Nature-based mindfulness has great potential to improve wellbeing and I see green/social prescriptions not just for the ill but for all. Evidence of the benefits is promising. It’s not just theory but a pragmatic way towards living well. Just as everyone brushes teeth to care for dental wellbeing, we should brush our heart and mind for mental wellbeing. Mindfulness is a skill for life which is accessible to all, and nature can be found even in the largest cities.
Nature-based mindfulness incorporates almost all five NHS recommended wellbeing steps. Furthermore, the effects lie beyond oneself, spreading to the environment in the broadest sense. It costs little but brings a great impact to systems change from our small mind-body system which is part of the greater system to the greater systems. It contributes to meeting the needs of people while answering to the global crises of mental health and climate change which is fundamentally about people – the earth will be fine, but people will suffer.
Personally, I have directly experienced the positive change of practising mindfulness and being in nature. This change is evidenced by research and I want others to experience the benefits too. The change involves a critical aspect – connectedness – that counteracts the tendencies of “selfing” and “othering” which lie at the core of the crises.
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