senses Archives

Finding Peacefulness in Nature

“I love the outdoors. It gives me a peacefulness.”

Tania finding peacefulness in nature

This is the transcript from Season 2, Episode 7 of the Outdoors is my Therapy Podcast with my friend Tania Bertram.

Finding Peacefulness in Nature

Kathryn: Hello and welcome back to The Outdoors is My Therapy podcast. I’m your host, Kathryn Walton. This is series two and in each episode you’ll get to meet one of my friends who’ll share what inspires them about the outdoors. Each episode is just a few minutes long, like a little snack of information and inspiration that feeds your mind and your heart and reconnects you with the therapeutic benefits of the outdoor world.

As humans, we understand the world through our senses. Your senses provide you with opportunities to interact with your environment and with other people – a way of communicating and connecting, a bit like an interface to use “computer speak”. Your senses receive and then send information to your brain about where you are in space and time.

Signals are received by your senses from all around you. They’re sent through your nervous system where they’re processed and interpreted, and like all good communication, your brain then sends messages back through your body directing your next actions.

Most of the time your senses are working without you even realising. There are sights and sounds and smells that you’re not conscious of even though they’re there most of the time. Sometimes your brain will alert you to something like a dreadful smell, which is your natural protective mechanism kicking into gear, telling you to stay away because there’s something rotten, there’s something dangerous, something that could hurt you nearby.You might have also noticed the waft of a delicious veggie curry coming down the hallway at work, alerting you to the fact that it’s lunchtime and you really do feel quite hungry and need to eat.

Sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches are all around you. It would be pretty overwhelming if you were conscious of all of them all of the time so how amazing is it that humans have developed a really clever filtering system so that you can be automatically alerted to danger as needed without having to waste your precious energy on, well, on things that you don’t need to be constantly conscious of.

But as always, there is a downside to this filtering mechanism. In an effort to optimise energy and attention towards danger and risk, you are probably missing out on some of the good stuff in life too.

When you intentionally engage your senses in the world around you, you open up windows of opportunity to experience peace and calm. There are infinite ways that you can do this in nature, and the most simple way is to step outside and look around you. Notice what your eyes are seeing. Notice the textures and the colours around you. Notice the sounds. Breathe in and notice the aromas. Stop, pause, take in the moment. Even for just a moment.

Our guest today speaks about her experience of doing this in a very special nature space where she lives. In fact, it was the very same space where we recorded this conversation. Tania Bertram loves the outdoors and has built a lifestyle around those aspects of nature that she loves the most and that bring her a sense of peace and calm in the midst of life’s stresses. Tania was one of our Outdoors is my Therapy Ambassadors when we launched in 2020, and she’s previously shared a story on my blog about her travels around Australia with two young children.

After you’ve listened to this episode, you might like to click on the link in the show notes to have a read of her story and be inspired. But for now, meet my friend Tania.

Hello Tania. Welcome to the podcast.

Tania: Thank you Kathryn. Nice to be here.

Kathryn: I’d love to hear from you what inspires you about the outdoors?

Tania: I love the outdoors. It gives me a peacefulness. Uh, I love looking at all the, the animals. listening to the birds. Walking down this morning I had a 360 degree hearing of birds. Looking at the trees, the colours, the bark, so much, um, so much interest in the bark itself. It’s just amazing. So it makes me stop and pause and have a look around, take in the moment.

Kathryn: Tania, do you have a favourite space in nature?

Tania: My favourite space recently is just sitting by the creek with the, the grass around me, the trees above me, uh, nature all around. So I’d say anywhere that’s, just outside and quiet. Really, really does. It does feel good.

Kathryn: And you’re really lucky where you live. You’ve got a beautiful creek and the 360 degree views and, and have that 360 degree sound of the birds as well.

Tania: It is, it’s an ideal spot. I’m so glad we found it. It was. It was just at a right time that, um, we could come down here and, and really appreciate it. And I do appreciate it. I, I come and camp, by myself and just look at the stars at night and listen to the wildlife around me. It, it is such a special place, very fortunate.

Kathryn: And we’re very fortunate today to be sharing it with you as well, sitting down by the creek while we’re recording this episode. So thank you very much for your generosity in, in sharing such a beautiful space with us, Tania.

Tania: Oh, it, it is been a pleasure having you. This perfect space has made even better with your company. Thank you.

