Nature Connection
In the forest of your mind, you’re bound to encounter a few monsters along the way. So how can nature connection help keep your mind healthy and resilient? And which nature connection activities are best suited to dealing with each of these mind monsters?
In our first article, we met a few noisy Mind Monsters – Anxiety, Stress, Anger, Addiction and Hyperactivity. We discovered how nature can help us deal with them (Find the answers here). But those aren’t the only creatures wandering around in our minds. Some monsters are much quieter. They don’t shout or stomp around. Instead, they sit in the corner, drain our energy, keep us awake at night, or make us feel disconnected from the world around us.
This month, we’ll meet five different mind monsters: Loneliness, Depression, Burnout, Insomnia, and Overthinking. As always, we’re not here to fight these monsters with swords or chase them away with magic spells. Instead, we’ll introduce them to a few Nature Friends. Simple activities for nature connection that can help us feel a little more connected, grounded, rested, and present.
These monsters do not disappear overnight. But sometimes, nature can remind us that we don’t have to carry everything alone.
Mind Monster – Loneliness
The Loneliness Monster is a strange creature. It doesn’t always appear when we’re alone. Sometimes it shows up in a crowded room, at a family gathering, or even while scrolling through hundreds of social media updates.
Its favorite trick is to convince us that we are disconnected from the world around us. It whispers things like, “Nobody understands you,” or “You don’t really belong here.”
Loneliness is more common than many people realize. According to the World Health Organization, around one in six people around the world experience loneliness. Research also shows that loneliness can affect both mental and physical health, making it much more than just an unpleasant feeling.
Nature Connection: Gardening
If the Loneliness Monster builds walls, gardening helps build relationships.
At first, this may sound odd. But working with plants does offer something many people need: a sense of connection, care, and purpose.
When you water a plant, pull out weeds, or watch a seed slowly become a flower, you become part of a living relationship. The plant depends on your attention, and over time it responds to that care. It may not say “thank you,” but a new leaf is often a pretty good sign.
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.”
~ Alfred Austin
Gardening also connects us to something larger than ourselves. We begin to notice seasons, insects, birds, rainfall, and sunlight. Instead of feeling separate from the world, we start feeling part of it. And when things grow in your garden, it becomes an opportunity to share with others.
Scientists have been studying gardening and horticultural therapy for years. A recent systematic review found that gardening activities can improve several aspects of health and well-being, including mental health outcomes.
Bonus Gift: How to create your own meditation garden. >>
Mind Monster – Depression
The Depression Monster is silent and shy. On the outside everything appears normal. On the inside, the story is a bit different. It sits heavily on your shoulders and slowly drains colour from the world around you.
Things that once felt enjoyable may seem pointless. Simple tasks can feel surprisingly difficult. Even getting out of bed, answering a message, or stepping outside can require more energy than people realize.
One of the Depression Monster’s favorite tricks is convincing us that things will always feel this way. It turns a temporary moment into what seems like a permanent forecast.
*NOTE: Nature is not a replacement for professional help. For fleeting episodes of milder depression however, nature can be a soothing companion to spend a little time with.
Nature Connection: Cloud Swimming
Clouds have an important lesson to teach. No matter how dark, heavy, or dramatic a cloud may appear, it never stays in the same shape forever. The sky is constantly changing. Clouds gather, drift, break apart, and move on.
When we’re feeling depressed, our thoughts and emotions can seem fixed and permanent. Cloud gazing gently reminds us that change is a natural part of life. The best part is that cloud gazing asks very little from us. There is no goal to achieve, no distance to walk, and no performance to measure. All you need to do is look up.
Find a comfortable place outdoors and spend a few minutes watching the clouds move across the sky. Notice their shapes, colors, and movement. Let your attention rest on the changing scene above you.
“No storm can last forever.”
~ Weatherman’s proverb
For some people, another helpful nature activity is swimming. Water can provide a feeling of support and weightlessness that many people find calming and restorative. On days when energy allows, a gentle swim in a natural setting can offer a different way of reconnecting with the world.
Bonus Gift: Depression vs nature. >>
Mind Monster – Burnout
The Burnout Monster is a master of exhaustion. It often appears after weeks or months of pushing too hard, juggling too many responsibilities, or constantly trying to keep up. Unlike stress, which feels like pressing the accelerator too hard, burnout feels more like running out of fuel altogether.
