the concrete somewhere near you right now. Many of those more than humans are willing to live in our small apartments too. As hamsters in habitats, flowers in our window boxes, worm composters in our kitchens, and cacti in terra-cotta pots on our desks.
The truth is that, no matter how much we try and convince ourselves otherwise, we are always connected. We are always nature. Wherever we are, remembering that will help us undo the damage done by pretending we were separate.