How To Connect To Nature ⋆ Holistic Lifestyle Guide

Aligning ourselves with nature is one of the most therapeutic ways to get (and stay) healthy. But what does it really mean to connect to nature? Is just going for a walk every day good enough? Can you just look out the window every few hours for the duration of a passing thought before quickly turning back to our indoor duties?

Our connection to nature requires much more than fleeting moments. It is one of those things where if you build your lifestyle around it, only then will you reap the rewards. You are what you repeatedly do, not occasionally do.

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Alignment Creates Connection

Aligning your life with nature and connecting to nature are two slightly different things, and ideally, we want both. Aligning with nature means to live in sync with nature’s rhythms, incorporating natural things into your life (such as natural food and products), and fostering a mindset in accordance with nature (like caring for the environment and learning to go with the flow of how nature works).

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”
Henry David Thoreau

Having a connection to nature is similar but more accurately pertains to the end result of alignment with nature. It is the all-encompassing rewards you receive. It is how nature changes you as a person, physically, mentally, and spiritually. It is when you are consciously aware of your connection and the benefits it brings.

Your connection to nature can follow you anywhere, and make you yearn for it when you can’t have it. That’s when you know it is a part of you (or should I say, you are a part of it!)

Turning Off Technology

You know that common phrase that says you won’t get any wifi in the woods, but you will get a better connection? It is so true. This actually happened to me on my camping trip last week. No internet, but I made a connection to that land that will be there for life.

Unfortunately, most people never find themselves in a position where they are forced to stay off their technological gadgets and enjoy nature. If you are reading this article though, there is a good chance you are one of the people who understand the importance of a nature connection.

Nature’s Rhythms

The best place to start with aligning yourself to nature is through the daily rhythm of nature. The most obvious rhythm of nature is the day and night cycle. This is nature taking a big deep 24-hour long breath. It allows for rest and rejuvenation, followed by a period of activity. Everything in nature must rest, daily as well as yearly (which we’ll get to in a minute).

There are two main points I want to touch on with regard to circadian rhythm. The only two things you need to worry about are sunlight and activity.

Waking up with the sun (or as close afterwards as you can get) is ideal. Seeing the sunlight with your bare eyes (not through sunglasses or windows) is what helps your body switch to daytime mode. Notice I said sunlight, not the sun itself. There is such a thing as sungazing, but that is done only when the sun is just above the horizon. Here, I am just talking about being outside in the sunlight.

“Ô, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.”
― Roman Payne

Twenty minutes a day is a minimum to set your day off in the right direction. You get enough Vitamin D, and your melatonin levels will decrease, giving you energy for the day. Another benefit; the more sunlight you get during the day, the better you will sleep at night.

Of course, there are millions of us who are natural night owls or have a disorder called Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder (that’s me!), so it is not always possible to get up with the sun. In those cases, you can get sun as soon as you get up whether it’s 8 am or noon.

The sun is so central to life on Earth in more ways than most people realize, which is a huge reason why our predominantly-indoor society is not as healthy as we could be. A good substitute for the sun is a sun lamp, also known as a Seasonal Affective Disorder lamp. I have one of these and it is part of my winter regimen to keep my circadian rhythm somewhat normal when I am unable to get outside for natural sunlight.

The other factor in aligning with the daily rhythm of nature is to get enough activity during the day. This also includes meals. You burn the most calories between 10 am and 2 pm, so try to eat your biggest meal during that time. Activity should slowly build in the morning, become more intense in the middle of the day, and then wind down at night. Keep your activity to a minimum after sunset.

As with activity, also taper off your eating more and more as the night goes on, not eating a few hours before you go to bed. These two changes will go a long way in helping your overall health.

Aligning With the Seasons

One of the other fundamental ways of aligning with nature is to get in alignment with the seasons. A year is similar to a day, with rest periods and active periods; the only difference is the weather changes. The weather and the seasons have a massive impact on our health too, but most people don’t make that connection.

