Why I wander for my mental wellness
By 2050, 66% of the world’s population is projected to live in cities.
Australians generally spend 90% of their time indoors. (Source)
📍The Pines Campground, Snowy Mountains NSW (National Parks)
I grew up in the bush. A wild but calm, curious little girl out exploring everyday. I would pack myself some lunch. A Vegemite sandwich, an apple, and a knife. A packet of yoghurt-covered sultanas, if we had any. I’d throw my gumboots on and call out to the dogs. Buster was a German Shepherd, Mickey was an old one-eyed, wiry Silky Terrier. We would head out the back gate where Sam would be waiting, my horse, never wanted to miss an adventure. He had a beautiful dark brown coat with one blue eye, one brown eye. This crew were my best friends. I don’t recall ever telling anyone where we were going, I never knew. We would just wander. In hindsight, someone would have seen me walk down the back from the kitchen with the crew that always kept me safe. The rule was, home by dark. What did we do out there? I don’t really remember. We would just wander and explore. Sit and be. Climb trees, and dream up make believes.
My legend little (big) brother and I 📍Country NSW (Northern Rivers) in the early 90s.
Wearing white was a wild choice. Who let me do that? I don’t like being told what to do, and clearly I won that battle back then.
I left that life at 12. A new life called. A different kind of education. I moved to the city. Whenever I found myself out of the city, and in wide open spaces - I felt free. I felt like me.
I have lived with anxiety since I was a teenager. Something I manage, like so many do. Get me into wide open spaces, and something magic happens. My nervous system is calm, my worries dissipate up into the sky. I am a small speck on this beautiful planet, in this giant universe and beyond. I am insignificant, in the best way possible.
I now seek wide open spaces. I wander and explore. When I am feeling sticky and my mind is static, I know I need to find places that can reset my balance. It’s tricky living in the city in that way, so much noise - a constant whirring. We use noise cancelling headphones, sleep masks, and gadgets to block out the noise, and the frequencies. To sleep out in the country, with the sounds of nature, that is like medicine to me.
I love living in the city. There is so much to see and do. I love everything the city has to offer. But I long for the country and wide open spaces. We find balance that works for us. We head out to the mountains on weekends when we can, and we plan adventures to new places across the lands. It only takes a couple of days out of the city to calibrate, then we come back energised, collecting moments and memories of adventure and wonder.
📍Talbingo, Snowy Mountains NSW (Right next to this sleepy little town. Most things are shut during the middle of the day while everyone is at work, but there is a grocery store, pub, and small Ampol petrol station).
We pulled up here to have lunch, there is a free public BBQ and gazebo here. I wandered off to expand into the wide open space.
‘Forest Bathing’ Is Great for Your Health. Here’s How to Do It
Check out this TIME article by scientist Qing Li on forest bathing,
In Japan, we practice something called forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku. Shinrin in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses.
This is not exercise, or hiking, or jogging. It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Shinrin-yoku is like a bridge. By opening our senses, it bridges the gap between us and the natural world. Full article here: https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/