Investing in your wellbeing

Now more than ever, it is a time when many are investing into nurturing all aspects of their wellbeing, whether that be physical, emotional or financial.

With spring just around the corner and whilst we have all been asked to adhere to the governments ‘stay at home’ guidance for a little while longer, we thought we’d share with you some ideas to help boost your holistic wellbeing.

You may remember that in a recent edition of ‘Stay in Touch’, we shared with you news of our partnership with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, in our ongoing commitment to supporting stronger environmental protection, wellbeing and the improvement of public spaces for the benefit of local communities.

Our friends there have been busy promoting ways in which you can get closer to nature, from how to build a nesting box for birds in support of national nestbox week, to how you can get involved with your own outdoor space. These initiatives not only benefit local wildlife and the environment, but they can boost your own wellbeing too.

It is widely acknowledged that exposure to nature can have a positive impact on our physical and mental state. From prompting weight loss and improving memory, to reducing stress; the benefits are plentiful.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust recently undertook a study*, which highlighted a positive side of our shared lockdown experience last year. People spent more time outdoors, explored new greenspaces and noticed more wildlife than ever before, with encouraging results. Some of the key findings included:

• 62% of people had spent more time outdoors during lockdown with 50% discovering a new greenspace.
• The most popular places to experience the outdoors were private gardens, with 92% of participants having spent more time in theirs, followed by the wider countryside, parks and nature reserves.
• An overwhelming majority believed that time spent outdoors had been a comfort during the challenging lockdown period and almost a third (33%) stated that their mental health had improved as a result of time spent outdoors.
• Over 40% of people, especially younger respondents stated that they had seen more or different wildlife over the period.   

Whilst a return to some sort of ‘normality’ seems to be on the horizon, hopefully we can all continue to benefit from exploring local green spaces and increasing our exposure to nature in the future.

There are so many ways in which we can do this, whether exercising outdoors, growing plants or food in our gardens, caring for animals, stargazing or birdwatching from the comfort of our armchairs, there is something to suit everyone.

By supporting a charity which works towards the protection of nature, or which helps make our green spaces more accessible, the benefits are multi-fold, both for ourselves, others and the environment.

The Wildlife Trusts have some great resources on their website about the positive impact of nature on our wellbeing and ideas of how you can connect with your local wild spaces, or simply help wildlife at home.

Please also remember, in these challenging times especially, that your financial adviser is always on hand to offer reassurance and advice with regards to your financial plans and wellbeing. They are only ever a phone call or email away.

*Full survey results can be found here.