For two years, I’ve been writing about the therapeutic benefits of bird-watching, keen to share my own positive experiences with those who ended up reading. My remit for this blog was simply to write about the mental health benefits of being active in and for nature, and although I have written extensively on this topic I found it difficult to focus in on one single element - perhaps as I had explored so many notions throughout my writing.
After some reflection I realised that, quite simply, nature (and specifically bird-watching) provides so many ways to support positive mental health and well-being, that it is the variety that makes it so effective. For me, the most important part of how nature helps is in transcending across all of the senses, effectively providing something positive for everyone.