If someone asked you about environmental wellness, what would you think of? Is it just about saving the rainforests or stopping global warming? Put it that way, and you can be put off the idea of environmental wellness altogether. It’s so intangible; how are you going to save the entire rainforest? Luckily, the reality of environmental wellness is a lot more easy to grasp.
According to Jessica Rhodes, of health and wellness website 123FeelBetter, ‘Environmental Wellness deals with the relationship between you and your immediate environments. It also concerns your larger connection with nature and the entire planet. Keeping a clean house, maintaining home spaces that reflect who you are, taking good care of your belongings, creating a space for private time and taking steps to enjoy and care for the natural environment are all important parts of Environmental Wellness.’ While these may seem like simple and basic things, environmental wellness encompasses all of the external factors that have an impact on your overall wellbeing.
As environmental wellness means taking care of your material possessions, plants, animal companions, friends and family, and surroundings, Rhodes sets out the following activity to help you get a better grip on the concept: ‘Right now, before you have time to clean, take pictures of yourself and of your surroundings,’ she instructs. ‘Don’t be shy, capture all the wonderful grime you can. Only you will see these pictures. Don’t obsess over them, simply log them in your private journal…Whether you took pictures or not, how did this make you feel? What were the emotions that came up while doing this exercise? What were your family’s rules about cleanliness? How have they affected you?’
Once you have a good idea of your current state of environmental wellness, you can take steps to improve the world around you and, as a result, your personal sense of wellbeing:
1. Plan A Garden: If you have a little piece of unused land, or even a sunny spot by a window that you could clear out, Rhodes recommends planting something! ‘Often it is easier to take on our own land and our own responsibility than to take on the global environmental crisis,’ she explains. ‘So, in lieu of developing anxiety about the ozone layer, see if you can harvest some joy in your very own backyard.’
2. Think About Your Fruits and Vegetables: ‘Go into your fruit and vegetables and take note of where they are from,’ Rhodes advises. So often we put foods on our plates and into our bodies without really realising the journey they have taken to get there. ‘Which countries did you rely on to get your produce?’ Rhodes asks ‘Think about how long each item took to arrive on your doorstep. Write a day in the life of your mango.’
3. Go to your Local Wildlife Centre: Whether this is an official centre for wildlife or something as simple as your local park, connecting to your surroundings means actually going out and connecting to your surroundings. As Rhodes puts it: ‘You can’t promote wellness only on your computer.’ So get out there and visit the world around you. If nothing else, a bit of fresh air and exercise never hurt anyone!
4. Sign up for an Environmental Advocacy or Exploration Group: If you’ve got the environmental wellness bug, share it with others so that they can see the benefits of environmental wellness in their own lives. However, if advocacy isn’t your thing, check out a local walking group. Rhodes explains, ‘The first step in loving and taking care of the environment is to explore it.’
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