Kathryn: Thanks for tuning into The Outdoors is My Therapy podcast. We hope you feel inspired to connect with the outdoors no matter how big or small your adventures might be. If you’re looking for more inspiration or you’d like to connect with others in the outdoors is my therapy community, check the show notes for all the links.

You can listen to the episode “Finding Peacefulness in Nature” here:

LINKS

Contact Kathryn via her website

Grab your free Guide to a Perfect Nature Escape Day when you subscribe to the Grounded Inspiration newsletter (limited time)

“Your Personal Day of Retreat: A guide to planning self-care and stress management that really works” e-book

Read Tania’s blog post “Family Adventures: Tania’s Story of Travel Around Australia”

Join the Outdoors is my Therapy Facebook Group

Music by Twisterium from Pixabay

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Kathryn Walton shares information and reflections in Daisy Spoke that connect, inspire and self-empower women to make healthy choices for themselves. She integrates her love of physical exercise, family, nature, gardening and creative arts with her professional background in mental health social work to facilitate change with individuals, groups and communities of women who are committed to living life to the full.

How to keep exercising outdoors in the drought

“How CAN you keep exercising outdoors in the drought????”

I’m writing this blog post because over the past year lots of people have said they just don’t know how I can keep exercising outdoors in the drought. We typically think of nature as nurturing and health-giving, a place of solace and retreat. Being confronted by a shockingly dry environment with frequent bushfires, brown landscapes that used to be green, National Park closures, and dry waterways, it’s clear that nature has a shadow side as well.

flowers before the drought

“It’s REALLY tough!”

To be completely open, I’ve also questioned how I can keep exercising outdoors in the drought. The whole climatic situation has been tough. Really tough! The ripple effect of the drought has swept up farmers, wildlife, local businesses, ‘town’ people, and those in the cities. We’re all affected in various ways either directly or indirectly. There’s a pervasive and damaging sense of hopelessness, and like any emotion, it’s contagious. Yet a sense of hope is exactly what we need to survive difficult or traumatic situations. Where there’s hope, there’s life. Without it, we spiral into a self-fulfilling doom and gloom mentality.

Exercising outdoors has been very confronting. I can’t walk on my home trails without seeing or smelling death. The brown dust colours my view as if I’m looking through a sepia filter. Ticks are in plague proportions. Swarms of good ole slow country flies are driving me nuts. The heat is unbearable. And there’s not enough water for washing your hair after a workout.

My stress tank is overflowing! How about you?

My connection with nature runs very deep, as does my yearning to be active. But in this tough time, I also came down with shingles. My stress tank began to overflow. I had to do something differently. Bushwalking and bike riding whilst constantly thinking about the drought and feeling unwell was contributing to the stress.

So what CAN you do when being in nature is SO stressful?

You have to put your creative thinking hat on to find a solution when things get tough. What worked before is no longer effective. The questions people keep asking me (and that I wanted solutions for too) are:

How can I reconnect with the side of nature that heals and nurtures and teaches?
How can I enjoy my time outdoors without feeling overwhelmed?
What mindset shift do I need?
What actions do I need to take?
How can I keep exercising everyday?

exercising in the drought — Exercising in the drought has it’s challenges

So I set you to explore this new territory and experiment with the possibilities!

Here are 6 solutions that I’ve discovered. I hope they work for you too!

1. Podcasts

If you haven’t got on the bandwagon yet, then you really need to! Podcasts are audio shows, a bit like a radio show, that you can either stream from the Internet or download onto a device to listen to later. I download episodes from my favourite shows onto my phone, plug my ear phones in, and listen to inspiring, energising interviews while I walk. Instead of focusing my attention on my surroundings, I lose myself in the show and arrive back home with excitement for life and new ideas to put into action. Watch out for a future blog post about my favourite podcasts suitable for Android or Apple.

2. Set an Intention

Before heading out on a walk or ride, I often choose an intention – something I want to focus on or get out of my experience. This is a personal choice, so it can be anything at all. Some of the intentions I’ve set for myself go like this:
“Today I will notice new growth”
“Today I will focus on the sensations in my legs”
“Today I will find fun”
“Today I will discover colour”
“Today I will notice sounds”

3. Mindful Walking

With mindful walks I like to focus on one sense at a time and when I notice my mind has wandered away from my body, I gently bring it back to rest on my senses. I’ve especially enjoyed focusing on my sense of hearing – noticing the many different bird calls, the sounds of the breeze in the trees, my footsteps on the ground, insects buzzing around, wallabies bounding along. I usually focus on one sense for a few minutes, then move onto another one. With my sense of touch, I focus on how it feels to have clothes on my skin, feet in my shoes as I take a step, muscle movement, sunscreen on my face, leaves brushing my skin. When I focus on my sense of sight, I challenge myself to find colours and light and patterns that I don’t normally notice. You can also use a meditation app with a guided practice for mindfulness of walking.

