When you last went on a walk in nature, what did you notice? Sunlight streaming through new leaves, perhaps, or the sound of birdsong. Maybe you felt water from an icy stream stinging your fingertips, or breathed in the scent of a conifer tree as you brushed past.
If you experienced any of these things, you may also have felt a sense of calmness begin to settle over your mind and body. There’s growing evidence that connecting with nature can boost wellbeing and health. A wealth of research shows that it can do everything from reducing levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, to lowering blood pressure and relieving anxiety and depression. Studies into ‘green exercise’ even show that carrying out physical activity in natural surroundings has greater wellbeing benefits than doing so in town.
So why does nature have this effect on us? “Because we evolved with nature,” explains Kate Whyatt, who qualified as an eco-therapist in 2023, after more than a decade working in adult social care. That means, “it gives us a sense of stillness, of belonging and of being at home”. Through her practice in Nottinghamshire, UK, Whyatt supports people to rediscover a sense of wholeness within the natural environment. “Nature allows us that space to expand and connect,” she says.
You get up, have a nice breakfast, pack your day pack, and off you go. The most difficult decision to make is what you want in your sandwich for that day
Being in nature, Whyatt believes, is also restorative because it enables us to get off the treadmill of cognitive thought. “It gives you an opportunity to put your overworked brain on pause. What nature does then is to … bring health back into your system, so that when you go back [into your day-to-day world], the way that you approach something will be slightly different,” she says, adding that it can have the very practical benefit of improving productivity.
With holidays a prime opportunity to recharge and reset, it’s unsurprising that more people are looking to incorporate elements of a ‘nature cure’ on their breaks. Inntravel has been running award-winning, sustainable walking holidays in Europe for more than 40 years, and the company is keen to respond to that demand.
Rebecca Bruce is its France, Switzerland and Portugal specialist, and believes that walking holidays offer the perfect chance to – quite literally – slow down. “You’re immersed in nature and your surroundings,” she says. “You walk at a leisurely pace, and that rhythmic motion of putting one foot in front of the other naturally calms you down.”
