So we have chosen a book and thought about why we want to start Nature journaling.
There are so many studies proving a real connection between nature and happiness. The mental health organization, MIND, published a study that found depression was reduced in 71% of participants after taking a walk in nature. When compared to walking around a shopping centre where 22% of participants were more depressed than before the walk.
It is your choice what to put in your journal and how you put it in, you could select a few petals, or a feather found and sellotape them in, you could write, draw, paint, make lists….
The aim is to be as descriptive as possible, focus on your subject, pay attention to the details, what are all your senses telling you, smells, tastes, sights, sounds, touch – is the wind blowing gently, the sky clouded or blue, is the neighbour having a BBQ?
IDEAS FOR YOUR NATURE JOURNAL
Here are a few ideas to start the flow for you:
- Leaf or tree bark rubbings
- Nature stamps, using for example a flower press or by squashing a leaf or flower actually onto the page, Hapa Zome style!!
- Smear some juice from a berry or fruit you are drawing
- Lists of birds, insects, leaves, or flowers you have observed
- Develop a sit spot – somewhere you can sit at least once in every season recording the differences and changes throughout the year. You could eventually create many sit spots to visit every season!
