Ways to Connect this Winter
Despite the turn in weather and reduced daylight as we creep towards the onset of winter, it’s important to understand how each season offers us a unique opportunity to review the constant changes we experience throughout the year, internally and externally.
When we think of winter itself, we recognize it as a time of quiet, reducing our activities and energy and retreating indoors. As we turn inwards, so too does nature, with the trees dropping their leaves, animals commencing hibernation and the wilting and dying back of plant life into the ground, ready to recreate the perfect hummus for new growth once again in the coming year.
And so it is that we too should look to winter as the time to nurture ourselves, to reflect on the past few months, to let go of our concerns and worries, and to nourish our body and mind for a new year ahead. I hope you will enjoy some of the offerings I have put together here, to help support you during these more challenging months, harnessing the wonders of nature for better health and wellbeing.
When we think of winter itself, we recognize it as a time of quiet, reducing our activities and energy and retreating indoors. As we turn inwards, so too does nature, with the trees dropping their leaves, animals commencing hibernation and the wilting and dying back of plant life into the ground, ready to recreate the perfect hummus for new growth once again in the coming year.
And so it is that we too should look to winter as the time to nurture ourselves, to reflect on the past few months, to let go of our concerns and worries, and to nourish our body and mind for a new year ahead. I hope you will enjoy some of the offerings I have put together here, to help support you during these more challenging months, harnessing the wonders of nature for better health and wellbeing.
Practice: Winter Woodland Walking
If you joined us for our spring Mindfulness and Nature Connection course, you may already be familiar with the earlier practices we looked at, which were mindful walking and breathing. As we move into winter, it’s useful to revisit the benefits of these practices, as continuing to develop these will help to form a regular routine that supports your mind and body throughout the year, making time to get outdoors and experience each season fully.
Setting aside regular time to walk in nature creates the space your body needs to rest, recoup and generate a more peaceful mind. Tying in with the Japanese practice of forest bathing, I’d like to recommend finding a woodland or forested area that you can visit throughout the winter months. If you don’t already have a place in mind, I’ve listed a few local options at the bottom of this page that you may wish to seek out. Now is the perfect time to explore this kind of environment, to experience the skeletal patterns of the stripped backed tree canopy, and to enjoy the colours and crunchy textures of the leafy strewn floor. Later in this guide we will be discussing the importance of fractal geometry on our wellbeing, so a woodland is a great place to start exploring the shapes and patterns available to us at this time of year.
If you joined us for our spring Mindfulness and Nature Connection course, you may already be familiar with the earlier practices we looked at, which were mindful walking and breathing. As we move into winter, it’s useful to revisit the benefits of these practices, as continuing to develop these will help to form a regular routine that supports your mind and body throughout the year, making time to get outdoors and experience each season fully.
Setting aside regular time to walk in nature creates the space your body needs to rest, recoup and generate a more peaceful mind. Tying in with the Japanese practice of forest bathing, I’d like to recommend finding a woodland or forested area that you can visit throughout the winter months. If you don’t already have a place in mind, I’ve listed a few local options at the bottom of this page that you may wish to seek out. Now is the perfect time to explore this kind of environment, to experience the skeletal patterns of the stripped backed tree canopy, and to enjoy the colours and crunchy textures of the leafy strewn floor. Later in this guide we will be discussing the importance of fractal geometry on our wellbeing, so a woodland is a great place to start exploring the shapes and patterns available to us at this time of year.
Walking mindfully tends to be taken at a slower pace, so please prepare suitably for your walk by ensuring you wear good layers of warm and comfortable clothing and footwear.
Grounding
Before commencing your walk, it can be good practice to learn to ground yourself and create a moment to ‘arrive’ in a space. This simple technique not only provides the opportunity to pause and drop away any worries or concerns you may have before setting off, but it also helps bring your attention to the present moment, clearing head space and relaxing any tension you may be holding in your body.
