Nature and the Five Ways to Wellbeing

I'm Alan Bradshaw, Founder and CEO of the Psychology Business Incubator, a community and platform for people interested or involved in psychology-based business. I've been involved in such businesses for 30 years and now, through the Incubator, I support others to start, grow and thrive in business. I'm also a director and Deputy Chair of William Simpsons, a social care organisation that provides residential care to those whose mental health has been damaged long-term through substance misuse (mostly alcohol). I've had mental health challenges myself, and the subject of this blog, nature, has got me through some pretty dark times. I wrote this piece a few years ago as part of a webinar for a client in 2021, focussing on the theme of that year's mental health week, which was Nature. I came across it again as I was running a similarly-themed workshop last week with the wonderful Ian Pettigrew as part of our series of Positive Thursday events.

What does nature mean to you? I mean, it's a huge topic and means different things to different people I think. 

What words or phrases come to mind? Where do you go to in your mind? What do you see, hear, smell or touch? How do you feel when you're there? If you have company, who's with you, sharing your love for nature? What difference does it make to your mental health?

I've had mental health challenges throughout my life; problems with anxiety and periods of depression. (Recently, I was assessed as having Complex PTSD, and it's likely that the dark periods of anxiety and depresession were linked to that condition.) Nature for me is, and has been, my therapy. It calms me down, it lifts my mood, it sparks my interest, it returns me to my self. I can just be, no expectations to fulfil, no time pressures - I can take as long as I like, with an infinite variety of places and things to explore, and things I can identify and explore and find out more about. 

I see nature, and more broadly the natural world, as the ultimate, free, wellbeing resource and there are so many ways you can access it. You don't even have to leave your house - you can attract nature to your garden or windowsill or patio. With a little effort, you can make your garden bug-friendly and you attract a whole range of birds by putting out different types of food and feeders.

My fascination with nature started when I was very young. I'm not entirely sure where it came from. Certainly, no one else in my immediate family shared my interest (at least not to the same extent) and no friends did either. It was mine - perhaps that was part of the attraction. When my mum took me to the library, I would only take out bird books. I read avidly and was at an age when I absorbed everything. I was lucky too - I lived right opposite a wood, and over time, trees became a fascination too. Old trees are whole ecosystems, and of course, they provide homes, food and cover for birds, so they were already in my good books! 

My happiest times of all have been walking in woods. There was one particularly magical place in my wood. (Well I thought of it as mine, anyway). It was a place that no one else new about and I would sometimes spend hours there. Of course, I had no real concept of time because I was so absorbed by what I was doing and more specifically watching. Nowadays, psychologists call this a flow state. It was a little space where I could sit in between some trees, where I had a clear view of an old gnarled apple tree, which curved over a stream. Just at that point, the water pooled, and so the area was very attractive to all kinds of birds that would come and bathe and drink. It was just perfect, and it was mine! No one knew I was there. Because I was in some cover and kept very still, the birds just ignored me after a while and accepted my presence, so I could watch them from only a few feet away.

Now, where I live in Clackmannanshire, I look out on a hill called 'Wood Hill'. Naturally, it's called Wood Hill because it has a wood, which is called 'Wood Hill Wood'. For some reason, I find that strangely satisfying! I walk there often. Right now, the woods are filled with bluebells and wild garlic. There are Red Squirrels and Roe Deer in those woods and a lot of interesting birds including Sparrowhawks, Buzzards, Blackcaps, Treecreepers and Great Spotted Woodpeckers. I was thrilled when I first saw Treecreepers there, because they were in my wood as a kid. I loved watching them spiral upwards up a treetrunk looking for bugs in the cracks. They are small birds with a speckled back and a white breast and a short, downturned, curved beak, perfectly designed for bug hunting.

And there's a tree, 'my' tree, which is an ancient oak tree on it's own in a field just outside the wood. (This is the tree you see above). I think it's probably between 3 and 400 years old. It might even have been there since the last time Scotland was an independent nation! It now looks possible that could happen again soon. (BTW I'm not going to say here whether I think that's a good thing or not!) No one goes to that tree but me - it's off the main paths and I have never seen anyone else there. So that makes it special and unique for me.

