There is a calmness to life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.
- Ralph Blum

Suggested Invitation for Day 6

Gratitude For Nature

Practicing gratitude for nature is a simple process, involving being thankful for the things we see, hear, feel and experience all around us. Noticing beauty in nature and identifying the positive things that happen each day, however small, and being grateful for them, can help us to focus less on the negative things that happen and the negative emotions that we feel.

Gratitude can also help to build improved nature connection because it increases our awareness of the natural world and the beauty that it contains. Increasing our nature connection through engaging with nature through our senses, and immersing ourselves in our natural surroundings in itself brings mental, physical and emotional benefits, but practicing gratitude for nature can bring additional benefits. Increased nature connection, through practicing gratitude for nature, can also bring environmental benefits, as people with higher levels of nature connection often do more for nature, both in terms of reducing their impact on the environment through using fewer resources and through taking positive actions to help the environment and reduce their contribution to climate change. As humans we have a reciprocal and symbiotic relationship with nature, and recognising, feeling and showing gratitude to nature for what it provides us and how it supports us often results in us wanting to protect nature in return. Practicing gratitude for nature reminds us that we are a part of nature rather than separate from it.

Whilst you sit in your Sit Spot, take a little time to reflect on your best memories of being in nature. This might be an experience from childhood or another significant moment your life. It might be a particular place, such as a favourite tree or a rock that you have often sat on that provides a view that you love. You might be sitting on it now! Then, just sit and ‘be’ for as long as you wish, gently bringing yourself back to your senses when thoughts arise; to the sounds, sights, smells, and feel of your surroundings.