How nature can help us feel better in our everyday lives

How nature can help us feel better in our everyday lives

You do not need to be ‘outdoorsy’ to access nature’s benefits for our mental health and emotional well-being.

We know that we needed to hear that. It can often feel like the entry point to the natural world can be so high, and involve trips to REI, extensive bush-crafting knowledge and an orienteering certificate.

We’re definitely not saying hike in flip-flops or wander into the wilderness without knowing what you’re really taking on. But we are saying there are many, many ways to find yourself in the natural world and to do so in some really simple ways.

We love National Parks, but we also love that field we walk through after dropping our kids off, and that lake we can wander around with a close friend while having a chat on a Sunday morning. We get so much from looking out the window and catching sunsets, or planting something in our garden and willing it to grow (this one is very mixed for us). We feel happy around trees (though slightly less happy in the middle of a forest), and take us to any beach at any time and our hearts will sing. There’s a way into nature for all of us.

Here are just some of the ways to explore where your curiosity might take you as you find ways to wander through the natural world (with not a blistered hiking boot in sight).


To read:


To do:


To watch:


To discover: 


How can we broaden out what nature can be for us: the micro gestures that have us listening for bird songs to the bigger-ask ones that have us hiking up mountains?

How do you see nature as something that affects your emotional well-being and mental health?

Let us know how you navigate this aspect of your everyday life.



Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

How to bring a sense of wonder back to your everyday life

How to bring a sense of wonder back to your everyday life