Rewild your Life Rewild your life: Tips for more nature in your daily life

Whoever wants to go wild at home doesn’t neces­sarily have to leave the house to feel the effects of nature. Studies have shown, for example, that patients in hospitals recover more quickly if they can see trees outside their windows from their beds. On a smaller scale, this can also work with a few green house plants, a bee-friendly flower box or a bird house on the balcony.

In this way, you not only create islands of green and inter­esting objects of obser­vation for yourself but also do something for the wildlife around you. And once a family of blue tits has moved in and the wild bees are busy collecting pollen, you will be at least as happy as the animals are.

But remember: not all products sold in this category are really well suited for the intended purpose. For example, not every wild­flower seed mix is really wild-bee-friendly and not every bird feeder is suitable for feeding birds. It’s best to always follow the official recom­mend­ations of nature conser­vation asso­ci­ations and similar organ­isations.

The so-called “sit spot” is a wonderful way to cultivate a greater awareness of nature. This technique of exper­i­encing nature involves choosing a place outside that you visit regularly and where you simply let the natural surroundings take their effect on you. Observe. Listen. Feel. And simply watch what is happening. Without any expect­ations. Without any distractions.

What birds or insects can you see? What are they doing? What sounds can you hear? What smells are in the air? What colours in nature are shining out partic­ularly intensely? And what has perhaps changed since your last visit?

The first few times you try this, it may not be easy to sit still and do nothing, but the relaxation effect will quickly set in. And before you know it, you will start to notice things you never noticed before.

Of course, the best place for a sit spot experience is one where you are really surrounded by nature, and where cars and other people can only be heard in the distance. But a city park or simply a green backyard can work almost as well.

It doesn’t always have to be a long walk: even just a little stroll of 20 minutes can have an enormous effect on our well-being and health. As long as you don’t live right next to an aeroplane runway, it almost doesn’t matter where you go for a walk.

In fact, you shouldn’t let a day go by without lacing up your shoes to at least take a short run and get some exercise in the fresh air. However, in everyday life, somewhere between the super­market and work, this really important outdoors time is all too often neglected. Even though we actually do know better. There’s always something more important, more urgent, to take care of, and before you know it, the day is over. Dedicating a fixed time slot in your daily calendar can be a great help. If in doubt, the mornings are usually the best time for this, when there is the least risk of something getting in the way. And if you simply take your morning coffee with you in a travel mug, you won’t even have “lost” any time.

The perfect complement to the sit spot, but also combinable with any excursion into nature, is nature journaling. All you need is a piece of paper, a notebook or a drawing pad, a pen and, ideally, some bright-coloured colouring pencils or crayons. In this way, you can jot down exper­iences and obser­vations not only in words but also in drawings. And don’t worry: you don’t have to produce a perfect work of art. Everyone can sketch or paint something! And the nature journal is not intended for anyone other than yourself, so it doesn’t matter what it looks like.

Our tip: The most important tip for journaling is to switch off and not think too much about what you’re doing. Just let your thoughts and creativity run free and make a note of whatever comes to mind. An unusual sighting, the silhouette of a tree, the onoma­topoeic description of a bird call… A great way to preserve all the small and great wonders of nature in a special way and be able to recall them any time you like.

Just take a walk before sunrise. Walk barefoot across a meadow. Climb a tree and look at the world from above. Or, don’t lace up your hiking boots despite the pouring rain, but because of it! These things don’t sound partic­ularly spec­tacular or innovative at first, but they are all things you very rarely do. However, if you consciously take a new perspective and seek out unusual exper­iences from time to time, you will get to know the world out there in all its facets and, in this way, forge new memories for yourself.

By spending time in mother nature, you can learn a lot about plants and animals simply by observing and exper­i­encing them. But it is even more fun when you know who or what you’re looking at. Then, you don’t just see a flower or a bird, but rather a wood anemone and a treecreeper. You might even know that treecreeper only climbs the tree in an upwards direction, spiralling around the trunk as it ascends, while a nuthatch flits headfirst both upwards and downwards. And you don’t neces­sarily have to read a “dull” nature guide for this: nowadays, there are so many great podcasts and social media channels that cover a wide variety of nature topics. And with apps, you can identify plants or bird songs on the spot, often quite accurately, while you are out and about. If you do this at least once in a while – for example, by finding out about one bird or one flower on each walk – you can learn about nature bit by bit and in passing, without turning it into a complicated science.