Tag: ecotherapy
Connecting with Nature – Nature Art
In times of stress Nature Art can bring us closer to nature with all the associated benefits of feeling more connected and relaxed. Collecting materials from nature such as petals, stones, leaves and seed cones can be a mindfulness practice of its own and we can use these materials to make and create. Here Ecotherapy […]
Green spaces, gardening & wellbeing: Stress relief
This blog is part of a series. Catch up on part one if you missed it. Being in nature has many benefits to our mental health and in this month’s blog, inspired by Decorative Aggregates and their infographic about how gardening can benefit our mental wellbeing, we are going to be focusing on the stress […]
Ecotherapy – Connecting to Nature
This is the first in a series of blogs about Ecotherapy – a method of promoting good mental health and physical wellbeing through outdoor activity in the natural environment. With the current situation in the world, many people have been seeing and feeling the benefits of being in nature and rediscovering or fully appreciating their […]
Making space for nature
We had planned a Ta(l)king Action workshop on wildlife gardening for 21st March 2020 but, sadly, had to cancel it due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a substitute, here are some tips shared by several of the would-be participants. We hope you find them useful and look forward to hearing about your efforts to make […]
Keeping connected to nature: even during lockdown
Hard times for us all. So many pressing concerns. Not least of these, for many of us, is the way in which our access to the natural world has suddenly become so constricted. Absence, it is said, makes the heart grow fonder. How true this seems now, regarding not just family and friends, but also […]
Spotlight on… Tawny Owls
Our brilliant Meadow Keepers intern, Eithne Phillips, has written Octobers spotlight, giving us insight into the wonderful world of Tawny Owls. The Tawny Owl is one of Britain’s most familiar species of owl and has been heard throughout our forests, woodlands and parklands for thousands of years. Our relationship with owls has often been a […]
Volunteer Insights: Freya
The second of our volunteer insights comes from Freya who has been volunteering for 2 years at St Nicks, helping with events and leading the Ecotherapy Bearing Fruit sessions. I caught up with Freya to see what appeals to her about volunteering at St Nicks. What is your role at St Nicks and what does […]
Volunteer Insights: Stewart and Eithne
It’s Volunteers’ Week again- a time to celebrate our volunteers and all of the incredible work that they do for us. As Volunteer Coordinator, I thought it would be a great idea to chat to some of our wonderful volunteers to find out what they get out of volunteering and why they keep coming back! […]
Ecotherapy diary: participant stories
Absorbing and relaxing, helpful, welcoming and friendly, and giving people the chance to learn new things about nature are just some of the ways people describe the Ecotherapy programme at St Nicks. In this blog, three of our participants share their personal stories about their Ecotherapy journey, showing that we really do help people in recovery from […]
Depression: let’s talk
In honour of today’s World Health Day on the theme of Depression, our Volunteer Co-ordinator Maria Gill has put together this blog. Maria works closely with our Ecotherapy project manager Kathy. We hope you find the information useful. What is depression? Depression can feel differently depending on who is experiencing it; generally it is thought of […]
