I sometimes get asked about how to ‘get into nature’. I’m never very sure what people mean by that? For the most part I think that’s fairly straight forward; go outside, go for a walk, head to the beach/river/woods/mountain… make it part of your week to week.  What strikes me as interesting about that question though, is the whole idea that nature has become so foreign to us, so separate. Nature is now something that we have to reconnect with, get back in touch, establish lines of communication. I prefer to see it more like reacquainting ourselves with an old friend. As far removed from nature we feel like we’ve become - we’re not really, let me tell you why. I’m sure some of you will have heard the phrase, ‘from farm to plate’ - yes? These days the most relevant part of that phrase is ‘to plate’ - in fact, it might be more relevant if it was ‘from shop to plate’ - I include myself in that. Our lives have just become so full with other stuff and life savers like super markets and other conveniences have made it possible to move at speed through life, cramming it full of fun and not so fun things. With all the conveniences available to us we have the capacity to ignore the in-between steps. Perhaps, the questions needs to be more along of the lines of, ‘how do I switch back on my nature or stopping turning a blind eye to the processes that I’ve side stepped?’ Our lives have always been and will continue to be subject to nature and the natural world. A prime example is the weather- it plays such a big role in our lives, influencing what we wear, where we go and what we do. It’s a fairly constant in it’s ability to thrown the unknown at us, particularly here in the UK!

Sometimes, it’s our lack of nature knowledge that inhibits us. We like to have an answer for the why and what, especially for our kids, kids we hang out with or are responsible for. We don’t like to be caught on the hop, not knowing. These days in our society not knowing something has somehow translated into or is perceived by us as a slight on our worth. We feel stupid, like we should know simple nature facts and perhaps we should. The point being not knowing need not inhibit us in our ‘getting into nature.’ Knowledge will only take us so far. These days it can feel like everybody’s an expert or has a way to teach you or a way to learn that’s better than the other. Couple that with a big drive to recover lost knowledge means that suddenly there’s tons of opportunities for us to ‘get into nature’. Blogs to read, resources to buy, courses to invest in, experiences that you must have to ‘reawaken your wild’, nature places to visit- information is coming at us thick and fast maybe even, dare I say it to the point where it's overwhelming. The danger is that as it's become more popular culture to be out in nature, it reduces it to another item to add to our list of things to do. We write ‘be in nature’ on our daily to do lists alongside ‘eat lunch’ and run errands and put a tick beside it.

Nature done.

Lunch done.

Shower done. 

If lists are your thing- go do it, if learning all the facts is your thing - rock on, but please don’t let it be something that we now compete against each other to show off how well we are ‘getting into nature’. It’s in danger of becoming another subject to conquer, to outdo each other through display of knowledge, another item to tick off on our self care list, demonstrate our superiority of responsible adulting or something like that. I am in not condemning all these resources, the drive to learn new stuff or getting out into nature, really I’m not, they're an important part of our nature journey but nature knowledge is not the crux of ‘being in nature’.

Another proposition I hear regularly is that unless we know about something we don’t appreciate it or care for it. While the sentiment has truth, I think that's a really right-brained approach, a conditioning from our education system and our society. The right brain wants to know all the facts and figures and the most calculated ordered way to approach, execute and achieve. The left brain wants to be immersed, experience, flow, observe, be swept along by it. While both have their place- you don’t need to start engaging with nature from a place of knowledge. Starting from a place of innocence, imagination and curiosity just like children do is so beautiful. We can learn alot from our kids.

Find a space outside that you like being in and feel relaxed in and go be in it. Let your curiosity open up and let your imagination lead you into your learning. Let the right brain lead if you want it to. We learn so much more and retain so much more when we are interested and curious. Nature is a layered knowledge, there’s always more to learn, more to add you’re never full ‘there’ so don’t try to be and just enjoy being in nature learning as you go! Don't let that stop you either. Label things with family names. We were discussing some pink blossoms in conjunction with the pink moon. One of those was flowering currant blossom. Apparently it smells like cat wee. So we passed it round and had a whiff, now we call anything that’s made from blackcurrants as cat wee, cat wee jam, cat wee juice. Is it the correct label? No. Do we all know what it is? Yes. Objective achieved in my opinion.

Some of us have grown up in big towns and cities where wild open spaces were not accessible to us and the wild side of nature is far removed from our experience. We were taught to fear the unknown, threatened by anything beyond our control, being made to be fearful of nature that is a dirty, smelly, germ filled toxic environment and to be avoided or controlled at all costs. While I would encourage you to invoke your curious nature and take baby steps forward, there is something to be valued in this - the unexpected can happen so it’s wise to be aware of the danger and to plan for emergencies and for things not going the way you imagined- mother nature deserves our respect.

If you are to learn anything I would suggest learning the countryside code. We have come so detached from nature that we forget the ecosystem that we live within. We trample on wild flowers, throw our litter around, pull petals, leaves, disrupt fields of young animals, uproot things that get in our way. Essentially there’s not actually much to learn that cannot be summed up in one word. Respect. If we operate from a place of respect for the ecosystem and habitat we live within then it will be a constant source of nature, not something we have to rekindle and reconnect with, at least not to the same extent.

Here are some more ideas for building your nature knowledge but also evoking the wonder and joy of being in nature.

• Safety in numbers- join a group- walking, canoeing, photography, there are plenty of groups and you don’t have to be an expert to join them. 

• Start in familiar places that are not as wild- parks and gardens, maintained outdoor spaces- heritage sites

There are tons of resources to help develop your nature knowledge too:

• Books- too many to mention but here are two good ones.

Vitamin N - Richard Louv (actually any of his books are top notch)

Rewild yourself - Simon Barnes

Field guides- there’s so many. Pick one that fits your budget. Pocket sized ones are a good choice as you can easily take them out and about with you.

• Join a fb i.d. group; birds, wild flowers, foraging- there’s plenty out there. I’m in a few myself and enjoy learning from others.

• Download a trail app- it gives you ideas of walks in your area that you can follow yourself

• Go geocaching- if you haven’t heard of it google it and have a go. It’s free and fun!

• Join a local litter picking group

• Have a pinterest fest for nature crafts and then go on a treasure hunt to find what you need

• Subscription boxes- there’s so many good ones. Try a few out and find one that fits.

Personally speaking, I have found that the most enjoyable way to engage in Nature is to be curious, get down to ground level, wonder out loud and spend time observing.

We don’t have to know everything to reap the same benefit as the nature expert. There is a certain enjoyment in knowing what’s going on around us, what plants are called, whether you can eat them or not but mastery of something is to essentially ‘own it’ and we can never own nature. As Tony Robbins says; 

‘Knowledge is not power, knowledge is only potential power, action is power’ 

Be heartened if you don’t know anything about nature just to get out there, immerse yourself in it and enjoy it.Nature has always been a part of us so to rediscover nature in your life is to rediscover a part of yourself that has always been there. 

SO go on, get out there, get muddier than you usually do, let the wind blow you about and the rain wet your skin.

Rachel x