Nature and Mental Health Awareness Week

This week everyone’s talking about nature! Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s theme is nature. At Mindapples we love nature, partly for the apples, but mostly because it’s something you regularly tell us is good for your minds. So we’ve delved into the orchard and hand-picked some of your glorious nature themed mindapples – the day to day activities you’ve told us are good for your minds and that connect you to the natural world.

We know that being in nature can improve your mood, it can reduce feelings of stress and anger and help you take time out and feel more relaxed. It can also improve your physical health by helping you be more active and it can help to increase your confidence and self esteem too. It’s time to #ConnectWithNature!

You might want to go for a walk, try swimming outside in a lido or the sea, climb something (it doesn’t have to be a mountain!), go for a run around the block or cultivate those green fingers and try growing a sunflower in the garden!

And remember, you don’t need to be outside to feel the benefits of the natural world. Studies have shown that just looking at pictures of nature can have calming effects. You could try growing some windowsill herbs? Maybe buy an extra pot plant for the lounge? Or dig into the Attenborough archive and enjoy the wonders of the natural world from the comfort of your home.