Florence Williams on the importance of getting your nature fix

The Tortoise with Brooke McAlary

In the perfect follow-up to March’s Great Outdoors Slow Experiment, today Brooke chats with Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix. Whether you’ve been reading the book or have never heard of it, you’re in for a treat. Florence is an epic researcher and communicator, and the studies and anecdotes she shares are both informative and inspiring.

Kicking off, Florence shares her favourite definition of nature: Oscar Wilde’s generous statement that it is “a place where birds fly around uncooked”. She believes nature doesn’t have to be wild or pristine to have an impact, which makes it much more accessible, especially to urban dwellers. She and Brooke talk about the importance of prioritising and valuing time spent in nature, as well as sharing some concrete tips for engaging in nature once we get there.

Then they dive into the benefits. Florence shares what she found while researching and writing the book, from the way spending time in nature makes us feel more connected and be more civic-minded to the impact on creativity, productivity and mood. She also touches on the relationship between nature and technology, encouraging kids to get outside, how she gets her own nature fix, research on the minimum recommended dose of outside time and so much more.

This conversation only further convinced Brooke of the importance of spending time in nature – it’s not a ‘nice-to-do’, more a ‘need-to-do’. Let us know if it made you feel the same way! Comment on Instagram or Facebook and share your thoughts. To read more, head over to http://slowyourhome.com/232/ for all the links and resources mentioned, as well as the full blog post.

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