Explore nature in a multi-sensory way - 37 suggestions and activities to deeply engage with nature
Get ready for an immersive nature experience that will engage all your senses! Nature offers a sensory smorgasbord, from soothing sounds to tantalizing scents, and it's high time we recapture our connection with this bounty.
Here's a lowdown on how to tune into your surroundings and revel in the beauty of Mother Nature. Whether you're solo, with your fam, or with friends, these tips and activities are crafted to captivate your senses and bring you closer to nature.
Hearing - The Symphony of Nature
The enchanting cacophony of the great outdoors – from the rustling of waves to the whispers of the wind – is often the first thing we notice when we venture out. These sounds are proven to calm our nerves and boost concentration, providing a reprieve from the constant noise pollution in our daily lives.
Exercises to Hone Your Listening Skills
- Outdoor Meditation: Seek out a quiet spot, close your eyes, and let the sounds around you wash over you, allowing your breath to flow rhythmically.
- Tape Your Forest Adventure: Use your smartphone or a recording device to capture the unique sounds of the forest; then, listen back to these recordings for a relaxing escapade.
- Bird Call Challenge: Early mornings or evenings are the perfect time for a sit-down at a serene spot in nature and listening for the various bird calls. Give the NABU bird book with bird call app a try!
- Barefoot Bimble: Stroll with your eyes closed over a nature trail, focusing only on what you hear. Be aware of the sounds' location and direction, and what emotions they evoke in you.
- Hydraulic Harmony: Find a stream, river, or waterfall and immerse yourself in the rushing and splashing sounds, picking out individual components.
Smell - Nostalgic Whiffs of Nostalgia
Certain natural scents can evoke memories of special places or moments and influence our emotional world. Whether it's the fragrance of fresh grass, the earthy scent of a forest floor after rain, or the charming aroma of blooming lavender, nature provides a world of scents that can transport us.
Exercises to Enhance Your Sense of Smell
- Post-Rain Scent-Off: Mindfully perceive the scent that rises when rain hits dry soil, called Petrichor.
- Flower Walkabout: Visit botanical gardens or blooming meadows, consciously pausing to sniff the flowers. Plant fragrant native plants, like lavender, catmint, thyme, and more, in your nature bed for a regular olfactory workout.
- Wild Herb Hunt: Collect a few wild herbs, like garlic, woodruff, and field sage, and rub them between your fingers to fully appreciate their scent.
- Forest Air Inhalation: Take a deep breath, perhaps during a stroll with your dog, of the invigorating, calming pine-moss-earth scent.
- Blind Perfume Test: Close your eyes and try to identify individual nature scents – whether it's leaves, wood, grass, or flowers. This also makes for an engaging group activity!
Taste - A Delicious Dose of Nature
Active engagement of your taste senses in nature is often overlooked, but wild nature hosts a banquet of edible healing plants, fruits, and herbs to indulge in a variety of tastes – from sweet to sour, salty, bitter, and umami.
Exercises to Entice Your Tongue
- Tasting Wild Herbs: Pick healthy edible wild herbs, such as goutweed, stinging nettle, dandelion, and taste them fresh (see With edible wild plants through the year by Janine Schneider).
- Salt-Water Tasting: Take a small sip of ocean water and savor the briny flavor – a unique nature encounter for your palate.
- Herbal Tea Brewing: Gather fresh mint, chamomile, or stinging nettle and brew a refreshing natural tea, either at home or right on site with a thermos and built-in sieve.
- Blind Taste Test: With your eyes shut, savor the flavors of collected edible plants from your garden or nature. This helps to refine your taste sensibilities.
- Foraged Fruits: Collect berries, apples, rosehips, nuts, or other seasonal treats and give them a taste straight from the source. Don't forget to peruse Our Edible Nature by Otmar Diez for inspiration!
Sight - Seeing is Believing
Our eyes often catch only a fraction of the wonders surrounding us. By consciously looking and paying attention to the details, we perceive colors, shapes, movements, and contrasts more intensely.
Exercises to Enhance Visual Perception
- Camera Snapshot: Allow yourself to be guided with closed eyes to scenic spots – upon "click," open your eyes and capture the scene.
- Tree Meditation: Find a tree and consciously observe it on an awareness walk, appreciating its presence and admiration. Try reading The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.
- Micro Exploration: Use a magnifying glass or your smartphone to examine small details like moss, insects, or leaf veins up close, and entering a hidden world.
- I Spy: Play the popular color game to enhance your visual perception, whether with friends or family.
- Observe Light Play: Consciously observe the play of light and shadow throughout the day, finding it particularly stunning in the woods or at dawn and dusk.
Touch - Feel Your Way Through Nature
Experiencing nature with your skin and body heightens the sensory experience, as this sense connects us most powerfully with our environment.
Exercises to Enhance The Sense of Touch
- Tree Recognition: Distinguish the form, structure, and texture of a tree with your eyes closed during forest bathing and find it again with your eyes open.
- Slow Walk: Take slow, deliberate steps over natural terrain or a barefoot trail, feeling your soles touch the ground and noticing the reactions In your body.
- Tactile Treasure Hunt: Use your sense of touch to hunt for small treasures while staying blindfolded – a fascinating discovery journey for your sense of touch.
- Hands in Water: Dip your hands in a stream, lake, or waterfall, paying attention to the temperature and the flow.
- Natural Collage: Gather leaves, stones, feathers, and other materials from your surroundings, examining their textures and the feeling they evoke. (Check out "These Explorer Cards by rabano" for ideas).
- Delve into the world of fashion-and-beauty by incorporating organic and natural elements into your clothing choices, such as using eco-friendly materials and purchasing items from sustainable brands.
- Create a personalized home-and-garden sanctuary that enhances your lifestyle by intentionally designing spaces that promote relaxation and provide sensory stimulation through plants, textures, colors, and scents.
- Encourage communication and connection within relationships by planning outdoor adventures together, like picnics, hikes, or camping trips, which offer opportunities for bonding and creating cherished memories.
- Begin a pet adoption journey, providing a loving home for a furry friend and experiencing the benefits of companionship, emotional support, and unconditional love.
- Take an enriching travel experience to explore diverse landscapes and cultures around the world, immersing yourself in new sensory experiences and broadening your personal-growth and self-development horizons.
- Prioritize lifelong learning and self-improvement by enrolling in education-and-self-development courses that focus on practical skills, such as foraging, wildlife photography, or outdoor cooking, enhancing your knowledge and abilities in nature-related activities.
