Hello everyone! Spring has well and truly sprung in York, everywhere you go there is a cherry blossom in full bloom, or tulips in every colour.
From the 10th of May, it’s Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme of this year is “Nature” with the hashtag #ConnectWithNature allowing us all to get together on social media and share what we’ve been doing in the spirit of the theme.
The CEO of the Mental Health Foundation, Mark Rowland, was inspired to set the theme to this years’ MHAW when he spoke to an elderly friend and asked how she had coped with the various lockdowns and the stress of the pandemic. She told him that it was being in nature that had helped her through. So many of us have turned to nature in the long months of the pandemic, 45% of people reported that green spaces were vital to mental health, and wildlife webcam footage websites had their hits increased by an amazing 2000%! (Mental Health Awareness Foundation, 2021)
The last twelve months have been the most unusual year that most of us have ever had, and with it came a whole lot of stress as we adjusted to the world we live in. That’s why this year, the focus on nature for 2021’s Mental Health Awareness Week feels so appropriate. We all felt stressed at some point during the variety of circumstances that befell us in 2020, and at the beginning of this year. Harvard Medical School recently discussed the importance of nature as a stress reliever, “For instance, calming nature sounds and even outdoor silence can lower blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which calms the body’s fight-or-flight response” (Harvard Health Publishing, 2021). At CMHC, all of us felt a real benefit to being outdoors. Walking my two dogs was my personal salve, and others in the team took up gardening, running, sitting in the garden to watch the birds, and even just a daily walk admiring beautiful Yorkshire.
For this weeks’ blog post, we wanted to take the time to talk about the importance of taking time for yourself, and the way that spending time outdoors can be such a hugely positive influence on the mind and body. Being outdoors doesn’t have to mean high-impact exercise in lycra and spandex – although if that’s something you’d enjoy, then go for it! The outdoors can be as simple and easy as taking yourself for a coffee in the Museum Gardens, a quiet walk along the river at sunset, sitting in your garden in the sunshine and listening to the birds, or taking the kids to Rowntree Park for a picnic. It’s however you interpret connecting with nature, in that way that is the most peaceful and enjoyable for you as an individual.
More of us are working from home than ever, and this means that sometimes it’s difficult to switch off and relax – even when it’s well past finishing time. Getting out and about into local green spaces has been found to help with mental health issues such as stress, depression, and anxiety. According to the mental health charity, Mind, spending time in outdoor spaces or bringing nature into your life can benefit both mental and physical wellbeing. They say:
Doing things like growing food or flowers, exercising outdoors or being around animals can have lots of positive effects. It can:
- improve your mood,
- reduce feelings of stress or anger,
- help you take time out and feel more relaxed,
- improve your physical health,
- improve your confidence and self-esteem
- help you be more active,
- help you make new connections,
- provide peer support
(Mind, 2018)
What will you get up to? Let us know in the comments below, or on any of our social media channels! Nurture yourself with nature, and let us know how you did it and how you feel. Get involved using the hashtag #ConnectWithNature and show us what you’ve been up to.
We’ll be posting again this week with some fantastic ideas on things you can do in York in the great outdoors… Watch this space.
Speak to you soon!
Extra reading on how to #ConnectWithNature:
Mental Health Foundation – How to get the best out of the UK’s outdoors
Mind – Nature and Mental Health
Mind- How Nature Benefits Mental Health
Mind – Nature and Mental Health – Useful Contacts
References:
“Nature and mental health.” Mind, 05/2018, https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/nature-and-mental-health/how-nature-benefits-mental-health/. Accessed: 11/05/2021.
“Sour mood getting you down? Get back to nature.” Harvard Health Publishing, 30/03/2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/sour-mood-getting-you-down-get-back-to-nature. Accessed: 11/05/2021.
“Why Nature is the Theme to this Years’ Mental Health Awareness Week”. Mental Health Awareness Foundation, 08/04/2021, https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mentalhealth-awareness-week/why-nature. Accessed: 05/05/2021.
