How to create nature belonging Psychology today

This summer, researchers at Derby University in the United Kingdom Discover The relationship of humanity to nature has decreased by more than 60 percent since 1800.

The researchers have reached this conclusion by looking at many agent’s indicators – including a decrease in the frequency of nature words (such as the river, mousse, flowers) in books, as well as analyzing other trends such as urbanization, discounts in daily exposure to wildlife, and evidence that parents are going less on the responsibility of nature with their children. The researchers expect that, in the absence of a great change, we turn to what we might call “the extinction of experience.”

This has serious effects on our ability to solve environmental problems. Our personal bonds of nature can be how we take care of our local environmental systems as well as how we act on larger issues such as climate change – including options that we make as voters and consumers.

However, separation from nature also affects our common future in less clear ways. It is indispensable to our personal relationship with the natural world of our mental health and even our relationship to each other. In the era of height Lack of confidenceand Feeling lonelyAnd the West, and societal life, we need more nature than ever.

What does belonging to nature mean

When we talk about belonging, it is natural that we are talking about human relations – how we suit our families, groups of friends, schools, workplaces and society. But there is more than that.

Through hundreds of talks on the meaning of belonging to experts and people with deep experience, I concluded that belonging is not only related to social communication. It also relates to how we contact the material world – how we root on the ground, in line with the smells and scenes of our surroundings, and ensure between the plants and animals in which we live.

your The scope of modern studies appearsThe normal time is related to green and blue areas with less anxiety and depressionBetter mood, and improve perception And sleep. With exposure to nature, children show gains in Executive job and creativity. Time in natural settings is also renewed directives attentionIt reduces the cavity and reduces stress Hormone Cortisol.

All this is necessary for our ability to communicate. When we get to our surroundings, overwroughtOr he was arrested in the response of the fighting or flying, It is really difficult to listen to careTo put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

Likewise, nature can provide us with sensory richness and Feeling of terror, It also enhances our ability to contact our perspective and enhance our sense of meaning. Outdoor connection can increase with familiar spaces-even simple rituals such as walking- Supporting behavior of society.

Can we reverse the direction?

A 60 percent decrease in nature is dangerous. But he risks much worse. Smarted and more everywhere Amnesty InternationalThe devices paid online may push the online to the top, which removes the outdoors time and our general feeling of connecting to the places where we live.

Therefore, we need to restore access to nature and green spaces. But we also need to do something more fundamental: we need to return in love with the natural world.

When I was writing my book On belonging: finding a connection in the era of isolationI traveled to Port Royal, Kentucky, to meet the farms, poet and philosopher Windle Perry. He gave me specific vocabulary to express the role of nature in belonging. Do not speak in general “the environment“Speak about the home: “Where are you from.”

While we often reach the tuning words like SustainabilityPerry talks about Responsible accreditation: We rely on our places, so we owe our care. Belonging to nature is to be in a relationship. This means receiving gifts of nutrition and inspiration from the lands and water in which we live, while we also take responsibility for their long -term well -being. Likewise. Academic. This is what he belongs to.

So how do we make Perry visions real? How do we return to mutual relationships with nature?

I have seen glimpses of solutions. In MisiPawistik Cree Nation in Manitoba, Canada, I knew Wild education Efforts to teach fishing, natural medicine and local history along with the traditional language, and rebuilding a living relationship with the house while transferring responsibility from the elders to the next generation.

There are many developed practical examples around the world. Cities should invest in street trees, pocket gardens, pollinators, and safe wildlife roads, which defines the priorities of places where there is little contact with nature. Likewise, schools and societies should consider early-childhood Indulging programs: forests and gardening educationAnd ways to help parents help their children get to know nature.

We must find ways to design and use technology as a slope, not a substitute for nature. Just as the applications follow our steps that have been going on, they can also push us out and follow our time under the sun or walking in the forest. The field guides can help us recognize our local environment.

I also wrote about this series recently, “Social Awls” – where doctors connecting isolated patients with non -medical community services – are highly focused on gardening and walking long distances. A multi -year -old UK study of social recipes that focus on nature found great discounts in anxiety and reinforcement happiness Among the participants.

Rekindle belongs to your backyard

Of course, the work of decline in love in nature is up to each of us. It is important that we have our deliberate practices of paying attention and finding the relationship with the natural world. Be creative. For example, try to communicate with something greater than you (old oak) and something smaller (filh or moss) every day. The affiliation revolves around the feeling of our place in all.

Amid all the difficult news, there is also a reason for hope. The Derby University study has actually found evidence of a rise in the words of nature in the past few years – perhaps a sign of renewed awareness of the natural world. While it is necessary to succeed in great tasks to cut Carbon emissions and the restoration of biological diversity, does not reduce the importance of importance – on a personal and global level – to revive our deep emotion to the places that we call the house.