Ecotherapy includes practices which aim to improve your mental and physical wellbeing through doing outdoor activities in nature. Connecting with nature in this way can have many positive health benefits.
Ecotherapy creates opportunities for people to engage more purposefully with their lives, so they are able to care more for others and their surroundings. This isn't just a 'nice to have', it is vital to cope with rising demand.
Lessons from nature teach life-long skills.
Being alone does not mean being lonely, and we can experience loneliness when in company. We generally don’t choose loneliness and it can be painful. Solitude, on the other hand, is usually a choice and the experience can be one of joy and deep satisfaction. it also seems that the capacity to be alone and content with it acts as a necessary tonic in our oh-so-busy lives.
If you find you you are unhappy with a situation a change in viewpoint can make it more bearable, or even acceptable, so here's how to change a strongly held point of view (by the way, I'm talking about our own views here, this is not about persuading others).
Lost direction can leave you feeling all at sea, or as this example shows, lost all over the beach.
We often forget these days just how connected we have been with the natural world and how being outside is as much a part of us as are eating and drinking. As an urban society we have lost touch with this to such and extent that we suffer for it. We spend around 90% of our time in the built environment, but being cooped up contradicts our ancestral upbringing.
There is nothing new in taking lessons from the natural world, after all our species has been doing is for ever. We all know, at some level, where to go when we seek healing or solace. We instinctively turn to nature – through walking, travel, or just sitting in the park – when we are troubled or when we are getting over something. So why wait until our spirit is broken before we decide to fix it? Being mindful of our surroundings is a habit anyone can develop.
As we are constantly exhorted to do more – both by others and our own expectations – it is worth remembering that our species has been shaped by the natural environment, the ebb and flow of the seasons, and our innate ability to reflect and learn.. Now it seems that there are situations where we benefit from the perception of doing less, while we are actually doing more.
