Category › Well-being

(This post updates and extends content in chapters 2, 3, 7, 8 and 10 of Connect with Nature). How good are you at making the most of those events in life that trigger ‘feel-good’ emotions such as joy, gratitude, contentment, awe and inspiration?  When you are looking at natural scenes or objects like the ones in the […]

Boosting the benefits of a walk in nature October 24, 2023 by Les H | Edit [This post supplements the Stop, Pause and Engage (SPE) section of Chapter 2, Connect with Nature] During the last three months, I have been assisting Bushwalking NSW (BWNSW) develop a leadership training course (Bushwalking’ is an Australian version of walking in nature). My […]

(This post can be read in conjunction with Chapter 5 of Connect with Nature) Most people in Australia would recognise Rosie Batty. In recent years, she has become an admired and influential public figure. She was named Australian of the Year in 2015 in recognition of her efforts to raise awareness of the extent, ubiquity […]

Here’s me on what is becoming an annual pilgrimage to savour the flowering New South Wales waratahs (Telopea speciosissima) in Bottle Forest, part of the Royal National Park near Sydney. I was in the company of family and dozens of others on much the same mission. This pocket of waratahs attracts hundreds, probably thousands, of visitors […]

(This post supplements material in Chapter 8 of ‘Connect with Nature’.) Michael Portillo is probably best known for his TV documentaries on railway journeys, but Australia’s SBS network is currently screening a series recording a walking trip he did in Devon and Cornwall.  In contrast to his upbeat railway documentaries, this series is more personal, […]

(This post supplements chapters 6 and 12 of Connect with Nature) Australia’s latest State of the Environment Report was released recently. The message of the report is as clear as it is alarming. The already calamitous environmental degradation in Australia is continuing. The loss of biodiversity, ecosystems and species is happening worldwide, but Australia is among […]

(This post supplements material in Chapter 10 of Connect with Nature by drawing attention particularly to the health and well-being impacts of nature sounds). A particular delight for me in my bush camping days way to be woken in the early morning by a ‘dawn chorus’. The Australian bush is home to many birds and […]

(This post supplements material in Chapter 5 of Connect with Nature)  The recent report of yet another mass shooting in a school in the USA brought to mind the experience of Kyle Jeter, a science teacher at a high school in Florida, USA. In 2016, Kyle succeeded in having newly available space in the school […]

(Material in this post supplements Chapter 12 of Connect with Nature) The death occurred on December 26, 2021 of Professor Edward O Wilson, an acclaimed biologist, foremost naturalist and pioneering thinker. Widely regarded as Charles Darwin’s successor, Wilson transformed my understanding of myself, others and what it means to be human. My writing over the […]

President Bill Clinton said that there were two kinds of people—those that have seen the Taj Mahal and those that haven’t. I suspect he was highlighting the stunning beauty of the place rather than suggesting that people who have seen it are a breed apart.