Tips for Nature Reflections: from Natural Academy

Meet Michaèl Connors and Rhonda Brandrick from Natural Academy

Michéal Connors

Director Natural Academy 

Michéal is an eco-psychologist, mountain leader, author and holistic health and wellbeing professional. He is a qualified psychotherapist, supervisor and lecturer. He has a specialist interest in nature-based approaches to holistic cancer care and mental health. For over 25 years Michéal has been advocating and developing nature based and holistic approaches to mental and physical health. He has published writings and research and offers music as another gateway to nature connectedness.

Rhonda Brandrick

Nature Based Practitioner Natural Academy 

Rhonda is a nature-based practitioner, supervisor, author, therapist, teacher and guide. She brings a wealth of experience and deep curiosity to our human-nature reciprocal relationship with the Earth and our ongoing personal and collective development within this. She has worked with individuals, couples and groups for over 25 years. Rhonda is dedicated to making a difference to human health and the health of the natural world by bringing individuals and communities into connection and healthy balance.

Michéal and Rhonda work at Natural Academy, a not for profit community interest company, whose mission over the past 16 years has been to help people and nature recover and flourish together.

Emotion is a wonderful pathway that can lead us into the deep connectedness we feel in the natural world. It of course includes more challenging, but natural feelings, like fear, anger, sadness (which we share with other animals) and these are important and necessary in our life at times and can be used in a positive way.

For the It’s Time to ReWild Yourself Campaign, we encourage you to explore the feelings of delight that emerge when we connect to Nature and how this leads us to a deeper love of Nature.  

Connecting through Emotion: Tips for the Nature Reflections Challenge

from Michaèl and Rhonda of Natural Academy

Take some time to ground yourself, you might want to listen to our grounding on YouTube.

This is ideally outdoors but can be indoors and you can use the sounds and images to help with the grounding.

Ideally go into Nature, it can be a garden, a small green space, or even look out the window.

Take time to notice Nature and what it is that brings that feeling of delight. 

Take a journal

Reflect on how delight affects your mood and can bring a sense of wellbeing.

You might even, mindfully, take a photo of what filled you with delight in Nature and keep this to remind you.

 If there are many things that bring delight, look at making a nature mandala or collage of these.

*When using your phone in Nature, consider putting it on aeroplane mode so as not to get distracted. 

Notice how you can feel a deep connection, empathy, care and connection to what brought you delight.  

Natural Academy works with individuals and organisations to deliver accredited training courses and ongoing support to help them work with people in Nature. Their training practitioners facilitate the health, healing and recovery of people and support them to return to a deepening connectedness to the natural world. 

Ready to begin the Nature Reflections Challenge?

More tips and inspiration?