ABOUT ME
WHY NATURE FACILITATIONS - US AND NATURE
Re-Connect workshops to re-connect with Nature and the Self
It is hard to find one's self in this increasingly fast paced world. So many "must do's", "should be likes" prompt us in thinking we simply don't fit in. What if there was a way to "get out" of this reality to find ourself somewhere where we feel accepted, and allowed to be ourselves?
This would be a happier and healthier world, where issues such climate change and mental health would without doubt change in their existence. I am a firm believer that this "lost connection" with the Self is the root cause of our current state of affairs.
Finding a connection with Nature can help individuals find themselves. Where there is Self, there is acceptance, peace, gratitude and a feeling of belonging. Nature Facilitations can help and foster this process.
Nature Facilitations can help individuals and organisation to foster a re-connection with the Natural World and with the Self.
All workshops prompt participants in finding their own reconnection, in a way which makes sense to them. This is especially vital, for a true connection can only exist once the individual feels it is true to the heart.
HOW NATURE CAN HELP YOU TODAY
THE POWER OF ART
Through a variety of workshops and artistic group activities, Nature Facilitations help participants to find a connections which makes sense to and is right for them.
This, fosters a lasting and regenerating effect on the participant, who can learn to embrace this journey for themselves beyond the workshop/s.
Finding contact with Nature is very much like learning a new language for an adult, or learning to walk for a child. The experience differs from from person to person, but in the end, what matters is that it positively allows the person to feel positive feelings and reward.
Reconnecting with Nature helps fight anxiety, it can help us find our own purpose in this world, it helps radically fight climate change.
The arts can help individuals find this connection at their own pace, in a way which directly speaks to their own desires, beliefs and inclinations.
Art can change perceptions and behaviours and help establish a deeper contact with Nature, thus the self. Nature does the rest.
Art goes above and beyond fear and helps us reconnect with our "higher self", to reset ourselves into positive thinking and purpose.
This can be very much linked to the Cathartic and transformative power of Art, for it allows us to transform and digest any prior negative belief and/or experiences and create space for new interpretations and discovery.
CONSERVATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
In our increasingly modernised societies, contact with Nature is becoming increasingly sparse or absent. At the same time, more and more sections of the world's population are becoming affected by anxiety, which can become a real obstacle to a happy and healthy life.
Within this scenario, it appears there is a reluctancy to understand environmental issues and the importance of a healthy natural world. Local, national and international organisations are doing all they can to sensitise communities and bring people closer to nature.
By looking closely at this intricate situation however, it becomes possible to see how perhaps, the growing distance is really a result of a shared anxiety brought about by this modern world of insecurity. We have forgotten our roots. This brings us and Nature apart. Art can help us rediscover our roots in life changing ways.
Here in Dorset and in the UK at large, many organisations, groups of people and individuals are doing all they can to safeguard our natural heritage.
"A growing body of empirical evidence is revealing the value of nature experience for mental health" (Anderson et all. 2019).
This highlights the link existing between our wellbeing and Nature. Particularly, the contact with Nature has a powerful calming effect, which can lead to life changing results in soothing and transforming anxiety. Anxiety can be defined as a very "modern" ailment, affecting more and more people all over the world. But why does this exist in the first place? The loss of contact with our roots could be seen as one of the main causes.
This, in turn, has a nock-on effect which can have disastrous consequences. In order to protect Nature, all people, or the vast majority need to understand the vitality of a more sustainable, nature centred life. In order to achieve this, it is essential that individuals find a valid reason why they should do so.
As the internet, televisions, newspapers are increasingly flooded with information, scientific proof and reasons why climate chance is happening as we speak, it is astonishing how many still think this isn't a real threat, or, don't really see the urgency of acting now. It's almost as if there was an inability to physically assimilate this into their lives as a "touchable" reality. This is because the human brain is incapable of fearing anything of this magnitude, it cannot physically see or touch.
My suggestion here however is that perhaps fear is not necessarily the right tool. Instilling fear brings forward a sense of separation, it promotes the message that "us" and "the earth" live at opposite poles of different planets. However, to be able to positively impact on our current state of life, it is essential people see themselves as part of Nature.
The Arts can be a powerful tool in facilitating this process, for they allow individual to "re-discover" their roots in a personal manner. as opposed to being exposed to a number of scientific facts which do not necessarily make speak to their realities and beliefs.
Listen to my talk Communicating Danger through Positive Messaging & Creativity hosted by Energy Connectors.
Here in Dorset and in the UK at large, many organisations, groups of people and individuals are doing all they can to safeguard our natural heritage. There is however a feeling that many still feel distant from the issues surrounding climate change and conservation. The question arising from this observation is
Why do some of us struggle to connect with Nature?
In this modern world - at least before COVID-19 - it felt like Nature was an "afterthought". Even in the most advanced Sustainability conversations, the "economic factor" kept playing a defining role, which would often overrule that of safeguarding Nature.
With the advent of COVID-19 however, one of the biggest struggles presented by the quarantine was staying at home. Suddenly, more and more people felt the need of being in Nature, of spending time in the great outdoors or the park near their homes.
Communicating Climate Change: fear vs establishing a healthy relationship.
MENTAL HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Our societies are increasingly affected by mental health conditions including panic and chronic anxiety. As we attempt to find "new cures" and to trace their origin back from an etiological point of view, we continue to bring the focus on the mind, the psychological and neurological processes involved in such conditions. We, however, are failing to look at man from a holistic perspective, including its place in the nature world. It becomes thus natural to ask
Where do fears and anxieties come from? Why are our societies so affected?
I find there is no straightforward answer to this, but it is certainly useful to look at how modern societies function and operate in relation to human beings. Without focussing on socio-economic critiques, the first useful step is to observe our cities and lives from afar.
Tall buildings, concrete streets, less and less green spaces available in cities.
As an increased number of studies note, the loss of contact with nature leads to increased anxiety and mental illnesses. Drawing from my personal experience, I've learned that the more distant we are from nature, the less "tuned in" we are with ourselves. Why? Because we are of Nature, and its presence in our lives reminds us of who we are, where we come from. This is key in order to reach self-empowerment, balance and perspective on our present and future. This is linkable with the number of physiological benefits brought about by the contact with Nature.
"Nature experience has been associated with increased sleep and reduction in stress [...] and various physiological measures and biomarkers of acute and chronic stress. These impacts on sleep and stress entail decreased risk for mental illness, as sleep problems and stress are major risk factors for mental illnesses, especially depression" (Hunter et all. 2019).
These are only some of the benefits and effects we can harness from contact with Nature. As Anderson at al (2019) note,
"there is a growing evidence that nature experience is associated with a decreased incidence of other disorders () [...] on specific psychopathologies, including anxiety disorders, attention deficit and hyperactivity (ADHD), and depression" (Bratman et all. 2019).
However, sometimes contact with Nature is not simple to achieve, if not impossible. This could be the case with some debilitating disabilities, with the elderlies and those unable to simply "get out" for a stroll - because they can't or there is no available green space near them. Having struggled for an entire life with anxiety myself, I found Nature has offered the most powerful remedy to my anxiety, particularly through Art. In this sense, connecting through drawing, writing and watercolour painting, I succeeded in finding inner peace and balance.
This is why I decided to offer "re-connect" workshops to organisations currently fighting for mental health and wellbeing. Artistic activities geared at reconnecting with Nature can offer powerful tools which can make a real difference in the lives of those affected by anxiety and mental health conditions.