Change Your Relationship With Nature For Good
Now, more than ever our guests are seeking mindfulness and reconnection with nature through their stays at our spa hotel in the heart of the New Forest.
We hear so often how well rested and restored they feel after even a short break in the National Park; a sanctuary where they can escape the distractions of today’s fast-moving world. Swapping the tv for breath-taking landscapes, their screens for time with a loved one and city jogs for meaningful walks through an ancient woodland.
A recent study highlighted in the Guardian found that ‘people’s connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800’.
Miles Richardson, a professor of nature connectedness at the University of Derby, shared findings showing that urbanisation and the loss of wildlife in neighbourhoods is part of the problem, as well as ‘parents no longer passing on engagement with nature to their children.’
But can a short break away centred around time in the New Forest help to restore your relationship with nature and how can you continue to nourish that relationship when you return home and to the bustle of everyday life?
We certainly think so. When you visit our New Forest hotel for a weekend break it can disrupt the seemingly never-ending cycle of busyness. It allows you to reset to a more natural rhythm; forget alarm clocks and emails and simply rest and recover.
Here, even the drive to our New Forest hotel is beautiful; winding roads weaving you through ancient trees, ensuring you feel calmer and more at ease before you’ve even stepped into your tranquil room.
Breaking the cycle of busyness can be all it takes to offer perspective when you’ve gotten used to darting from email to email. Then you have the opportunity to put down the phone and step into a woodland, picnic beside a babbling brook or meander along a pebbly beach – our proximity to coast and countryside gives you all the options.
Time with loved ones or friends in beautiful natural locations not only reconnects you with nature but with those who matter. Whilst nature has a wonderful way of teaching us to slow down, to awaken the senses and notice the details.
Make time for immersive experiences
People are innately attracted to nature, it boosts our mood, de-stresses and can help to clear the mind, whilst movement itself wakes up the body and stimulates circulation.
Forest Bathing or ‘Shinrin-yoku’ is encouraged in Japan as part of a healthy lifestyle and could be more important than it ever has been, and the best part is, it’s free and available to anyone who is open to it. Simply, it means walking and spending time amongst the trees, listening to the birds, feeling the breeze on your face and just being in nature, which many find to be a meditative and calming experience.
Another immersive experience that incorporates movement in nature is cycling; hugely popular in and around our National Park, many of our guests hire bikes from the village and set off for a day exploring and adventuring, embracing the mindfulness that whole days outside can bring. Promoting better sleep and restoring natural rhythms.
So, what if you live in a city or you don’t have a forest or woodland on your doorstep? You can still reap the benefits of being in nature and practice the mindfulness you discovered during your stay at our New Forest hotel.
Plan immersive experiences
Even an afternoon spent in nature when you can’t get away for a whole weekend can be hugely beneficial, or a day where you drive to the coast and enjoy a stroll in the fresh sea air.
Daily rituals
Perhaps whilst you’re with us you find yourself sitting outside for a morning coffee but struggle to do the same at home. Can you create an inviting, comfortable space in your garden that you can enjoy in the morning before the bustle of the day takes over. Or is there somewhere nearby, a peaceful bench or view where you could go first thing with a flask. Sometimes a little effort can bring you the biggest benefits.
Allow your weekend break in the New Forest to forge new habits that you can then take home with you.
Do Not Disturb
Change the settings on your phone and ensure you have peaceful moments throughout the day where you can’t be easily distracted. In these moments step outside, even for just 5 minutes for fresh air, natural light, and to re-focus, a gentle stretch, easy movement and unwind.
Bring nature inside
Introduce potted plants or fresh flowers into your home, or add some plants to a small outside space to create your own mindful place where you might take a lunch break or roll out the yoga mat.
Get involved in conservation in your local area; being part of something makes us feel good and gives back to nature. Find out about local litter picks or workshops where you can get involved in your local community, or perhaps you can apply for an allotment if you don’t have green space at home.
Engage the senses and unplug…
Our Digital Detox Spa Break has been hugely popular; it gives our guests a chance to step away from their screens and seek calm and restoration in our beautiful New Forest. A purposeful break with a clear focus – of putting down technology and stepping back to nature.
Two nights away to escape the buzzes and beeps; breakfast, dinner and time to wander among the trees. And a pass for SenSpa, our award-winning spa, a massage treatment, and an Ultimate Digital Detox Gift Box which includes a ‘Positive Planner’ self-care journal amongst other beautiful products.
It could just be the kickstart you need to put in place new habits and daily rituals that look to nature, give you the confidence you need to find new local natural places near where you live and try new things be it, cycling tours, paddling adventures or joining walking groups.
It’s time to change your relationship with nature for good – begin your journey at Careys Manor Hotel.