4. Photography

I’ve discovered that taking photos along the way really helps me to bring my attention to the beautiful things. Sometimes I combine photography with an intention or a mindful walk so that I can collect images that bring me joy, and at the same time it helps my brain to collect evidence that there is hope.

5. Make it Social

Walking or riding with other people can be really helpful because the focus is on that invisible connection between myself and someone else. Give me a deep and meaningful conversation with a friend any day, plenty of laughs, a chance to debrief the stuff of life that drives me crazy, and to celebrate the rest. Sometimes, too, there’s a sneaky competitive edge that sees me running or riding faster when I’m with others. Inevitably that ends up in a heap of laughs too, gasping for air, heart pounding out of my chest, and the satisfaction that I’ve done my weekly interval training.

6. Mix it up

I’ve always said “I’m not a gym person”. I’ve built a business and identity around my outdoor adventures. BUT, being unwell and being in the drought has helped me re-set my rigid thinking about exercise. Instead of going outdoors everyday, I went to an aqua class with a friend, did loops of the river walk in town where it’s a bit greener, and took up an irresistible offer to join a gym. I’ve extended the variety of exercise I get which is a fantastic thing! It will help me enjoy and have greater success with my outdoor adventuring which I’m still doing at least a couple of times a week. Going to the gym also gets me focusing on my sadly neglected strength training (one of those things I really ‘should’ be doing at my age!), all whilst staying out of the flies and heat. I get to make new friends and pace myself sensibly (sort of) as I recuperate. At home I’ve also begun a more regular yoga practice – something I’ve been wanting to do but it’s been a lower priority until now.

To Sum Up: Choose Your Focus!

It’s really all about CHOOSING WHAT YOU FOCUS ON. When we feel like we have no control or influence over a situation (like the drought), it’s important to push the pause button, think about it creatively, and choose your focus. Like many people, I’ve struggled with exercising outdoors in the drought. The ideas I’ve shared in this article have made a huge difference to me, my mental state and my physical health. My hope is that they help you too.

Let me know what works for you! Have you got some other ideas to share with our readers?

Discovering mountain biking as life’s ultimate parallel universe in her middle age, Kathryn Walton shares information and reflections in ‘Daisy Spoke’ that inform, inspire and empower women to a healthy and active lifestyle.

Thinking About Thinking: joining the dots between senses and thoughts

We all think in different ways. Each of us has a unique mind with different ideas, beliefs and opinions ….. and the way we PERCEIVE our own thoughts is fairly unique too. Many of us connect the PERCEPTION of our thoughts with our senses.

Thinking about YOUR thinking ….. how do YOU think?

Pictures, images, visual symbols – Do your thoughts seem to be constructed of things you can see in the external world around you? When you think about a situation, do you have a mental image of what that looks like? Faces? Places? Objects? Do you see a ‘mental’ or internal movie playing scenarios from the past or future?

Voices, sounds, words – Do you hear your thoughts, almost as if there’s another person in your mind, or perhaps your own voice chattering away. Maybe you hear several voices chattering or arguing, a voice from your childhood of yourself or someone else, or maybe unfamiliar voices. These voices speak out the thoughts that go through your mind.

Feelings, sensations, movements of the body – Do you ‘feel’ your thoughts inside your head or your body? When you think about situations or recall events, do you feel the movements or sensations associated with them?

Smell and taste – The sense of smell is often deeply connected with memories. Certain smells can trigger memories, experiences and flashbacks without warning, whether pleasant or unpleasant. The sense of taste can be similar. We use phrases such as “That left a bad taste in my mouth” and “I smell something fishy here”, all of which suggest the use of these senses in the way we perceive our thoughts.

A lot of us will find that our thinking relies on all the senses at different times or in different ways, although one sense may be more dominant than the others. For example, you might notice that your thoughts often present as images – as if you can see them and almost reach out and touch them. But this might be combined with movement and sound, as if you are watching a movie playing out in your mind.

So my question for you is …..

Thinking about YOUR thinking ….. how do YOU think?