Below is a short audio guide which provides some gentle steps in creating a simple grounding routine for yourself. I suggest listening to this first as guidance, and then heading out on your chosen walk to give it a try for yourself.
Grounding
Before commencing your walk, it can be good practice to learn to ground yourself and create a moment to ‘arrive’ in a space. This simple technique not only provides the opportunity to pause and drop away any worries or concerns you may have before setting off, but it also helps bring your attention to the present moment, clearing head space and relaxing any tension you may be holding in your body.
Below is a short audio guide which provides some gentle steps in creating a simple grounding routine for yourself. I suggest listening to this first as guidance, and then heading out on your chosen walk to give it a try for yourself.
Some Mindful Walking Tips
Once you’ve sought out your woodland and settled in with your grounding practice, the following might be helpful ways in which to explore your feelings and deepen your nature connecting experience if you so choose:
- Notice how you're feeling before and after your walk. Did you notice a difference, physically and/or mentally?
- Walk with your heart rather than your head. Feel the natural way you're drawn towards, rather than choosing an obvious or common route. Explore new pathways or seek out spots that pique your attention.
- Listen to the woodlands sound track, what do you hear and how does it make you feel?
- Take time to pause and look at the landscape in more detail? What draws your eye?
- What fragrances do you notice and how might these affect your mood?
- How does light penetrate the space? Are you drawn to the darker spaces, or do you prefer being nearer the light?
- How does the ground feel underfoot and how does your body feel as you walk, what are you noticing in yourself right now?
Once you’ve sought out your woodland and settled in with your grounding practice, the following might be helpful ways in which to explore your feelings and deepen your nature connecting experience if you so choose:
- Notice how you're feeling before and after your walk. Did you notice a difference, physically and/or mentally?
- Walk with your heart rather than your head. Feel the natural way you're drawn towards, rather than choosing an obvious or common route. Explore new pathways or seek out spots that pique your attention.
- Listen to the woodlands sound track, what do you hear and how does it make you feel?
- Take time to pause and look at the landscape in more detail? What draws your eye?
- What fragrances do you notice and how might these affect your mood?
- How does light penetrate the space? Are you drawn to the darker spaces, or do you prefer being nearer the light?
- How does the ground feel underfoot and how does your body feel as you walk, what are you noticing in yourself right now?
Activity: Fractals and Wellbeing
Following on from the mindful walking practice, you will be able to easily incorporate our next theme on fractals, which focuses on our primary sense of sight.
As visual beings, we perceive most of life first and foremost through sight. Sight allows us the ability to enjoy the myriad wonders of our natural landscapes, it plays an important role in filtering light, and it’s one of the five senses that most easily enables us to navigate the world around us.
In modern times however, we put additional strain on our brains and eyesight by living and working in environments not natural to us, spending long hours amongst manmade structures, technology, LED’s and fluorescent lighting. All of this leaves us feeling depleted, stressed, tired and often suffering with headaches, eyestrain and other discomforts.
As we enter into winter we are more at risk of spending increased time indoors, which in turn can lead to increased screen time and sitting under unnatural light sources. This activity helps to bring us back outside, focusing on fractal geometry and how this can help reduce the strain we are putting on ourselves and our eyes.
Following on from the mindful walking practice, you will be able to easily incorporate our next theme on fractals, which focuses on our primary sense of sight.
As visual beings, we perceive most of life first and foremost through sight. Sight allows us the ability to enjoy the myriad wonders of our natural landscapes, it plays an important role in filtering light, and it’s one of the five senses that most easily enables us to navigate the world around us.
In modern times however, we put additional strain on our brains and eyesight by living and working in environments not natural to us, spending long hours amongst manmade structures, technology, LED’s and fluorescent lighting. All of this leaves us feeling depleted, stressed, tired and often suffering with headaches, eyestrain and other discomforts.
As we enter into winter we are more at risk of spending increased time indoors, which in turn can lead to increased screen time and sitting under unnatural light sources. This activity helps to bring us back outside, focusing on fractal geometry and how this can help reduce the strain we are putting on ourselves and our eyes.
