Nature connection

What is nature connection?

Nature connection is the felt sense of belonging to the living world: knowing the place you live, the lives you share it with, and how you fit in. It grows through time, attention and care.

Read on What is Wilding?

looking up

You are already part of nature

You probably already spend time in nature.

Walking the dog. Pottering in the garden. A familiar footpath, or the park on the way to school. That is the perfect place to start.

Wilding meets you where you are. It is not about becoming an expert naturalist, survivalist or outdoor instructor, and you don’t need to travel somewhere special. It can begin at a window, in a garden, on a familiar footpath or beneath a tree in a local park.

What changes is the relationship. Over time, visiting nature becomes knowing a place. Knowing becomes belonging. And belonging leads to care.

Visiting nature
Knowing a place
Belonging
Caring for it

Think of a friendship beginning in a coffee shop. At first, you notice someone sitting by the window. Perhaps you exchange a smile. With repeated visits you begin to talk, share stories and recognise their moods. In time you notice their absence, care about their wellbeing and offer something of yourself in return.

Our relationship with nature can grow in much the same way. Nature contact is the beginning, not the destination.

Exposure, then connection, then deep connection: from strangers in a café to friends, and from a first walk to feeling part of a place — From a first smile to friendship, and from a first encounter to belonging.

Things you might notice this week

Sweet chestnut cases

Fly agaric

A fallen feather

Frost on the leaves

Foxglove

A daisy in the lawn

How it began for me

The buzzard that changed my view.

From the age of five I was a wild child, roaming the countryside and coming home as darkness fell. Later I took up canoeing and bushcraft, taught them for years and cared for a woodland. Yet, despite all that time outside, I still felt separate from nature. I saw it as a place to find resources: wild food, firewood or species to identify.

One hot summer’s day, a neighbour pointed out a buzzard soaring overhead. I looked for it the next day and could not find it. Where had it gone? Why had it been soaring so high? Why had I rarely looked up before? I knew the light switches and creaky stair tread in my house, but remarkably little about my natural home.

On dog walks with Sam, I only ever saw the rear end of blackbirds as they dived for cover. That buzzard awakened my curiosity, and I began to connect the pieces of nature’s jigsaw.

I call this journey re-wilding, and I would like to pass on what I have learned to you.

More about me

Three connections

Nature, yourself and each other.

Wilding works on three connections at once, and each strengthens the others. The three grow best together.

Outward

With nature

Returning to a sit spot, opening your senses, listening to the birds, following tracks and getting to know the plants and animals you meet. Over time, familiarity grows into relationship.

Inward

With yourself

Stillness, journalling, imagination and gratitude give you space to notice your own thoughts, feelings and moods, and the ripple you send out into a place and into everyday life.

Together

With each other

A shared fire, a story of the day, a nature table, a meal cooked outdoors or a seasonal celebration. Wilding builds trust and belonging with family, friends and community.

Growing a relationship with nature

What do you love enough to look after?

Nature connection is a felt relationship with the living world. It is different from knowing names or spending time outdoors. It grows as we come to know particular places and living neighbours.

How awareness grows

Notice
Get curious
Pay attention
Wonder
Awareness

You notice a movement, a bird call or a print. You wonder what caused it. You stop to look and listen. Repeated in the same place over time, that builds a sense of place.

Five pathways in

SensesListen, smell, touch

BeautyNotice what moves you

EmotionLet yourself feel

MeaningStories and symbols

CompassionCare for living things

Five different doors into connection, not a single correct route (University of Derby, Nature Connectedness Research Group).

What connection gives back

Connection and belonging

Time in nature with others eases loneliness and builds belonging, to people and to place.

Kinder behaviour

Children behaved more generously after a trip to a nature school than after a museum visit (Dopko and colleagues, 2019).

A shift in perspective

Awe, from a big sky or an ancient tree, makes us feel part of something bigger, and more generous (Piff and colleagues, 2015).

Calm and restoration

Adults scored 50% higher on a creative problem-solving test after four days hiking without screens (Atchley and colleagues, 2012).

Health and wellbeing

At least two hours a week in nature is linked to better health and wellbeing (White and colleagues, 2019).

Showing up better

People who feel more connected to nature are more likely to act to protect it (Martin and colleagues, 2020).

Attributes of connection: in awe and reverence, self-sufficient, in the present moment, with heightened awareness, alive and agile, inquisitively focused, empathetic, in service to our community

Signs it is growing

How connection shows up in you

As your relationship with nature deepens, it starts to show in everyday life: a quieter mind, heightened awareness, feeling alive and agile, focused curiosity, empathy, being in the present moment, a little more self-sufficiency, awe and reverence, and a wish to serve your community.

“In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand.”Baba Dioum, 1968

Why it matters

Connection changes more than you

When we know and care for the place we live, good things ripple outwards.

For you

Calmer, happier and more present. Time spent noticing nature is linked to better wellbeing, sleep and focus, and to feeling that life is worthwhile.

For nature

People protect what they love, and love what they know. Connected people garden for wildlife, take part in surveys and speak up for wild places.

For your family & community

Shared walks, fires and stories build trust between generations and neighbours, and give children mentors and a sense of belonging.

For society

A culture that belongs to the land is healthier, more resilient and better at caring for the places everyone depends on.

Busy life?

Make a date with nature

Most people would like more time in nature, yet something keeps getting in the way. Naming what holds you back is the first step. Then give yourself permission: pop a reminder in your phone, step outside for a few minutes and notice one thing. Small, regular moments add up.

Ready to begin?

Wilding is a way to grow that connection, one small step at a time: know nature, live wilder and pass it on.

Explore Wilding Start your journey