Spring has finally arrived and with it the start of the new series of Walks to Wellbeing and the celebration of Earth Day. As we venture back out into the natural outdoors, we’re turning our attention to the ways in which we can better connect to the natural environment as a way to support our own health and wellbeing and how to take inspiration from the natural transition of the seasons to inspire our own personal transitions.
Earth Day – Friday 22nd April 2022
Established in 1970, the Earth Day Network (EDN) grew out of the world’s first ever Earth Day event. Earth Day has gone on to become an annual event and one which encourages individuals to take the time to focus and reflect on environmental causes and our own relationship towards and with Nature.
At Dunami, we will be celebrating Earth Day through our annual individual happening online event, by inviting people to engage in creative contemplation outdoors. Whether you have 10 minutes, an hour or a full day to spare, we warmly invite you to join us in spending some time outdoors, engaging in active listening of the natural environment around you.
As with previous years, we invite you to use this time as an opportunity to reflect and be inspired by the natural world and create a creative contemplation. It can take any form, be it a photograph, sound recording, movement, artwork or textual reflections. All creative forms are welcome and we invite you to share them with us and each other.
You can upload your creative contemplations and find out more about the event on the Earth Day 2022 page on our website.
Walks To Wellbeing
The new season of Walks To Wellbeing will also be starting on Friday 22nd April and it is a brilliant opportunity to devote some time to mindfully engage with Nature, whilst engaging on a journey of self-therapy through the act of walking.
Led by Dr Anna Dako, the new season of Walks To Wellbeing will take place at Bennachie Visitor Centre. We are excited to be able explore the methodology of Felt Thinking in this wonderful location. The walks will offer the possibility to discover new paths and entry points into ecological connectivity in movement and reflection.
As we celebrate Scotland’s ‘Year of Stories’ theme, we are also looking forward to the possibility of exploring the creative narratives that the walks inspire and learn how to live our own stories in new ways too.
Take a look at our Walks To Wellbeing page for more information.
A Time of Transition
Spring is itself a natural time of transition, as we move from the cold winter months into the beginnings of warmth and regrowth. It’s an opportunity to reassess our own lives, goals and aspirations and to seek out opportunities to engage in self-care and improve our wellbeing.
The transition of the seasons has been particularly vivid this year, with the unusually warm weather appearing to try to combat the resisting cold. We have experienced all weathers within the space of a month in Scotland and with that, the stirrings of new possibilities and invitations to be drawn outdoors and re-immerse ourselves in all that Nature has to offer. It is transition in movement and perhaps reflects the inner conflicts and struggles that many are currently experiencing.
Yet, just as Nature naturally transitions, so too can we. We are reminded that it is within our grasp to make changes to improve our sense of wellbeing, to carve out time to engage in reflective practice and to explore new opportunities that may be opening themselves to us.
An Invitation…
This month, we invite you to seek out some time for yourself to simply be and listen to Nature. It may be a walk with your family, a visit to an unexplored nature reserve, some time sitting in quiet reflection, taking your practice outside or simply time spent playing and delighting in the natural world around you.
Take the time to really be with the space. Listen to it.
Reflect on what it means to you, what revelations it brings and what inspirations it offers. Consider too what you have to offer the natural world. What can you do in return to support the natural world?
Use the time to consider what transitions you would like to make for yourself. What areas of your life, your lifestyle or yourself would you like to change, evolve or adapt? Sow the seeds of change and over the course of the Spring season, aim to sustain them and watch them grow.
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