How to Improve Your Wellbeing and Mental Health Naturally and Simply

No doubt you remember the days of lockdown? Those days of isolation, lack of travel, and restrictions on where we could and could not go? Not many good ingredients in that mix to improve your wellbeing?

While we love our home and living near the ocean, we were itching to have another adventure. So, we jumped at the opportunity to have a ‘tree change’ for a few weeks down in the Hunter Valley. Moreover, we had a reason. To house sit and oversee a friend’s stunning property and accommodation options while they went overseas. Furthermore, as I can run my business anywhere there is internet, I knew this was a great option. And of course, changing environments is a great way to recharge the batteries and improve your wellbeing.

Instead of our normal morning routine which takes in the ocean, we are in the country. Moreover, it’s a ‘tree change.’ Everything is right here! Magnificent sunrises, wallabies, kangaroos and prolific bird life. Instead of a swim in the ocean, it’s yoga on the grass or a run along a local trail.

Starting the day in nature is a great way to relax your body and set yourself up for the day

One of my favourite spots is on the lawn by the fountain, where I do my early morning yoga. It’s a very calming and a relaxing way to start the day. Moreover, I can instantly feel the calmness permeate into my soul. Furthermore, it brings a wonderful sense of calm which is a great way to improve my wellbeing.

Some mornings, the local ‘resident’ kangaroo comes to check me out. I am not sure who got more of a fright the first morning he came to visit – me or him! And, in the distance, I watch kangaroos jousting and playing on the hills above the vineyards. Sometimes, hot air balloons peacefully float above the valley.

As a child, I was bought up in the country, and this was always my happy place. It was where I felt at home and where I spent many hours running around, creating, playing and adventuring. As a teenager I was obsessed with horses and competitions. Furthermore, I had thoughts of living on a farm, riding horses and an outdoor life in the country. While that didn’t quite happen, I did pursue my passion for sports, travel and adventures!

We all have an innate need for variety and variety improves wellbeing

Variety is one of our core needs. Furthermore, research shows the benefits of variety and changing environments. Specifically, the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in spatial navigation and memory formation, is sensitive to the novelty of environments. Moreover, it builds positive emotions and improves our wellbeing and helps develop a mindset for success.

Additionally, getting out of our comfort zones helps us learn new things. It stimulates and improves the brain’s neuroplasticity to grow, helps us be creative and expand our outlook.

Working in a new space helps increase productivity, and is a great way to improve our wellbeing

Lastly, spending time in nature and new surroundings boosts our mood and positively impacts our mental health. Research has shown that people who spend time walking in nature also experience “quieter brains” and dwell less on negative thoughts.

In short, nature is where we feel good. Our emotional states change, we experience a great sense of engagement. Finally, it definitely helps improve our wellbeing.

Even if you cannot take time out, you can still make time for new experiences. Go somewhere different at the weekend. Change your morning walk or visit the mountains, coast, hinterland or a wilderness area. Oh, and connect with people who are important to you. Be consistent with taking time out in nature and experiencing new things.

Finally, I will finish with one of my favourite quotes which I think sums up the power of nature beautifully.

“What wilderness does is to present us with a blueprint of what creation was about in the beginning. This blueprint is still there, and those of us who see it find an incredible nostalgia rising in us, an impulse to return and discover it again. Through wilderness, we remember, and are bought home again.” Laurens Van der Post