Do you have a tree, a special tree that has meaning for you? Perhaps as I'm talking you can think of one. Or maybe you could set out to find one! How exciting is that? Your mission is to find your own tree. Because it's going to be yours, only you can decide on the criteria for selection. It could be where it is or how it's set in the landscape. It could be it's height, it's girth, it's shape, something uniquely quirky about it, what grows on the tree or lives in the tree. Old trees support all kinds of life. As I get older, I'm becoming more interested in buglife and lichens.

A few years ago, the New Economics Foundation or NEF published the Five Ways to Wellbeing, based on the huge body of evidence about what really improved our wellbeing. It rapidly became very influential and you'll find it now in many places, including NHS advice on mental health.

The 5 ways are: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give.

I think it's a great framework for thinking about our mental health, because it looks at different dimensions of wellbeing. There's the social, physical, mindful, educational and meaningful - all important in different ways. You can get mental health benefits from any one of the ways or you could do something in all of them if you wanted. 

I'll share some info and resources about this in the follow-up. But it's a great idea to think about how you could apply the 5 ways. Maybe there's a way where you feel you really could do more. During the lockdowns, many of us have missed socially connecting, and as we come out of this crisis that might be something you could address for yourself.

Interestingly, you can get all 5 of the ways from nature...

1. You can feel a connection with the natural world and you can connect with others who share the same passion. Nowadays, it is very easy to find groups that share your particular interest whether that's walking, birds, butterflies or trees. 

2. You can certainly be active in nature. You can choose natural places to fit how active you want to be. Do you want a gentle stroll and just look at nature, or do you want to clamber up lung busting hills and see the views from the top?

3. You can really take notice in nature. It lends itself perfectly to mindful activities where you pay attention, in the present moment, which helps stops you ruminating about the past or future. All you have to do is use your senses - stop, look, listen, smell, feel. If you do that, you can easily lose yourself and savour the natural world in ways that will improve your mental health.

4. If you find one aspect of nature fascinating, make a point of learning about it and keep learning. Our devices have some drawbacks of course, but one huge advantage is that you can research, discover and find out everything about anything. Recently, I became interested on hoverflies. I realised I knew literally nothing about them, yet I see all sorts of them in my garden and on my walks. It turns out there are hundreds of species. Now, I'm really going to enjoy learning about them.

5. And you can 'give' in multiple ways. You can give your time to a cause that supports nature. You can volunteer to improve your local, natural environment. You can take a friend who's struggling to a place they love to help their mood. And of course, you can become greener in your outlook and lifestyle.

Any of those ways of accessing nature can help you improve your wellbeing. You can choose one to focus on or choose all of them it's up to you. My advice is to do it deliberately, to make the choices and be proactive. Don't be passive about it as that won't work so well. Be proactive, develop some simple routines that integrate nature into your life. 

I'm going to give you a minute or two now for you to jot down any ideas you have about using nature to improve your wellbeing.

Now, in Nov 2025, when I look back at this piece, my views on the importance of nature to my wellbeing are very similar. In fact, if anything, they have strengthened. I know how critically important, indeed essential, nature is to my mental health. Now, I use visualisation of that special place I described above as part of my therapy for Complex PTSD. I know that I can always 'rewind' to that place where I feel calm and safe and where everything is OK, including me. Many people who have struggled with their mental health have found nature to be, literally, a life-saver. One book I'd recommend about this is Bird Therapy by Joe Harkness. How do you use nature to enhance your wellbeing? Please use the comments to share your experience with this incredible resource.

PBI Take

At PBI, we believe wellbeing is the foundation for sustainable, ethical, human-centred work, especially in psychology-based businesses. Alan’s story reminds us that nature offers an accessible, evidence-aligned resource that supports resilience, creativity, and clarity. We encourage our community to explore their own connection with nature, and to integrate small, intentional wellbeing practices into their personal and professional lives.