{"id":28931,"date":"2021-05-14T14:07:16","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T13:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=28931"},"modified":"2021-05-14T15:24:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T14:24:56","slug":"forgetting-the-stuff-swirling-round-your-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=28931","title":{"rendered":"Forgetting \u00e2\u20ac\u0098the stuff swirling round your head\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During lockdown many of us have found how much being in nature can do to restore our sense of connectedness and lift our spirits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feeling of wellbeing is of course nothing new to many of us \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including Colin*, a freelance worker, who has long sought solace in nature when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggled mentally. Although he has always been a nature lover, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fully understand the healing power of nature until he was at his lowest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Mental Health Awareness Week this week, whose theme this year is connecting with nature, UNITElive caught up with him on a windswept beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere was one period in my life when I was really struggling with work and finances and I found myself in a perfect storm where everything just came down on me at once \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was essentially forced to choose between either taking out a massive loan that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never be able to pay back or selling my home,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 recalls Colin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in that position, as a freelancer, you sometimes find yourself working gruelling hours but you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not making any headway financially. After a few months of this, not being able to see a light at the end of the tunnel, I was the most depressed I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ever been,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Colin explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see a way out\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou get to this point where you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in a really dark place \u00e2\u20ac\u201c almost catatonic, just like being totally lost in your own despair. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see any way out.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually upbeat and positive, Colin said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the type to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwant to jump in and fix things\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the problem is that just doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work with depression,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor some, seeking professional help is important but at the same time, whatever you do, nothing will cure you overnight \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you often just have to ride it out until it passes. Thankfully I got to the stage where I did see a light at the end of the tunnel \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and a huge part of getting to that stage was taking regular walks with my dog in the woods.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since that experience, Colin explains, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quick to connect with nature when the stress starts to build up again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe thing about connecting with nature \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for me, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s either going for a walk in the woods or by the sea or going kayaking or hiking \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is that it gives you a bit of humility. Your place in the world is recaptured \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reminded that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a small little bit of the universe; that our everyday preoccupations, the stuff we ruminate over and stress about, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really all that important in the grand scheme of things.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite the fact that his work did not change much in lockdown, like so many of us, Colin felt upended by the sudden disconnection with his normal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like John in our previous feature<\/a>, Colin continued working through both lockdowns. While he considers himself lucky that he did not suffer the loss of work or income that many of his friends did, his work in fact became far busier, and he struggled to keep up. The usual options to ease stress \u00e2\u20ac\u201c going out for a meal, for a drink, to visit his daughter, or even something as simple as hugging family or friends outside his household \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were suddenly gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Oppressive\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter a while, it did start to feel pretty oppressive and I just felt very boxed in mentally,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Colin explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou start to bounce off the walls because you just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEspecially during the second lockdown, the weather was terrible, but I knew how much connecting with nature helps with your mental state so I forced myself to go out to the beach even when it was freezing cold and snowing and the wind was blowing a hurricane.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crows<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, on one of his daily beach walks, Colin noticed a large group of crows gathering on the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere must have been 60-odd crows. I spoke to a guy who runs a caf\u0102\u00a9 near the beach just as he was closing it down for lockdown,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Colin recounted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe said in the winter there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as much food for the crows and because of the lockdown there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as much rubbish to pick at or tourists to feed them. And they were really struggling for food. When the tide goes out, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also sorts of tasty morsels in the seaweed and on the beach. A lot of them learned to pick up periwinkles or whelks and drop rocks to break their shells open \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and they taught this to each other.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, Colin decided to take some stale bread for the crows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe minute I offered the bread, I was literally swamped \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was covered in crows. It was brilliant!\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so began a relationship with the crows that extended to various other birds \u00e2\u20ac\u201c swans, oystercatchers, sparrows, wood pigeons, and more \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that in the days and weeks slowly emerged to while away their time with Colin on the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe more you interact, the more you get to know them. With the crows, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a definite pecking order. One is the head honcho and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always strutting around, another makes this incredible sound that almost sounds like its meowing. The more I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gone the more he does it. One day after weeks of feeding them I even made a breakthrough where some of them started taking food directly out of my hand.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total engagement<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colin said he highlights this experience to show that connecting with nature to enhance our mental health only works when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re totally engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough to simply take your dog for a walk outside \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you can easily zone out and start to think about all the worries in your head,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m with the birds, when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m feeding them, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that noise that one bird is making; is that the one I saw last time? You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re completely absorbed by them. It makes you forget about all the stuff swirling around in your head because you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re too busy being engaged with what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in front of you.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 WATCH:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

See Colin and the crows below \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in our exclusive film, where Colin tells us how his connection to the natural world has helped him improve his mental health. If you need subtitles these are available on the YouTube tool bar under the film by clicking on the subtitle icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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