Nature is for everyone

On Sunday morning I found myself standing on the edge of Belstane Burn in Carluke cheering on a jolly band of small yellow ducks as they sailed towards the finish line in the first (annual?) Belstane Burn Duck Race. It was a joyful occasion, with the community coming together at the recently cleared and tidied burn to raise money for Carluke Gala Day, as well as chat about what lives in the burn and find out how to get more connected to nature.

Just to add, in case anyone was worried, all one hundred ducks were counted back in after the event. Number 76 did try and make a bid for freedom but he was rounded up and returned to his pals. No one wanted to pollute the burn.

Green Health Week is coming up shortly, running from 3rd May to 11th May with the theme Nature is for Everyone. Sunday was a real reminder of that. Firstly the team who have been taking care of the burn for the last few years so that it was in a fit state to host a duck race. I was talking to one community member who was reminiscing that it wasn't that long ago that the hedgerows were overgrown, the footpath impassable and the water not able to run freely. These are the contributions that volunteers make to support nature and their local community in so many places all over Lanarkshire. People were commenting on the weather, perhaps lamenting that this was the first day that hadn't been sunny for a while, but also able to acknowledge that although they had enjoyed the sunshine, it was still great to be able to get outdoors. There were children picking daisies and a team from SEPA overseeing some pond dipping and establishing that the range of wee beasties we could see through the microscope confirmed that the burn was in pretty good nick. One child who attends a local outdoor nursery delighted me by announcing that these bugs were ADORABLE, something that some of the adults in attendance didn't seem to quite agree with. People were making bird feeders and going on scavenger hunts with our wee tins that we use to encourage people to really look for what they love in nature. I truly believe that everyone can find their own way to connect with nature, and that there really is a way for everyone. Just this morning, I was reading a newsletter where the author had crowdsourced a list of things that people are doing, in these unsettling times, to keep going. Or as she puts it in the title of her list "How to make world peace at home". One particular thing in the nature & earth section caught my eye, something that I have been doing a lot over the last couple of weeks: laying on the wooden floor in a patch of sun. There has been something deeply luxurious about moving round the room to stay in the beam of sunlight streaming through the window. A way to connect with nature without leaving your house and without having to stand up! Like I say - there's a way for everyone.

This is what we are keeping in mind for Green Health Week. Not all our plans are finalised yet, and we'll be sending out all the information later in the month, so keep your eyes peeled for that. We are also still really keen to partner up with more people who are holding nature based events during the week, so please get in touch if that's you!

The first event that we're involved with is actually in the run up to the week itself, taking place on Tuesday 29th April. This is an early celebration of World Labyrinth Day brought to you by Chatty Crafters and the committee at Eastfield Community Centre in Cambuslang. Last year they built a labyrinth in their garden, a peaceful space where people can go to take a mindful walk. Walking a labyrinth is a great way to get out of your mind and into your feet. You don't have to think about where you are going because there is just one way in and one way out. World Labyrinth Day is celebrated every year on the first Saturday in May when thousands of people around the world participate in walking the labyrinth as a moving meditation for world peace. Unfortunately we are unable to celebrate at Eastfield on the day itself, but rather than miss out altogether we're joining together a little early and inviting people to come along and experience the labyrinth for themselves. There'll be tea, coffee and cake, an indoor labyrinth, some finger labyrinths and some art activities to try. It's an easy walk from Cambuslang Station along to Eastfield through Quarryfield Park. You can find the walk on Go Jauntly and find out more about the event here.

There will of course be a fair amount of walking going on during the week too. We have plans for some ParkBathe sessions - one in Brownsburn nature reserve in Airdrie is already open for booking - but also hoping to get ones in Fernbrae Meadows and Westburn local nature reserve scheduled. We're also planning a Clay in the Woods session in Hamilton, where you can get into nature and get creative, as well as some kind of tree related walk in honour of the Urban Tree Festival! Obviously we never stop going on about how going for a walk is ALWAYS a good idea, but I was thrilled to see this article in The Guardian at the weekend: why a walk in town can be just as good for you as a stroll in the countryside. It was a conversation with Annabel Streets about her latest book "The Walking Cure" which I will be adding to my To Be Read pile whenever I am next passing a bookshop. Her new book looks at 20 different types of landscape that one might walk in, both rural and urban, including places like cemeteries which are rich in biodiversity as they often escape the more violent pruning and spraying of other municipal outdoor spaces. I particularly liked the study she quotes that has shown historical walks are as psychologically restorative and calming as green walks and made me think again about the walks we did in Carluke for the Make Your Way project which were full of all kinds of historical tidbits thanks to members of the Carluke Parish Historical Society. Inspired, I dipped into Streets' previous book "52 Ways to Walk" to see how many of these took place in urban settings, and was immediately drawn to "Take a City Smell Walk". As tends to happen I fell into an internet hole, reading articles about smell walks and the research about them. During my evening walk, I decided that I should try the classic forest bathing prompt to smell like an animal, that's three short sniffs followed by a deeper longer sniff. Immediately I could smell the damp earth from the nearby flower beds. According to the book, this isn't surprising as apparently during a night walk we are particularly susceptible to smell. All this has got me thinking, perhaps we should take a smell walk during Green Health Week, I've downloaded the Smellfie Kit from the Sensory Maps website to get some further inspiration.

One last thing, we'd really like to see some pictures of how you connect with nature, maybe in some unexpected ways. We want to make sure people know that you don't have to be able to identify the invertebrate of the year or yomp up endless munroes or even get your mythically ideal 10,000 steps outside every day to be connected to nature. Perhaps you are a goth who likes gardening in the sunshine! or a plant parent who sometimes gives their houseplants a shower. Tell us more and get in touch here.