No matter how prepared and organised you are, the final year of university is always going to be stressful. Trying to balance multiple deadlines and finding a job with having a social life, it is very easy to feel like you are drowning.

Anna Lawson, 4th year student at the University of Leeds, writes about how she applied her experience on a Natural Change Week to help her and her friends look after themselves in a stressful final year…

From experience, one of the first things to go is looking after yourself: trying to maximise hours spent doing, you stop giving yourself breaks and soon enough you are stressed out, exhausted and have lost the ability to concentrate. [Read more…]

The ‘classic’ Natural Change experience involves a week in a wild and remote place. Getting there, even from the central belt of Scotland can often take most of a day. For a long time we’ve resisted demands to make it shorter and less remote. We know the week-long experience works, and the long journey helps create a transition from our day to day lives and into a different time and space. People tell us:

Deeply liberating… Truly incredible… It’s just expanded my mind… Wonderful deep simplicity… A powerful source of intense natural healing… Given me confidence and capability… Don’t hesitate. Just do it!

But people have asked again and again for a way to fully experience Natural Change that is shorter and requires less travelling. People with caring responsibilities and other commitments find it particularly difficult to get the time they need to take part in a process they would find valuable. [Read more…]

Will Ashley-Cantello writes:

My mind is busy, tired and full. I need a break. So I step out the door into the fresh air.

Birds are singing in a pocket of pine woods to my left, so I wander that way. Walking alone, quietly and slowly, I hope to stumble upon something…

It’s cool among the trees. The soft layer of needles below my feet cushions and quieten my steps. The area has recently been disturbed; some trees felled. Mixing dying golden colours with vibrant green regeneration.

After a couple of minutes down the path, I spot some movement on the ground in my peripheral vision. I freeze momentarily, excitedly yet sub-consciously engaging stalker mode and not daring to look directly in the direction of the movement.

Seeing no more for a few moments, I step as silently as I can to a tree from which I can peer around and look in the direction of that mysterious movement… [Read more…]

Everything is interconnected. Gratitude improves sleep. Sleep reduces pain. Reduced pain improves your mood. Improved mood reduces anxiety, which improves focus and planning. Focus and planning help with decision making. Decision making further reduces anxiety and improves enjoyment. Enjoyment gives you more to be grateful for, which keeps that loop of the upward spiral going. Enjoyment also makes it more likely you’ll exercise and be social, which, in turn, will make you happier.

Some straightforward advice based on evidence of how our brains work. Even if the article is a bit too hokey for me. /Osbert

Read: A neuroscience researcher reveals 4 rituals that will make you happier by Eric Barker

The Scottish naturalist, writer and environmental philosopher who founded the Sierra Club and promoted the formation of the US national park system never fails to inspire; here’s a beautiful short film shot in some of the most special places in Scotland.

Mountain High from Wild Media Foundation on Vimeo.

When it comes to inspiring people to live in awe of nature, with reverence for all life, with a sense of never-ending wonder and desire for open-minded inquiry, environmentalism doesn’t really cut it. Like the word ‘sustainability’ it’s become a hollow word, a word divorced from meaning, a word lacking in soul, separated from its essence.

[Read more…]

Richard Louv writes:

I had no clue how otherworldly my adopted corner of the world was, until, as a journalist, I made it my job to dig deeper. Until then, I had place blindness.

[Read more…]

Just over two years ago I took on the role of CEO for an environmental organisation that was in deep trouble and about to go under, writes Morag Watson. Today our turnover is nearly half a million, our financial backers trust us once more, the staff are thriving and productivity is higher than ever. But this isn’t about how I turned the organisation around; it is about how I got through this relentless, demanding and stressful process without burning out.

I was inspired by Andy Murray, whose journey to becoming a Wimbledon champion is the very definition of relentless and demanding. He attributes his success, not to how hard he trained, but to his recovery regime. I have adapted two Natural Change practices into a daily recovery regime that enables me to remain effective in challenging times. [Read more…]

It improves your memory, helps you recuperate and even makes your sense of smell more acute. So turn off your computer and get outside.

Read: Ten reasons why we need more contact with nature by Richard Louv