What are Fractals?
'Fractals are geometric patterns that are repeated over scale to produce “self-similar” irregular shapes and surfaces that cannot be represented by classical geometry (such as rectangles, cubes, and pyramids). Although practically absent in our man-made environment, fractals are found everywhere in nature – in trees, leaves, snowflakes, waves, rocks, clouds, as well as in our own bodies (our skin, lungs, brains, circulatory system, heartbeats, even the sloshing of amniotic fluid before we were born). Fractal geometry is at the foundation of all of creation which is natural and not made by humans'.
(Rob Zielkowski/Fractals & Health/www.naturemixvideo.co.uk)
Humans have evolved over millennia living and surviving in the natural landscape. Its only until more recent times, that the modern world has seen humans moving away from their natural surroundings and into more man-made environments, reducing our exposure to nature and in turn depriving us of its restorative benefits.
There is little effort required for us to visually experience the natural landscape, making our time amongst these shapes, colours and patterns much more relaxing and enjoyable, unlike in our man-made environments. Research based on the biophilia hypothesis and attention restoration theory, highlighted these connections between ourselves and the science behind fractal geometry for wellbeing.
'Fractals are geometric patterns that are repeated over scale to produce “self-similar” irregular shapes and surfaces that cannot be represented by classical geometry (such as rectangles, cubes, and pyramids). Although practically absent in our man-made environment, fractals are found everywhere in nature – in trees, leaves, snowflakes, waves, rocks, clouds, as well as in our own bodies (our skin, lungs, brains, circulatory system, heartbeats, even the sloshing of amniotic fluid before we were born). Fractal geometry is at the foundation of all of creation which is natural and not made by humans'.
(Rob Zielkowski/Fractals & Health/www.naturemixvideo.co.uk)
Humans have evolved over millennia living and surviving in the natural landscape. Its only until more recent times, that the modern world has seen humans moving away from their natural surroundings and into more man-made environments, reducing our exposure to nature and in turn depriving us of its restorative benefits.
There is little effort required for us to visually experience the natural landscape, making our time amongst these shapes, colours and patterns much more relaxing and enjoyable, unlike in our man-made environments. Research based on the biophilia hypothesis and attention restoration theory, highlighted these connections between ourselves and the science behind fractal geometry for wellbeing.
The Biophilia Hypothesis
The concept that humans have a biological need to engage with nature was termed by the Greeks as ‘biophilia’. The word ‘biophilia’ simply refers to the ‘love of life or living systems’, and its hypothesis states that humans have an innate predisposition to react positively in the natural environment. An American Biologist by the name E.O.Wilson made the concept popular in the 1980s after believing that because we evolved in nature, we have a biological need to connect with it. We love nature as we have learned to love the aspects of it that has helped us survive (food, shelter, heat etc) and we feel comfortable in it as we have lived our lives amongst it for generations.
Attention Restoration Theory
This theory holds that prolonged or intensive use of directed attention, the kind that requires effort, such as working at a computer, driving or watching television, can lead to increased stress and mental fatigue. Recovering functioning reduced by this fatigue can be helped by spending time in ‘restorative settings’, primarily natural environments, where there is space to rest, reflect and restore our emotional, cognitive and physical abilities. An extensive body of research and evidence has accumulated in support of ART, of
which there are deemed four primary components or features of a restorative setting:
The concept that humans have a biological need to engage with nature was termed by the Greeks as ‘biophilia’. The word ‘biophilia’ simply refers to the ‘love of life or living systems’, and its hypothesis states that humans have an innate predisposition to react positively in the natural environment. An American Biologist by the name E.O.Wilson made the concept popular in the 1980s after believing that because we evolved in nature, we have a biological need to connect with it. We love nature as we have learned to love the aspects of it that has helped us survive (food, shelter, heat etc) and we feel comfortable in it as we have lived our lives amongst it for generations.
