We’re delighted to announce that we will offer a series of free NatureWell courses through Coleg Menai’s Potensial adult learning programme this summer. Our Five Pathways to Wellbeing in Nature course will take place Bangor and Caernarfon from June to August. The first course starts on June 7th, and two more courses will start on July 19th.
This course is perfect for people who love being in nature and want to learn more about how nature supports us to feel well. Participants will learn something about ‘eco-psychology’ and how being in nature affects our body, mind and emotional well-being. In every session, participants will have the chance to try out simple, fun and creative activities that help them to connect more deeply to nature and benefit from their time outdoors.
Click here to join the first course, starting June 7th.
The Five Pathways to Wellbeing in Nature
Our Five Pathways to Wellbeing in Nature course takes participants on a journey through the five NatureWell pathways.
To begin with, we literally come back home through our senses by making contact with nature. As human animals, it is natural for us to be tuned in through taste, touch, hearing and smell, and sight. This is our gateway to the natural world.
We then tune into nature through beauty as a profound and moving way to come closer to and take pleasure in sensual the world around us.
Sensual beauty offers a gateway to our feelings and emotions. Our sadness, our joy, our fear and our pain all have their place. When these are held within nature, we can fully experience how we feel, without judgment.
Knowing that just by being alive we are prone to uncertainties and strife, we can learn to be compassionate with ourselves, with others and with all the beings in the living world.
The last pathway, meaning, helps us understand that we are part of a huge, interconnected web and governed by forces that are bigger than ourselves. In this way, we find a sense of belonging and purpose.
Participants will learn how to keep their own nature-based practice going to help them continue to feel well and deepen their connection to nature.
Background to the NatureWell approach
Our course is based on the NatureWell approach which was developed by the Natural Academy. It is based on nature connection research carried out by the University of Derby.
Photo by Matt Heaton on Unsplash.