Ways to Bring Nature-Connection Indoors

3rd July 2022

We have previously discussed the benefits of increasing your connection with nature and in this article we are going to look at a range of ways that you can increase your nature-connection when you cannot go outside. This might be because of the weather, or for physical or psychological reasons. The birdsong seems to start automatically so either turn your volume down, mute this page in your tabs or scroll down to ‘Birdsong.FM’ and pause it if you do not want to listen to it just yet.

Bringing The Beneficial Outdoors Indoors

Potted Plants and Wild Flowers

Sometimes the easiest way to bring nature indoors is by getting yourself a few potted plants, or cutting some wild flowers when you are outside and arranging them in a vase or jug. Planting something in a pot yourself and watching it growing it on your windowsill can be especially rewarding.

Create a ‘Nature-Museum’

If you do go outside, then look for things that bring you pleasure that you can bring in from the beach, park, woods or forest. This could include feathers that you pick up, interesting stones, pine cones, or dried leaves. You can either put them all together in a big jar or another container, and look at them and feel their textures when needed; you can display them somewhere individually or all together; or you can put them together to create a piece of indoor eco-art.

Make or Buy a Bird Feeder

If you (or a neighbour) have a bird table, or bird feeder that you can see, just sit and watch the birds. Notice how many different types of bird visit. Do different types of bird prefer different types of food or feeder if there is a selection?

If you don’t have access to a bird feeder yourself, you can access a live stream of bird feeders across the world here:

and watch even bigger birds here (depending on the time of year):

Or you can watch a video of our bird table on the croft":

Indoor Sit Spot

There is no reason why your Sit Spot place cannot be next to a window, especially one where you can look out over a view of trees or sky.

If possible, put a comfy chair that you can sit in near by an open window. The idea is to very simply sit comfortably for 10 to 20 minutes and just ‘be’ - immersing yourself in the natural world outside. Simply sit and observe what is around you. Try to focus on each of your senses in turn. Think about what you can see, what you can hear, what you smell and what you can feel.

When thoughts arise, gently bring yourself back to your senses; to the sounds, sights, smells, and feel of your surroundings. Notice the specific qualities of the place in which you are and your place within it. What seems to be drawing your curiosity the most? 

Sight

Take some time to really look around and allow yourself time to notice things that you might not have noticed before. How many different shades of green can you make out? Focus on observing things that are moving.

Sound

Many people find it easier to concentrate on their other senses when they close their eyes, so feel free to do this if you want to and it feels comfortable to do so, whilst you listen to what you can hear around you. Do you hear animals or birds? Do you hear the wind rustling the leaves? Notice the closest sounds and the sounds furthest away? What is the faintest sound that you can hear?

Smell

If you are close enough to the window to be able to inhale the air from outside the window, give this a try. What does the air feel like in your nostrils? Can you identify any particular smells? Smells are one of the senses most closely related to memory. What feelings or emotions do these smells create? 

Touch and Feeling

Focus for a little while on what you can feel. Is there a breeze coming in through the window? Is it a warming or cooling breeze? Is the sunshine warming you? If you have collected items for your nature museum, such as a pine cone, you can explore these items with your eyes and your hands. Try holding them up to your nose and smelling them too.

As you sit, as well as taking notice of the things that you experience through your senses, also take notice of how these experiences interact with each other and how they affect you emotionally. As well as noticing the colours, textures and patterns in nature, also notice how these make you feel. Can you find things that simply feel good to look at? What emotions do you notice in yourself as you sit in your Sit Spot? Are you happy or sad? Contented? Nostalgic? How does the practice of sitting quietly and mindfully change your mood? You might consider adding a few of these personal reflections to your journal if you want. 

Listen to Natural Sounds Such As Bird Song

You can use recordings or apps that play birdsong, ocean waves or rainfall.

Birdsong.FM plays birdsong 24 hours a day and you can download the app onto your mobile phone too!

Watch Videos of Nature

YouTube is full of videos like the one below, where you can watch an endless array of scenes from nature.

or clips that might inspire you and fire up your imagination.

Wildlife Programmes

Watch wildlife programmes that fill you with awe! A research study in which participants either viewed a few minutes of the inspiring David Attenborough documentary Planet Earth, a neutral video from a news program, or funny footage from the BBC’s Walk on the Wild Side, found that watching a few minutes of Planet Earth led people to feel 46 percent more awe and 31 percent more gratitude than those in the other groups. This study and others like it tell us that even brief nature videos are a powerful way to feel awe, wonder, gratitude, and reverence — all positive emotions known to lead to increased well-being and physical health.

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