Tips for reconnecting with nature & your local community

If you haven’t been following us on Facebook, then here are a few hints we posted across the Easter holiday break to help you ‘get back to nature’ in a fun and easy way. Remember, these tips don’t have to be just for a long weekend, keep them in mind every weekend or weekday.

TIP 1 – REJUVENATION

Try and take 5 mins out of each day these holidays to sit back, listen to the sounds around you, watch the birds flitter about or see the ants moving around looking for food…whatever is around you. Ignore the ‘madness’ of life that is around you and truly relax. You deserve 5 free minutes to rejuvenate the mind, body and soul!

TIP 2 – EXPLORATION

Go for a walk through your local park, bushland or on the farm. Take the kids, dogs or a friend and spend a little time exploring. You might notice how the leaves are changing, different animals wandering about, look at the tiny details of a tree such as the sap oozing down the trunk. There’s so much out there, it just takes time to adjust your eyes from looking at “screens” to looking at the natural world around us.

TIP 3 – SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY

Saturday is a great day for checking out your local markets. Buy some food or other items from someone local and you keep that money in the community. Plus, local produce is the freshest and tastiest around. BUY LOCAL!

TIP 4 – GET DIRTY

Spend some time in the veggie garden or flower bed. The weather is getting colder and it is time to prepare our gardens for winter. This could mean planting some winter crops, pruning out the dead summer flowerheads, weeding or it could be as simple as mowing the lawn. Just get those gardening gloves on, head outside and get a little dirty!

If you don’t have a garden, why not brighten up your home with a fresh bunch of flowers. Don’t wait for someone else to get them for you, treat yourself to your favourite colours and fragrances. Your local florist is bound to have something that is just right.

TIP 5 – REFLECT, REPEAT AND SHARE

You might be in a sugar coma after all the chocolate and hot cross buns, or you might be a bit sore if you followed our tip and worked in the garden. No matter what you’ve been doing it is a good time to reflect on what you’ve done, what you’ve seen and how you managed to get closer to nature. Share your stories with a friend or family member, maybe they might be inspired to get out and about too.

The other thing you can do is to repeat an activity you’ve have done over the weekend. This could be getting back out in the garden, going for another explore, go to a local event and support your local community or perhaps cook up some produce from your veggie garden.