The Burnout Monster steals enthusiasm, motivation, and curiosity. Tasks that once felt meaningful begin to feel like chores. Even rest may not seem refreshing.
One reason burnout is so difficult is that it narrows our attention. We become focused on deadlines, obligations, and unfinished tasks, while everything else fades into the background.
Nature Connection: Forest Photography
Photography in nature encourages us to slow down and notice what we normally rush past. The goal is simply to pay attention.
A dew drop on a leaf. A butterfly resting on a flower. The patterns in tree bark. The reflection of sunlight on water. What will call out to you? and How will you tell its story?
Research suggests that experiences of awe and fascination in nature can help restore mental attention and reduce mental fatigue. Nature photography encourages exactly this kind of focused yet effortless observation.
“Photography is the story I fail to put into words.”
~ Destin Sparks
The good news is that you do not need an expensive camera. A phone camera works perfectly well. In fact, the camera is just an excuse to look more closely.
The Burnout Monster keeps asking, “What have you accomplished today?”
Nature photography asks “What have you noticed today?”
Bonus Gift: Zen Photography. Finding your true nature. >>
Mind Monster – Insomnia
The Insomnia Monster loves the night shift. Just when your head touches the pillow, it springs into action. Suddenly, your brain wants to revisit awkward conversations from five years ago, plan next week’s schedule, and solve problems that don’t even exist yet.
Meanwhile, sleep is standing outside the door, wondering if it should come back later.
Insomnia can leave us feeling tired, irritable, and drained. The harder we try to force ourselves to sleep, the more awake we often become.
Nature Connection: Sound Gathering
Instead of fighting the Insomnia Monster, try giving your mind a different job. Become a nature sound collector.
Step outside in the evening, sit near an open window, or simply listen carefully to the natural sounds around you. You might hear crickets chirping, leaves rustling, distant rain, a dog barking far away, or a bird settling in for the night.
Rather than trying to stop your thoughts, gently shift your attention toward collecting pleasant nature sounds.
How many can you hear?
Which is closest?
Which is farthest away?
Which sound appears and disappears?
Close your eyes and imagine the relaxing sounds slowly filling you up from within. Create a mental image of the surroundings based on the sounds if you can. Stay with the moment.
“Listen to the wind, it talks. Listen to the silence, it speaks.”
~ Native American proverb
This simple activity helps move attention away from racing thoughts and toward the present moment. The mind becomes less like a problem-solving machine and more like a curious explorer. Nature sounds relax the mind and gently slow down busy thoughts, helping the body feel calmer and more ready for sleep.
Bonus Gift: Nature of human nature
Mind Monster – Overthinking
The Overthinking Monster never seems to run out of ideas. It analyzes conversations, predicts future disasters, replays old mistakes, and creates endless “what if” scenarios. Give it a small problem and it will happily turn it into a full-length documentary.
Thinking is useful. Overthinking is exhausting.
The trouble begins when our attention becomes trapped inside our heads and loses touch with what is happening around us.
Nature Connection: Mindfulness with Nature
Nature mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the natural world using your senses. After years of careful studies the Japanese came up with the art of Forest Bathing – or nature mindfulness. Useful activities that take help of the outer world to quieten the inner one.
The next time you are in nature, try these:
Notice the shape of a leaf.
Feel the texture of tree bark.
Watch sunlight move across the ground.
Listen to the wind passing through branches.
Smell the earth after rain.
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do not try to empty your mind or stop your thoughts. Most people discover that this is nearly impossible anyway. Instead, the goal is to remember that thoughts are only one part of your experience.
While your mind is busy telling stories, birds are singing, clouds are moving, insects are working, and leaves are dancing in the breeze. Life is happening both inside your head and outside it.
Bonus Gift: Nature connection lessons from wise masters – Calm in nature.
Every mind contains a few monsters. Some roar like Anxiety. Some simmer like Anger. Others arrive in shadows, disguised as loneliness, exhaustion, sleeplessness, sadness, or endless thinking.
The good news is that nature offers many friends. They help us build a stronger relationship with ourselves and the world around us.
Perhaps, that’s the first step to make even the biggest Mind Monster feel a little smaller.
Please share this post with someone who might find it useful. Leave a comment if you’d like to share any tips or nature activities that have helped you in your time of need.
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