4 August 2023
7 ways to connect with nature
Find your nature through these mindfulness exercises and tips.
‘We are connected in every single way. We are nature.’ – Fearne Cotton, British broadcaster, writer and founder of Happy Place.
Tune in to nature and the natural world with these simple steps on your next visit to Kew Gardens or Wakehurst.
1. Remove your shoes and socks and walk slowly with closed eyes
Walking barefoot, otherwise known as grounding or earthing, awakens your senses, allowing a deeper connection to the earth beneath our feet.
Walk slowly, concentrating on the feelings you are experiencing in your feet. Is the ground warm, cold, smooth, bumpy, wet or dry?
Focus on these different sensations to experience nature in a whole new light.
2. Walk along the grass and not the concrete path
Heighten the feelings and sensations you experience in your environment, discovering your own path to finding nature.
Your journey is not about the destination, but your awareness of your surroundings – focus on the present.
Why not deepen your experience by joining one of our forest bathing sessions?
3. Take time moving through the landscape
Don’t rush; take in all that is around you.
Notice that in each step there’s a haven of diversity around you: botanical, spatial, visual – bringing you back to the here and now.
Follow one of our five new summer trails at Kew and feel, hear, move, and think differently in nature.
4. Gain perspective by changing your viewpoint
Clamber to the top of our Treetop Walkway at Kew or viewing point at Wakehurst; a view from above gives time to reflect and makes life’s stresses and anxieties seem so small.
Reflect and rebalance in nature.
5. Look to the skies
Don’t forget to look up. There’s so much to see and explore if you lift your eyes from your feet.
Marvel at the beauty of a starling murmuration or the soft falling of dappled light through the tree canopy.
Don't miss the stunning aerial art installation Isla at Wakehurst this summer – made from 4,000 individual resin pieces, this intricate artwork collects and releases rainwater, moving in tune with the elements.
6. Listen
Open your ears to the symphony of nature: the hum of bees, birdsong, flowing water and gentle breeze.
And if you’re visiting Wakehurst, listen out for the Forest Magaphones.
7. Whisper to the trees
Redwoods live on average between 800 to 1,500 years, connecting us to the distant past and far future.
You can spot these giants in Kew's Redwood Grove and Wakehurst's Horsebridge Wood.
Share your thoughts, feelings and life lessons with those who’ll be around past your lifetime, whether it’s in 50-, 100- or 500-years’ time.
What will your legacy be?
