10 top tips to beat the January blues by getting back to nature

January’s always one of those months – Christmas is over for another year, all the parties and festivities are done and most of us are back at work after a few days off.

It’s no wonder we get gloomy.

But there are ways to beat the January blues by getting back to nature and getting out into the great outdoors.

Duane Chong is founder and programme director of Grow Wellbeing in Birkenhead, a not-for-profit organisation that delivers creative and positive opportunities for people get involved in activities in the natural environment.

Its mission is to support healthy communities that are strongly connected to the outdoors and nature, and Duane says: “It’s widely recognised and evidenced that connecting with nature enhances your health and wellbeing.

“And never more so than in January when it can really help to makes us feel more positive and improve our mood.

“There was an experiment in a hospital environment where two patients were recovering from illness, with one person facing woodland and the other facing the car park. The person facing woodland and that natural landscape recovered far more quickly.

“Nature can really boost the way we feel.”

We asked Duane and his team to come up with ways to connect with nature and boost our moods…

1. Viewing images of nature – in real life or in pictures – helps improve your mood. If you can do it, take a walk as often as you like, watch a nature documentary on TV or look at nature online, in a book, or frame your favourite landscape picture and display it on your wall.

2. A family day out in the woods can provide hours of entertainment for children and just being in the outdoors can have an incredible impact on wellbeing. Why not make a den using fallen branches and foliage or join a forest school session?

3. Switch off your phone and take a walk in the park or the woods looking for the first signs of spring – first blossom, first spring bulbs, first bird song/ woodpeckers.

4. Get up early and go outside to watch the sunrise (it’s easier to do now the days are short).

5. Make a small fire with windfall twigs gathered on a rain lashed walk in a firepit or other secure container, and stare into the flames and bring to mind the return of the light.

6. Plant bulbs like garlic in pots or in the ground, then watch them sprout and start to grow.

7. Make a January nature space in a corner of your house. Go for a walk outside in a park, wood, beach or garden. Collect natural things like twigs, moss, dried seed heads, pine cones, feathers, pebbles or shells, and arrange them around a candle. Light the candle when it goes dark and spend a bit of time looking at and thinking about the things you found.

8. Connect with nature by finding things in common: compare the lines in different leaves to lines in the palm of your hand; find trees that appear to have feet, look for trees that are intertwined in a hug … and join in the tree hug!

9. Cloud or canopy gazing. Lie in a hammock or on the ground and challenge yourself to focus for 5-10 minutes on only on what’s above you, the clouds, the birds, the branches, etc.

10. Forest Bathing: spending time simply BEING in nature rather than DOING anything in particular. You can take a slow meditative walk through the woods noticing what’s moving around you or examining textures. If you’re new to forest bathing you could join a guided Forest Bathing session with Grow Wellbeing.

Duane adds: “There’s an easy mindfulness technique too to connect you to the present moment, whether you are walking down the street to work or taking a break in the park. Bring your awareness to the five senses: notice five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste.

“The other day I had work to do but I was persuaded to go for a walk in Birkenhead Park, and it really uplifted me and made me feel well. I was glad I’d done it so even when you feel you’ve got too much to do, do try to make the effort because you’ll be thankful you did – and you’ll return to whatever you were doing before in a much better frame of mind!

“That connection with nature can really us to feel so much better – and help us all get through January.”