Planning your vacation in nature
Not all of our desires fit into a few weeks of vacation during the year, but you should always lay in a couple of days for relaxation in nature, no matter how strange this idea may seem to you, if you love cities and speed. The abundance of electricity, noise and constant access to gadgets in general contribute to an increase in anxiety and continuous anxiety of missing something important - in fact, false and contrived. Nature tends to return us to the so-called "default settings", when all the senses, including the usually suppressed sense of smell and touch, begin to work much stronger.
Such a break in nature can be a departure for a couple of days of vacation to a remote deserted island, and an ascent to a high mountain village, where people dissolve in the landscape, and rafting down the river with a small group of fellow travelers, during which you can almost keep a vow of silence. Plus do not forget about active sports - from skiing to surfing and snorkeling: most of these activities will leave you alone with nature and your personal impressions for a long time. Plus, in the past few years, active tours for small groups with different intensities have been gaining popularity - and experienced guides can take you to a quiet desert, a distant steppe or to a dormant volcano, vouching for your safety, which is also very important. The price for such trips is higher than for standard tourist adventures, but the immersion in the environment is also of a completely different nature.
Get pets
Everyone is taught that having a pet is a big responsibility, but you shouldn't demonize it. Pets, especially the most popular of them, quickly get used to the lifestyle of their owners, adapt to new conditions and, from a certain age, do not require constant investment of your time. Dogs, on average, extend the life of their owners by several years, largely due to the need to walk in any weather twice a day, and cats help to cope with daily stress. Plus, your favorite animals are also the easiest way to get in touch with nature at any convenient time and observe its manifestations: from funny features to the bad habits of a particular pet.
Dogs and cats can also become an ideal object for studying the world around them - now you can understand the peculiarities of the mammalian psyche or the complexities of interspecies relationships in the company of new scientific-pop about the structure of the brain, scratching behind the ear of your beloved furry and finding out that you have a lot in common. Another argument in favor of an animal house is that every pet - from a parrot to a hamster - fosters in children an attention to nature and a responsible attitude towards the weak, and will also help the family to unite in caring for their new member.
© Jaanus Jagomägi / Unsplash
Make a garden in the yard
A practice that is not very popular in Russia, yet completely realistic and legal, is to lay out a garden under the windows of your house, having coordinated it with neighbors and the management company that serves the yard. Of course, a garden in the courtyard cannot be a substitute for a private plot or vegetable garden, and it is worth planting it taking into account the local climate, the location of the street and the passability of your territory. The simplest solution is evergreen trees and low bushes: they will not block the sunlight on the ground floors and separate the residential building from the noisy street. Perennial trees and flowers can be planted in the inner part of the courtyard, which is mostly occupied by residents and their guests, having warned the management company about caring for the lawn and providing a small fence for the garden.
In many countries, community gardens are popular - neighborhood voluntary associations, where gardening is just an excuse for communication and strengthening regional ties. In a big city, such a garden is most often a utopia, but the real practice of any positive innovations shows that you may start a garden alone, and sympathizers, it is likely, will gradually catch up.
Get houseplants
If you don't have time to plant outdoors, the easiest and healthiest way to revitalize your home is to turn it into tropical jungle. Well-heated apartments are ideal residences for many tropical plants: palms, cacti, ficuses and subtropical flowers. Make a list of plants that you like best and least of all whimsical in everyday life: they easily adapt to the local microclimate, any lighting and will easily react to underfilling or overflow from new owners. Pay attention to the easiest plants to care for - most succulents and cacti, ficuses and dracaena, zamioculcas and spathiphyllums will feel very calm in their new home. Take care of good pots, drainage, and a handy sprayer for your plants.
Do not worry that some plants will not immediately take root and die: losses are understandable as long as you do not have enough experience in this matter. Plus, in most stores, the flowers are overfed with fertilizers to make them look presentable, and at home they can quickly become homesick without intensive feeding.
Ask your friends to give you not bouquets, but flowers in pots - this way your house will very quickly acquire its own flora, which will also remind you of the people you love. And plants also have several unconditional health benefits and one completely obvious plus for mood: they can distract from the gray and cold half of the year.
© Neslihan Gunaydin / Unsplash
Travel to nature reserves and natural areas on the weekend
Only the lazy person advises against going for a walk in the park on days of painful thoughts, but the usual district park, most likely, will not feel much different in sensation from city streets - especially on a weekend when it is crowded with people. Try replacing your usual routes with something completely unusual - a trip to remote forest parks or a weekend visit to reserves in nearby areas.
What needs to be taken care of in advance is safety, navigation and food-and-water on your journey. For the rest, pick up a company and go to the not yet open corners of the city, gradually moving away from the noisy life. Natural reserves, reserves and recreational areas differ from city parks in their practically unchanged natural landscape, the existence of wild animals and rare birds and plants in them, and unsurpassed silence, especially on weekdays.
A weekend in the city can be replaced by a trip to a livestock farm or a nature reserve, where zoologists take care of some rare species or know the best route for bird watching. This trip will be a much more unique experience than a day at the zoo. And it will give the long-awaited feeling of travel without a tedious long journey.
Make taking care of nature a part of your lifestyle
It is easier to feel like a part of nature when communication with it seamlessly integrates into your life. Replace the alarm clock ringing with birdsong, and set the waves hitting the shore with a falling asleep melody. On dark days, take care of a fluorescent light that affects productivity and mood throughout the day. When you're tired, use nature sounds - they help you both calm down and concentrate for unpleasant tasks. Surround yourself with things made from natural and natural materials that are reminiscent of real places, experiences and people.
And do not forget about the simplest rules of respect for the environment - try not to overuse plastic bags, achieve waste sorting in your yard, properly dispose of batteries, and watch out for excessive consumption of water and electricity. There are quite a few points, following at least a few will definitely change the world for the better, at least a little.>