Why all of our senses need Nature

I sat in front of a tree, not just any tree, it was a willow tree, spirals, bright green. One of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen a curly willow.

I was at the Regenerative Education Summit, Grounded. I had just come off stage as a plenary speaker. Reflecting on this CPD event... I was in a forest bathing session, in a community of kind, meaningful people all trying to create change.

Sitting in front of that willow tree I felt something I had not felt in a long time, completely whole.

Calm, peaceful like I had come home.

Nature is where we come back to ourselves.

I have been researching and learning since I was a child and measure the effects on how I feel and behave when indoors using tech, or working and connecting in nature...equally and most importantly how children present themselves in both environments.

Like Bees Not Butterflies

When I was studying early years education I came across a book that has stayed with me.

Like Bees Not Butterflies, by Sally and Phil Featherstone.

Their theory butterflies are beautiful, they land for a moment and move on.

Yet bees are different, they arrive with purpose, they stay they explore. Contributing to something far bigger than themselves.

I have an understanding for both pollinators however, does the best learning happen when we show up like bees?

And nature is where that happens most naturally of all.

I Have Always Known This

As an educator I never kept children indoors if I could help it. Come wind, rain or shine and especially the snow (we do not live in Siberia). We have to be prepared for all forms of weather as it continuously and rapidly changes.

We never noticed the impact or the detrimental impact a few decades ago as we were not continuously distracted, with a small source of energy, a device that is as addictive as eating sugar and getting dopamine hits at a casino!

Learning outdoors is a safe space and fascinating to watch how all children eventually relax into the natural environment through their senses.

The child who struggled to sit still would spend twenty minutes watching a beetle. The child who found it hard to connect would hand someone a worm and suddenly they were both laughing.

Nature all children understand and the outdoor classroom supporting all levels of understanding, EAL, SEND and challenging backgrounds.

It made them feel safe, they learn and grow.

What Nature Actually Does to Us

The sun hits your face and serotonin releases. Providing us with the feel good hormone of serotonin.

The sound of bees lowers your cortisol before you have even noticed you were stressed.

The smell of lavender tells your nervous system you are safe. This herb is medicinal and has been used for thousands of years, bridging the gap between wellness and the natural world around us. I have always used sensory activities to engage and ensure people are present.

Herbs are also easier to maintain, creating calming scents and outdoors on your work rooftop garden or outside of a school setting a great attractor for pollinators.

Studies show that gazing at nature for just forty seconds measurably reduces stress and restores focus.

And when your feet touch the ground your whole system stabilises. I remember a few years ago when practising outdoors how many thought I was radical and a bit of a hippie getting the children to explore the feeling of grass under their feet.

Science calls it grounding and our bodies already recognise it.

This is not a wellness trend, it is neuroscience., the brain rewires through sensory experience.

Nature is our most powerful antidote to modern living.

Three Intelligences We Need Right Now

Everyone talks about IQ.

But there are three that matter just as much.

EQ is your emotional intelligence. Your ability to feel, understand and connect. Nature builds this quietly and consistently.

SQ is your social and spiritual quotient. Your sense of belonging to others and to something bigger than yourself. Standing in that forest with people who care about the world gave me this in abundance.

AQ is your adaptability quotient. Your ability to keep going when everything is shifting. Right now, in the middle of a poly crisis, this might be the most important one of all.

Nature develops all three at the same time, without a single lesson plan or strategy.

A Note on Screens

I know you are reading this on one and technology connects us, it gives us reach and is valuable to utilise in the right practise.

But it does not restore us, only nature does that.

What I Want You to Do

• Go outside.

• Ten minutes.

• Phone in your pocket.

• Look at something living.

• Listen to something real.

• Feel the air on your skin.

• The bees are still humming.

• The trees are still standing.

• The earth has not changed.

• Show up like a bee. Purposeful. Present. Fully there.

• Ask for living walls inside your working environments.

• This is wellbeing and holistic health

This is what I bring into schools, organisations and leadership spaces through Green Solutions Group.

Nature connection is not an extra....It is the foundation.

Reach out if it resonates. 💚