Have you noticed how good it feels to spend time in nature? Nature time lowers your heart rate, reduces levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, and strengthens your immune system. Just looking at the colour green is soothing to our eyes. It reduces stress, improves mood, boosts creativity, and enhances our cognition. Looking at blue has a similar effect and tends to slow our heart rate. The fractal patterns in nature work wonders – just looking at them can lower your stress levels by up to 60%. Research and personal experience agree: being in nature feels good!
But why is that? It’s simple: Nature is where we belong. We’ve been on the planet for 300,000 years, and for 99.9 per cent of that time, we’ve lived in intimate contact with nature.
For centuries, we’ve looked for ways in which humans are different from other animals. But this is entirely wrong-headed. What makes us human is not our differences, but our ecological belonging. You are not above the natural world. You are not outside of it. You are a member of a wider community of species and ecosystems — woven into something ancient, alive, and deeply meaningful. You belong here.
I’ve come to understand that this is the core message of my work. That’s quite a bold claim, but it feels right. We belong here: It’s simple and yet profound. It’s something that would be so obvious to our ancestors that they’d probably be unable to articulate it. How strange – and tragic – that we’ve forgotten.
Reconnecting with that truth matters. Not just spiritually, but for how we live, lead, and relate to the world around us.
- Buy a badge with the ‘you belong here’ design as a gentle reminder:
- My book: Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness: Pathways to Curiosity, Presence and Belonging
- Nature Connection: The Three Keys
- Wake up from Disconnection
