Contact with nature is not the same as connection with nature. While contact with nature is important for our general health, connection plays a much more important role in our sense of wellbeing.

In the early 2000s, researchers at the University of Derby began seeking to understand this relationship – the level of closeness, or ‘connectedness’ to nature in more detail. In the years that have followed, this concept has been developed with a view to understanding how we can improve levels of connectedness. The result of these studies was the theory of the ‘Five Pathways’: a framework to help bring about a closer relationship with nature.

1. Sensory contact with the natural world: actively engaging with nature through the senses, for example listening to birdsong, smelling wild flowers, watching the breeze in the trees, going barefoot, or tasting the fruits of nature.
2. Finding an emotional bond with, and love for, nature: this could be finding joy in wildlife at play, taking a moment to feel calm with nature, or wondering at details, like a spider’s web. 
3. Taking time to appreciate the beauty of nature: this could be creating some wild art, painting the amazing colours of insects, taking a photo of a flower, or visiting a place with an amazing view.
4. Thinking about the meaning and signs of nature: honouring and celebrating the cycles and signs of nature. This could be mapping the journey of a bee, finding folktales about nature, or celebrating key moments, like the longest day or the first swallow of summer.
5. Showing compassion and care for nature: looking after nature as you would look after yourself, taking actions that are good for nature. This could be planting wildflowers, digging a pond, putting up a nest box, or supporting conservation charities.
    

Nature has long been considered important for people’s mental health. For example, 73% of UK adults surveyed in the Mental Health Foundation’s YouGov poll said that connecting with nature was important in terms of managing their mental health during the pandemic.

For those who are grieving, connectedness in nature can offer many benefits and aid healing:

• It can remind us of the continuum of life and that we and our loved one are still part of something greater than ourselves that goes on existing without us.
• It provides a place and space to attend to our grief without intrusion from the ongoing demands of work, family and everyday responsibilities.
• It can promote mindfulness, allowing the grieving person to anchor themselves in a moment by physically touching, smelling and listening to nature.
• It allows us to disconnect from technology and find quiet, solitude and comfort in life rhythms that are natural, soothing and restorative.
• It reminds us of the beauty that can be found all around us - even in our grief, it can be comforting to realise that beauty still exists.
• The sights and sounds of nature can offer distraction from a cycle of difficult thoughts.

Find out more about ecotherapy as a nature-based approach to healing.
 

For those seeking solace and reflection in their grief, we have lots of wonderful nature reserves to visit across Wiltshire and Swindon to experience the healing benefits of nature. 

Our wellbeing team also offers a range of nature-based activities to increase nature connectedness and wellbeing, and to aid healing. To experience the benefits of ecotherapy, consider trying one of the wellbeing programmes and events offered by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, such as our series of half-day Wild Beings events based at Clouts Wood, Wroughton. Our experienced team offer participants a safe and supportive space to reconnect with nature in a meaningful way. All sessions include mindfulness and a nature inspired craft activity.

We have also launched a new partnership with Dorothy House Hospice Care, which provides exceptional free palliative and end of life care at their hospice in Winsley or at people’s homes in Bath, North East Somerset and parts of Wiltshire. Their beautiful Hospice grounds in Winsley, Somerset, provide welcome solace to anyone experiencing grief and bereavement. 

Dorothy House Hospice Care offers community support groups, which are open to all bereaved people, not just those personally connected with Dorothy House Hospice Care; and their team of experienced counsellors and psychotherapists is there to provide the emotional and psychological support people may need to grieve the losses they are facing.

Find out more about the support that Dorothy House can offer: