Connecting with nature feels magnificent. It’s restorative and allows you to step outside your busy life for a while and breathe. But there are already so many demands to juggle, work, study, family, that getting some nature time often falls off the to-do list. The good news is that you don’t need to commit to a weekend hike in the mountains to reconnect with nature. It can be a quick, restorative check-in that’s easy to integrate into your day. Try one of these suggestions right now to get a quick nature buzz.
Touch Nature
The easiest way to reconnect with Mother Nature is to take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the grass. Any grass will do, whether it’s your back yard or a nearby park. Choose to spend your lunch break in the park, resting your eyes on the soft greens and feeling the textures of grass, tree trunks, and leaves. For nature lovers, who like being creative, have a day out where you explore all four elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. Feeling out of ideas? Here are some. Spend an hour gardening, either planting things or just pulling weeds. Go hiking, and look for exciting rocks/rock formations along the way. Build a campfire and practice your culinary skills. Take a forest walk or a river walk, and watch the wind rustling the leaves.
Try Some Gardening
As suggested above, nothing connects you faster to the rhythms and energy of the natural world than tending a garden. It doesn’t matter if your garden is a traditional lawn and garden plot, a communal vegetable garden, or your favorite herbs in pots on the windowsill. Even a pot plant or flowers on your desk will change the energy levels and make you feel good.
Gaze Upward
Make it a daily practice to notice what’s happening in the sky. Instead of checking the weather app on your phone, take a look out of the window, see what sort of clouds there are, the position of the sun. Use all your senses to be aware of what’s happening in nature right now. Are there birds singing? Are they making nests? What color are the leaves on the trees? What’s flowering right now? How does the air feel on your skin?
You can ‘read’ the environment through your senses – you only have to notice. You can learn more about the healing powers of plants here, Indigenous Plant Medicine Rituals for Purification and Protection.
Walk Mindfully
Do you walk down the street with your mind already in your next meeting or worrying about how the last appointment went? So many people spend their lives in their heads, not aware of the world around them or how they are moving through it.
The Buddhist teacher and philosopher Thich Nat Hanh reminds us to slow down and be fully present in the world. One of his best-loved sayings bids you to “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.” All it takes is a small but significant mental gear shift to stay connected to the earth and nature with every step.
Create an Indoor Garden
Bringing the outdoors inside the home is always a good idea! Taking care of plants and watching them grow is so good for the soul. Below is a guest post with some great tips on how to do this.Even if you’re currently residing in a small studio, townhouse or apartment, there are ways to experience the joys of indoor vegetation. Many plants and herb gardens are perfectly fit for flourishing indoors and can provide pretty eye candy as well as an economical air purifier.
Here are some top tips and tricks for those seeking a bountiful botanic display:
Water is a no-brainer when it comes to making a variety of plant life happy. Whether you have hanging or potted plants, it’s smart to keep plant roots moist (not soaking wet) and to determine a regular and consistent watering routine.
For those seeking to create a funky and exotic vertical garden, it’s important to select the right vines and creeper plants that will fit the structure and grow with ease. An irrigation system and fertilizer injector will be a necessity for a garden wall.
Many houseplants need direct sunlight in order to fully blossom. Typically, flowering plants need more light than foliage plants and some plants can make do with artificial light. Making sure plants have adequate light will ensure that they stay alive and happy.
Houseplants improve air quality and provide a calming and natural decorative element indoors. In addition, houseplants can be easy to grow and maintain with the right care. Fertilizer is an essential element to ensuring in-home vegetation is perky. And it’s important to fertilize plants once a month when they’re flowering or growing, as they have no soil nutrient source.
A windowsill herb garden can provide fun flavorings for culinary dishes and be a magical addition to any windowsill. The keys to an indoor herb garden are proper drainage, good soil, water and fertilizer. Remember to seek out flowers and herbs that require identical conditions if they’re in the same window-side spot.
Guest Post By Amy Spagnola for LuxeDecor
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