Remember hiking when you were younger or more fit – but feel those days are out of reach?

There have been many days when I’ve felt the frustrating limits of my body – aches and pains or recovery from surgery – and I’ve found several simple ways to enjoy the healing benefits of nature without lots of physical activity.

It’s vitally important for our physical, emotional and mental health to find ways to connect to nature. The many health benefits to spending time in nature include reduced stress and lowered use of prescription medicines for conditions like asthma and high blood pressure. As a result, some physicians are even writing “nature prescriptions” to encourage children and adults to spend time in nature.

But how do you gain the health benefits of being in nature if you have limited mobility or energy?

Below are three ways you can do this. And then, because mindset is often another component of feeling capable, there are three tips for shifting your beliefs about your ability – and this advice is coming from our founder Erika who most recently stayed connected with nature while having a fractured pelvis and two fractured ribs…. while being gentle with her body.

How to Explore Nature When You’re Not Feeling Well

1. Sit:

Drive (or ask someone to drive you) to a park and find a bench. Sit there and watch the birds, insects, butterflies for 20 minutes. Put your phone down and just gaze at all that is around you.

2. Try Forest Bathing / Forest Therapy:

Find a local guide. Professional guides know how to adapt their walks to all levels of physical abilities. I’ve led walks where the people went no further than their backyard. Others where the walk was less than a 500 yard radius. Most, if not all, are less than 1 mile. You’ll feel connected to nature and supported by a professional looking out for your well-being. Learn more about the practice of forest therapy .

3. Stay inside:

You may feel exercise is out of reach for you. Perhaps a simple stroll to the end of the block is an impossibility. You can connect to nature while inside your home – or on a porch or in the yard.

Choose a tree you can see from your window. Spend a minute or two each day gazing at the tree. The benefit is you’ll notice how the tree changes and feel more connected.

Grow a plant from a bulb, like a tulip or amaryllis, or grow lettuce from seeds. Sit with the growing plant every day for a few minutes.
Or, if you’re open to it, make friends with an indoor plant. You can even hold onto a leaf or frond- you’ll feel it’s life and this helps you feel grounded.
🌱🌿

Believe you can explore nature when you’re not feeling well

One of the challenges of going out in a forest setting is our belief that the forest must be hiked, a mountain must be climbed and we must conquer / scale / engage in some physical challenge. We imagine fit climbers scaling Mount Everest, hikers sporting gear from Patagonia and wonder if we need to buy hiking boots.

Here are 3 beliefs to adopt about being in a park or forest setting:

1. Change your definition of the word “explore.” It’s okay to treat the forest like you would the ocean.

When we visit the ocean, we give ourselves permission to sit on the sand and gaze, or take slow walks on the beach.

Take the same approach to a Forest or park.

Look, when you go to a park, you’re going to see a bench. Benches are there on purpose. They are put there so people will sit on them. They are free to sit on. (Unlike at the beach where you pay or have to bring your own!). Be one of the people to use the benches.

Besides, you probably paid for the benches with your taxes. Get your money’s worth. 😉

2. Accept the current boundaries of your body – yet expand the potential of your mind and heart.

Yes, you may feel discouraged, frustrated or sad about the limitations you face. But, your heart and your mind have potential. Your brain and heart don’t have similar limitations – use them to notice the details of nature. Use your senses and you’ll feel connected. Look around you, listen to the sounds, breathe in the smells, touch the ground or take off your shoes and let your feet feel the earth, or take a pause to slowly eat a berry.

Also, consider this: nobody is handing out medals for hiking a trail. No one is paying attention to how far you’re going, except perhaps yourself. If you’re comparing your “old body” to your “current body,” or your “old distance” to your “current distance,” notice you’re in competition with yourself. It doesn’t sound like the comparison would be favorable. Try not to compare at all. But if you must compare, add in a few more factors – are you connecting to your heart and / or mind?

There’s no need to scale a mountain or hike a trail to “connect with nature.” Nature is ready to meet and greet us at all levels. 💕🥰

-Erika Hovland Bahij

3. Believe it’s easy.

Connecting to nature does not need to involve an hour drive to the perfect forest spot. Here’s how quick it can be:

(a) Look out your window.

(b) Open the door to the outside. Look. (Or sit and look).

(c) Walk or drive to the closest park. Sit on a bench.

(d) Lay in bed. Listen to the birds or crickets outside.

When we think something is hard, it is hard. When we think something is easy, it is easy.

Believe connecting to nature is easy and it will be easy.

Have you faced a physical limitation and found ways to still get outside? Share your tips in the comments below.

Or keep reading about gentle ways to explore nature.

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/anuradhavaranasi/2023/01/26/visiting-green-spaces-regularly-might-just-lower-the-use-of-some-prescription-medicines/?sh=44faf7dc687d Accessed Feb 5, 2023. 2. Kondo MC, Oyekanmi KO, Gibson A, South EC, Bocarro J, Hipp JA. Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jun 12;17(12):4213. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17124213. PMID: 32545651; PMCID: PMC7344564.