Autumn, like spring, is a great time to connect with nature. In between the two harshest seasons are the transitionary ones. Autumn and spring are good times to become more conscious of how you are living in alignment with the seasons.

There are a few fun ways we can do this. It is a health routine that has largely been ignored, but eating foods that are in season are ideally the way to go. Start rotating your diet to eat more in-season foods and less out-of-season ones. Dr. John Douillard has a free guide on how to do this here: Free Seasonal Eating Plan Guide He also has an amazing book that is great for beginners to learn why seasonal eating is important and gives lots of guidance towards eating seasonally. Click the image below to check it out on Amazon (affiliate link):

Watch the sunrise and sunset every day, noting the time differences and really paying attention to the dwindling (or growing) daylight. Keeping a nature journal can help you do this.

It’s also a great idea to do spring and autumn cleaning. You might want to change your bedding, switch out the clothes in your closets, rearrange your furniture, donate items you no longer want, and any other chore that needs to get done once or twice a year. I like to do these things during the transition seasons to help me symbolically move out of the last one and feel refreshed physically and mentally.

In my Body, Mind, and Soul Self-Care Planner & Journal, I have pages detailing many ways in which you can connect to nature in each of the four seasons.

The Reason For the Seasons

Each season brings a fundamental purpose to our health, and we are doing ourselves a huge disservice by ignoring this. Many people just look at the seasons as weather patterns they have to react to and arrange their lives by, but they are so much more than that. We can learn from Mother Nature herself how to use the seasons to heal our body, mind, and soul.

Winter is often considered the first season, the start of the calendar year as well as the start of nature’s cycles. It is a time of rest and darkness. Vegetation only appears dead, but deep under the Earth, everything is in preservation mode, silently preparing for their rebirth.

This is a time to eat rich, nourishing foods to sustain us through the cold months. This is also a time for introspection. Winter is a great time to begin a journaling routine.

It is a perfect time to re-align your circadian rhythm by going to bed earlier, which is a lot easier in the winter when the sun goes down around dinner time. Sleeping a lot in the winter is normal and healthy, as long as you don’t go over 11 or 12 hours a day. Unless you are sick, you won’t need quite that much.

I have an article that goes more in-depth about self care for winter.

In the spring, life is born again. Bright green buds start to appear, followed by dandelions and flowers. It is a time to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Spring cleaning isn’t a thing for no reason! It’s the best time to clean our houses and detox our bodies. This is the time of year when most people who practice Ayurveda do their yearly detox. It is a great idea to get rid of anything that doesn’t serve you and open up to receiving things that are good for you. I have another article on self-care tips for spring which goes more in depth about this season.

Summer is a time to be active, enjoy the sun as much as possible, and eat light foods. As I mentioned, Dr. John Douillard’s free guide goes more in depth about this, but generally you want to eat more foods that are naturally abundant in the spring and summer, such as fruit, berries and leafy greens. You also may not need as much sleep in the summer, if you are healthy. Summer is the time of the year when we have the most energy, so losing weight comes easier at this time.

Autumn, like spring, is another great time to detox your body and clean your house. It is a good transitionary time to prepare for rest. Getting ready for winter can be fun and doesn’t have to be depressing. In nature, everything needs a time to wind down and get ready for bed, and humans are no different.

In autumn, it’s fun to spend time outdoors bundled up watching the leaves change color and fall to the ground. It’s a good time to take a major vacation if you can, one last hurrah for the year. It makes relaxing for a few months seem much more enjoyable.

Of course, seasons never start on an exact day as the calendar implies, so making these changes gradually will help ease you into the next season.

Want to Learn More?

If all of this information sounds great and you want more, I have plenty more resources for you! If you are into journaling, I have a printable Nature Journal on Etsy. This journal is also included in a PDF guide/toolkit called How To Connect and Align With Nature. This comprehensive guide also includes 2 of the videos from my online course Holistic Lifestyle Basics, links to all the articles I have written about nature, and more!

This toolkit is also available on Etsy if you prefer to shop there! Visit this link to purchase on Etsy.

Want to Learn More?

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