A nature therapy exercise

Eco therapist Alix Hearn shares a taste of wilderness therapy, a term that includes walking-and-talking sessions with a therapist, remote retreats and horticultural therapy – gardening or caring for plants

Set an intention:

Before leaving home for a nature walk or immersion, decide on your focus – an issue with which you are preoccupied, a question that needs answering or a worry that is dogging you.

As you walk or once you arrive at your destination, notice what you are drawn to outside. The world can act as a mirror reflecting patterns in your life. For example, you

Look for clues:

may notice a fork in the road that feels like a sign because you are wrestling with a decision. Or perhaps you come across a thicket of brambles and you realise that you’re often drawn to situations that are difficult to navigate. Or you might realise that you chose the muddy path when there was an easier way. On the way home, reflect on your question again or, to go deeper, journal about your experience.

Schedule time in nature:

We need routines and rituals in nature and our lives, otherwise we can live in chaos, moving from one thing to the next. At the moment, everyone is living in a heightened state of anxiety. The other day, I went for a walk and it was only when I was outside and calm that I realised how stressed I have been.

Alix Hearn is an associate therapist with the Wilderness Foundation, which offers nature-based outreach programmes; wildernessfoundation.org.uk