When I was a child I hated walking. Like loathed it. There is actual photographic evidence of how much displeasure it gave me. Now, I absolutely love – and need – my daily ‘fix’ of walking and nature.
But we won’t just talk the walk! Yes, this blog is going to be about is the benefits of walking in nature, and how – for me – it has been a huge part of my path (!) to heal my own mental health battles. I will also share the other strategies and stories of my ongoing journey, my destination a place of peace, acceptance and ultimately, harmony. I hope in some small way what I share helps you – yes you, who have found your way here, probably because you are having a bad day, week, month or even year. Please remember, there is always light, even if it feels as though it’s a million miles away.
It feels appropriate that I have finally found the courage to launch this blog during what is Mental Health awareness week here in the UK. I will not afflict you with the full history of my own struggles, but I have experienced the dark chasms of depression on and off for the last 16 years; at the start of that period I genuinely thought I had nothing left to live for. Now, I know I was wrong. But, as with anyone who has ever had depression, there is always that fear of relapse, a tumble back into the pit and into the shadows. These days, I am less afraid of relapsing, and I genuinely feel as though I have the tools to cope if I do – the climber’s rope and crampons which will help me haul myself out if I DO fall. I am even off my SSRIs*. My medicine is Mother Nature.
*Please don’t come off medication without consulting your medical provider and working alongside them.
I’m sure pretty much everyone has read articles or heard about forest bathing – to give it the official Japanese title, Shinrin-Yoko. Also referred to as ‘green therapy’, ‘nature therapy’ or even ‘ecotherapy’, the concept is the same; spending time in nature is good for us. As a species, particularly in the western world, as we have become more “civilised” over the centuries, we have disassociated ourselves from the natural world and the healing rhythms of the living world. Where our ancestors once lived in harmony with nature and the seasons, our modern lifestyles have severed this connection to Mother Earth. The great news is, it’s easy to re-establish that broken link.
I started walking because I got a dog. A much wanted and longed for German Shepherd called Ted (photo below) who I ended up walking miles a day with, just me and him and my thoughts. It became my favourite part of the day, and as I walked, I began to notice more and more about the landscape I was walking in, even though I’d grown up in the area. How that tree there had been bent by years of being buffeted by the winds; the mist lying in the valley below us in the early mornings; ice tracing the branches of a tree; a drop of rain shining like a diamond on the tip of a blade of grass. I felt happier – I took photos of ever-changing views and bluebells and trees and skies. I was aware of the sting of cold rain on my face, warm spring sun on bare arms for the first time, cold air rasping the back of my throat in the winter. I smelt the sweetness of honeysuckle and gorse, the metallic tang of rain on a tarmac road. Heard the bird song and wind through the trees. Yes of course there were days when I looked out at the pouring rain and really didn’t fancy the walk, but I had to go – that’s what you do when you have a dog. But I felt GREAT and my depression and anxiety was largely at bay.
Then, in the Autumn of 2023, Ted escaped from what should have been a secure field after a deer and was killed by a car. I was heartbroken. I absolutely couldn’t bear to walk the same paths and tracks I’d walked with Ted as it was too raw to do it alone – and in a matter of days the abyss sucked me straight back in.
My routine had gone, my beloved dog had gone, I was no longer out daily in nature, so I defaulted to my depressed, angry and withdrawn state. I stopped taking care of myself and pushed my loved ones away; I under ate or over ate; I abused alcohol and cigarettes. My saviour came in the form of a wonderful friend who (gently) bullied me into joining her working at mutual friend’s horse yard mucking out. Suddenly, back out in the fresh air and being around the horses I came alive again – even with the blisters, back ache, the constant rain (it was a VERY wet winter!) and smelling like a muck heap daily! During the summer months when there were less horses to muck out, we took it in turns to work and I started walking again – albeit still not my ‘Ted walks’ – and rediscovered my joy of walking, observing my surroundings and just appreciating how bloody amazing nature is!
It’s amazing that for so many of us that suffer from mental health issues that there is basically a free therapy out there – all around us. What our ancestors took for granted, we are now ‘discovering’! In January 2025, The Conversation published an article by Yvanna Todorova, a Research Associate in Public Health Evaluations from Loughborough University in which she writes “The average UK person spends just 7% of their time (or 86 minutes) outdoors during the work week.” Our lights-always-on-centrally-heated-seated-all-day-convenience-food-drive-everywhere lives mean that some of us have just 17 minutes outside a day Monday to Friday! It’s no wonder our circadian rhythms are screwed! The article (you can read the full text here) goes on to recommend that just 15 minutes a day in a green space (not just racing from office to the train) offers beneficial outcomes, but for the optimum gains, a 75 minute walk in secluded woodlands is the aim.
So what are the key take homes from spending time walking in a natural environment? Well obviously, any form of exercise will create a response in the form of ‘feel good’ endorphins, so even a gentle stroll is a great starting point. Then there’s the Phytoncides (yes, they are a real thing, not just a made up science-fiction word). Essentially airborne molecules released by trees, we breathe in these little powerhouses they stimulate the white blood cells (our internal “army”) who then wiz round the body fighting any bad cells. You can read more about Phytoncides on the UK Tree Council website here). And finally being present. It is incredibly easy to practice mindfulness when walking in nature because there is SO much to see!! And hear, and smell and take in!! In my next post, I will reveal the things I do on a walk, particularly when I am not in a great headspace – they bring me back every time!
I now do have a four legged walking companion again – a crazy Sprocker spaniel who we rehomed just before Christmas 2024, so now I HAVE to walk every day – most days twice a day, which anyone with a spaniel will recognise! – and I know that it is this continuity that makes the difference to my mental health. My phone is full of photos, videos, notes and clips of bird song (more about that in a later blog too) and my mind is calm. There may well be a blip over the hill, but I don’t feel scared.
Until next time, here are a few photos I took yesterday on my early evening walk – bees in a gorgeous Broom in our local woods. A little bit of joy!
Please do leave me a comment if you would like to and I will try to respond to you – as a new blogger, I will gratefully receive any feedback designed to be helpful and positive. If your comment is deliberately negative or downright unkind or unpleasant, or you are looking for someone to troll, I will simply ignore it. Thank you
Gaia is my Healer 
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