Think about connecting with nature and how it can improve our mental health

Dame Julie Walters

Editor,

Mental Health Awareness Week is taking place from Monday (May 10), and I am writing to encourage your readers to take part and get involved.

This Mental Health Awareness Week we are inviting everyone to #ConnectWithNature to support their mental health.

Spending quality time in and around nature can help reduce stress and help increase feelings of positivity, and you don’t have to be surrounded by fields or have to take a walk in the wilderness to feel the benefits.

Try to stop and appreciate those little bits of nature around you that you may not have noticed before – a houseplant, the flowers in a neighbour’s window, or the sound of birdsong.

The Mental Health Foundation, which works to prevent mental health problems and has organised this awareness week for the past 21 years, encourage you to recognise and grow your connection with nature by sharing a photo, video or sound recording with your family and friends, and on your social media.

Connecting with nature can really make a difference to your mental health, and now more than ever, it is time to look after yours.

Julie Walters

Actor

The views expressed are those of the author of the letter and not those of Oldham Chronicle.