Our common ground

Many of us don’t imagine though, that we may give birth to a child with severe learning disabilities, or that our teenager may want to kill herself or that we may lose our memory through dementia.  

These experiences shatter our constructs of the life we thought we had and often catapult us into despair, a palpable sense of isolation, fear and loneliness.  What I have learned is that we cannot be defined by our cultural ‘label’, and that first and foremost, we are people, not the ‘label’ or ‘diagnosis’. 

I have worked for 30 years in nature with groups from all backgrounds.  This includes special educational needs groups and other vulnerable groups in partnership with the National Health Service e.g. Families with children with severe learning difficulties, looked after children, young people with mental health difficulties and more recently people diagnosed with Dementia or having had an episode of psychosis.   Hidden within all these terms are ordinary people, having non-ordinary experiences.  

It can often feel like there is no way back when there is so much struggle. This is exasperated by a society that does not see the ‘person’ or ‘family’ only the surface presentation.

Nature helps connect us to the part of ourselves that has evolved with natural world. Most of us feel more comfortable in the natural world because it touches aspects of our cellular memory. We often feel a sense of safety and tranquility in nature because there are continual moving patterns that always change yet stay the same.  In 1993, this was coined the theory of ‘Heraclitean Motion’ (Katcher & Wilkins). For example, a person may be soothed by watching the flames of a fire or clouds moving.

When working with groups in nature, this context is full of these moving natural phenomena, sensory information and phytoncides emitted by trees that reduce our stress levels. A more tranquil group supports an increase in social connectedness and over time a reduction in a feeling of social isolation.  The research that is available clearly shows the mental health benefits of the outdoors, the effect on our hormone levels, parasympathetic (rest and recover) nervous system, blood pressure, heart rate and brain activity (Jung, Park et al 2015).

Nature-based programmes that have a person-centred, welcoming and non-judgement ethos enable people from all life’s stages and backgrounds to benefit from this sensory rich environment. Activities that may seem ‘risky’, like fire-lighting, or using a saw with a child with sensory difficulties are in fact life enhancing and smash through the constructs of what you think is possible. 

We often refer to this as ‘firsts’ – the first time so and so did this. When we allow our child-like imagination to grow, nature begins to feel like a friend, and sense of place attachment and belonging emerges.  Over the years, we have co-developed this way of working with young people and families and are now training educational and health teams to incorporate nature into their everyday practice with the groups they serve. We have created an online training resource ‘The Outdoor Teacher’ to connect with a wider audience that we can’t reach directly in the woods!

Fortunately practice in nature also supports self-regulation – all the bottom up (body-based) strategies. Our autonomic nervous system is soothed, our threat system is reduced, and we are all more able to have fulfilling relationships with each other.  Our lives grow in the wider context of the natural world too. We are nature, and ‘our nature’ is fundamental to health and learning.   

• Marina Robb is founder and managing director of Circle of Life Rediscovery CIC and The Outdoor Teacher Ltd, both outdoor play and learning with nature organisations. She is a leading author and practitioner in the outdoor sector, an international trainer and a national expert in nature-based educational and therapeutic interventions.

References: Jung, Park et al (2015) The prefrontal Cortex Activity and Psychological Effect. International Journal of Environmental Public health.

Katcher, A & Wilkins,G. (1993). Dialogue with animals: Its nature and culture. In: Kellert & Wilson’s. ‘The biophilia hypothesis’. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Qing Li (Dr) (2018) Shinrin-Yoko, Art and Science of Forest Bathing. Penguin Random House UK.