Attention Restoration Theory
This theory holds that prolonged or intensive use of directed attention, the kind that requires effort, such as working at a computer, driving or watching television, can lead to increased stress and mental fatigue. Recovering functioning reduced by this fatigue can be helped by spending time in ‘restorative settings’, primarily natural environments, where there is space to rest, reflect and restore our emotional, cognitive and physical abilities. An extensive body of research and evidence has accumulated in support of ART, of
which there are deemed four primary components or features of a restorative setting:
Being Away
Diversion from the usual stresses and duties of day to day life, getting away from unhelpful, busy and noisy environments, and seeking out a different space.
Extent
The setting provides enough content and structure to occupy the mind in a more gentle way.
Soft Fascination
The setting can hold ones attention without the need for effort, it provides passive interaction and can be entered into almost involuntarily.
Compatibility
The setting provides an opportunity to spend time in a green space, is easily accessible and supports and encourages relaxation, engagement and enjoyment.
Diversion from the usual stresses and duties of day to day life, getting away from unhelpful, busy and noisy environments, and seeking out a different space.
Extent
The setting provides enough content and structure to occupy the mind in a more gentle way.
Soft Fascination
The setting can hold ones attention without the need for effort, it provides passive interaction and can be entered into almost involuntarily.
Compatibility
The setting provides an opportunity to spend time in a green space, is easily accessible and supports and encourages relaxation, engagement and enjoyment.
Tips for Observing Fractals
- If you haven’t already, investing in a small magnifying glass is a great way to look at patterns around us in closer detail. From leaves and flowers to frosty formations coating the landscape in winter.
- Look up, the tree canopy can provide stunning visuals this time of year with it’s bare branches and gnarly silhouettes against a wintry sky.
- Notice what draws your eye most when walking, from leaves on the ground, to the curves of hills and mountains in the distance, or the clouds crossing the sky. Then paint, sketch, photograph or draw what inspires you most.
- Bring the outside in by collecting feathers, small branches, sprigs of holly, spruce or mistletoe into your home, to decorate a windowsill or mantlepiece.
Local Woodlands and Forests
The following are just a few examples of nice places to walk which are fairly local to Brecon and the surrounding areas.
Blaen y Glyn Isaf, Abercynafon (CF48 2UT)
Coed Fenni-Fach, Brecon (LD3 9PH)
Craig Danywenallt, Talybont on Usk (LD3 7YS)
Coed Cefn, Crickhowell (NP8 1TD)
Glasfynydd Forest, Usk Reservoir (SA20 0QF)
The photos above are just some of the natural patterns and scenes I’ve captured on recent walks. If you would like to share anything from your own walks, photos, musings or artwork, please visit our Green Minds Community Facebook Page.
- If you haven’t already, investing in a small magnifying glass is a great way to look at patterns around us in closer detail. From leaves and flowers to frosty formations coating the landscape in winter.
- Look up, the tree canopy can provide stunning visuals this time of year with it’s bare branches and gnarly silhouettes against a wintry sky.
- Notice what draws your eye most when walking, from leaves on the ground, to the curves of hills and mountains in the distance, or the clouds crossing the sky. Then paint, sketch, photograph or draw what inspires you most.
- Bring the outside in by collecting feathers, small branches, sprigs of holly, spruce or mistletoe into your home, to decorate a windowsill or mantlepiece.
Local Woodlands and Forests
The following are just a few examples of nice places to walk which are fairly local to Brecon and the surrounding areas.
Blaen y Glyn Isaf, Abercynafon (CF48 2UT)
Coed Fenni-Fach, Brecon (LD3 9PH)
Craig Danywenallt, Talybont on Usk (LD3 7YS)
Coed Cefn, Crickhowell (NP8 1TD)
Glasfynydd Forest, Usk Reservoir (SA20 0QF)
The photos above are just some of the natural patterns and scenes I’ve captured on recent walks. If you would like to share anything from your own walks, photos, musings or artwork, please visit our Green Minds Community Facebook Page.