Mental Health Awareness Week

The theme for this year’s event is ‘nature‘. This is all about connecting with nature and the environment in a way that works for you. This can be as simple as watering a plant, listening to the birds, touching the bark of trees, smelling flowers, or writing a poem about one of you favourite places where you like to connect with nature. There are also some more ideas below of how you can get involved during the week.

What you can do

Experience nature: take time to recognise and grow your connection with nature during the week. Take a moment to notice and celebrate nature in your daily life. You might be surprised by what you notice!

Share nature: Take a photo, video or sound recording and share the connections you’ve made during the week, to inspire others. Join the discussion on how you’re connecting with nature by using the hashtags #ConnectWithNature #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

Talk about nature: you can discuss with your family or friends how you can help encourage others to find new ways to connect with nature in your local environment.

Try using your five senses: Spending time in the park or your garden can help you relax and use your five senses to take notice of the world around you. You can also try the following exercise which can help you take notice and appreciate the world around you. The exercise is all about using our five senses: smell, sight, hearing, touch and taste.

Take a seat somewhere comfortable – this could be in your garden or in the park or your favourite nature spot. Then, spend a few minutes noticing:

• Five things you can see
• Four things you can touch
• Three things you can hear
• Two things you can smell
• One thing you can taste

This exercise can be done in nature or at home and is great for calming your mind if you are feeling distracted.

We hope you enjoy the week and connecting with nature.