Welcome to Word of the Week! This week we wanted to teach you a fun new word; Solivagant! Remember every Wednesday we put up a new word on our blog to help you stay engaged with nature. So keep a close eye and always stay tuned!
What Does the Word Mean?
Solivagant [soh-LIH-va-ghent] (adjective): To wander alone. Solivagant comes from the Latin words “solus” meaning alone, and “vagans” meaning “wander.”
How Does Solivagant Relate to Us?
Just take a moment, and note the time you spent alone on your screen, whether it be browsing on your phone, watching a TV show, or playing video games. Was it just a few minutes or was it hours? Now imagine if you took some of those moments and spent them alone in nature.
Though you can wander alone around your neighbourhood or in the heart of a city, there is something to be said about spending time outside in nature, alone.
It’s just different from any other outdoor experience! Engaging with nature can have a multitude of health benefits. Let’s explore some of these positive traits together!
Having a Better Well-Being
Not only does it have physical benefits such as increasing your dopamine levels, strengthening your immune system or helping your body create Vitamin D through sun exposure, but studies have found that spending time outside, especially alone, can be therapeutic, allowing one to self-reflect, relieve stress, and restore their attention.
Engaging with nature can also, either instantly or over a short period of time, change your mood, actions, and attitude. It forces you to engage with many of your senses such as sight, smell, and hearing.
Some research has found that being in such places can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. It can also give you a confidence boost, improve your self-esteem, lower the feeling of isolation, make you less irritable, reduce anxiety and depression, and be happier.
How Much Time Should You Spend Outside?
We all have busy schedules. Because of that, it can be difficult to find time to step away from your screen or other commitments to focus on yourself.
So how much time should you be spending outside? Some research shows it should be a minimum of two hours a week that can be broken down into small periods such as 20 minutes if you want to see significant improvement in your health and well-being.
Ways to Connect With Nature?
One of many things that we like to encourage people to do when they wander in nature alone, even in winter, is to find a sit spot! A sit spot, simply put, is a favourite place in nature that you visit regularly to cultivate awareness as you expand your senses and study patterns of local plants, birds, trees, animals, etc.
But a sit spot can be so much more! It can also become an anchor in your life, a place to settle down, cultivate your sense of presence, quiet your mind, and observe the flow of reality around you. The real key to success with the sit spot is to visit that spot over and over and over again.
By visiting the same place in nature multiple times, you can develop a strong bond and relationship to the place and come to know things you may not have known otherwise.
When doing this exercise remember to pick a place that feels safe to you. Furthermore, try to be present as much as possible, by taking deep breaths and listening to the sounds around you.
Forest Bathing
This exercise is very similar to the practice called Forest Bathing. The term “Forest Bathing” refers to the physiological and psychological practice that first emerged in Japan in the 1980s.
This exercise is sometimes referred to as “Shrinin-yoku”. This was developed to help you achieve two goals: an antidote to tech burnout and to inspire residents to connect with plus protect the country’s green spaces.
Forest bathing is an open-ended process in the sense that there is no right or wrong answer in what a person should experience. This can be as simple as standing alone in nature and engaging with the smells, sounds, and sights the forest provides you. Depending on the location you choose, the experience will be different.
For example, forest bathing in Hawaii will focus on the location of aromatic flowers and the smell of the salty ocean.
However, in Kenya, this practice might focus on the place’s endemic plants, wild orchids, and its unique population of elephants and other animals. Remember when you try forest bathing, acknowledge and embrace the different and unique smells of the space you choose!
When you are trying to connect with nature, try to pick up new hobbies or activities that allow you to spend more time outside. This could include bird watching, gardening, or hiking. If you’re stuck at your desk all day, add plants to your table or try to let in as much sunlight as possible.
However, if you work remotely or in a hybrid setting, check to see if you can move your work outdoors for a certain time during your work day.
Next time when you plan your activities and work tasks for the week take the time to add spending some time alone in nature. Go for a hike or find a sit spot like we suggested and reconnect with the world around you. Even better, plan a visit to High Park Nature Centre.
If you want to take it a step further, book a guided tour. We want to help you reconnect with nature again and help you have a healthier well-being.
