MeditationI often recommend mindfulness meditation to clients, and I practise it myself, but I’ll be honest: doing it regularly is hard. Life gets busy, routines slip, and it’s very easy to tell ourselves we’ll come back to it “when things are calmer”. In truth, that’s usually an excuse — especially when mindfulness can be most helpful precisely when life feels busy or uncomfortable.Mindfulness-based stress reduction is proven to result in moderate improvements in anxiety and mood, as well as greater emotional regulation. Neurobiological research also links mindfulness practice to reduced threat reactivity and improved prefrontal regulation, supporting its use in stress and trauma-related work. It is also recommended for sufferers of OCD as a way of trying to disconnect from obsessions, something which I am keen to promote as a supporter of someone with OCD.I often come back to trying open‑eyed meditation on my public transport journeys into work. This was prompted by something I read that really stuck: mindful acceptance isn’t some special, separate state of being. It’s meant to be available in ordinary, everyday life. Practising only with eyes closed in a quiet room can accidentally turn mindfulness into another thing we think we need “the right conditions” for.So now I try and practise while the world carries on around me — eyes open, senses busy, mind wandering — and I try to meet it all with curiosity rather than resistance.

Ecology, spirituality and religionI come from a background in ecology. I’ve never followed any sort of religion and don’t believe in deities.However, I have been increasingly mindful of a need to put words to the sense of awe I feel when in natural spaces, particularly as a practising outdoor therapist. Part of this ‘itch’ to describe, has prompted reflections on whether ecology, spirituality and religion are on a continuum.From the reading I have done around ecopsychology, I find myself balancing two perspectives as descriptors of my situation. On one hand, there is Naturalistic Pantheism—a deep, rational awe for the scale of evolutionary logic and the laws of physics. On the other, there is Animism. My understanding is that while Pantheism views the "Divine" as the whole system, Animism is a more spiritually weighted step; it attributes a sense of "personhood" or agency to individual organisms. It’s the difference between admiring the forest's nitrogen cycle and feeling a direct, mutual relationship with a single, ancient Hawthorn. I have found myself shuttling backwards and forwards between these two positions, and I think I am comfortable doing so.Ultimately, this isn't about "spirits." It's about recognizing our biological interdependence. When we stop viewing ourselves as isolated observers (a position which I believe comes from a western capitalist/consumerist standpoint), we begin to develop a sense of what is known as our ‘ecological self’. The ecological self (a phrase first coined by Arne Næss in the 1970s) is the part of our identity that isn't contained by our skin, but is defined by our place within the wider web of life. Integrating this perspective into therapy isn't mystical; it’s a recognition of a reality where human health is inseparable from the health of the land we inhabit alongside all other things.But does a belief that wanders into the realms of spirituality mean that the step beyond that is ‘religion’ and organised religion, at that?

Public safety is an environmental issue.A significant factor that defines a person's relationship with their environment is the perceived safety of the spaces they inhabit. While the outdoors is often framed as a place of liberty, lived experiences of public space create a significant divide in how people interact with nature. By examining the disparity between perceived risk and statistical reality, we can better understand how the erosion of public safety for those that read as women in particular, ultimately threatens our collective environmental future.As a counsellor and environmentalist who promotes the significant value of being outside, it was only recently when someone interacting with a social media post of mine politely stated that they would never do therapy outside with a male counsellor, that I decided to explore the difference between the perception and reality of how safe outdoor spaces are.The Paradox of Perception and Reality
Combined data for 2020 and 2025 indicates that 8% of reported rapes of women and girls (and 13% of those offences on men and boys) occurred in public spaces or car parks (ONS, 2025a). Furthermore, when looking at broader violent crimes, only 28% of offenses against women occur outdoors; the number rises to 50% for men (ONS, 2025b).However, "safety" is not merely the absence of violent crime. When the lens widens to consider harassment, the picture darkens: 75% of women in London have experienced public harassment (ActionAid, 2016), a figure that, when considering the whole UK perspective, climbs to a staggering 97% among women aged 18–24 (UN Women UK, 2021). This epidemic of public harassment of women creates a hostile environment that validates women's fears, regardless of where the most serious violent crimes are statistically likely to occur.It is no surprise therefore that there is a profound gender gap in the perception of outdoor safety. According to 2022 ONS data, 16% of women feel unsafe in parks or open spaces during the day—more than triple the 5% reported by men. These areas, characterized by lower footfall than residential or commercial streets, are often viewed through a lens of vulnerability. As Barker et al. (2022) note, this isn't a nebulous fear; it is rooted firmly in "sexist attitudes and gendered violence" that define the female experience of public land.The Environmental Cost of Disconnection
This barrier to entry risks negative consequences for the planet. Research by Soga & Gaston (2016) and Whitburn et al. (2020) suggests that as urban living and digital saturation reduce our daily contact with nature, our "nature relatedness"—the emotional bond we feel with the living world—withers. When safety concerns restrict access to parks and commons, the environment ceases to be a tangible sanctuary and becomes a remote and almost abstract concept.The stakes are highest for the next generation. Studies by Rosa et al. (2018) and Evans et al. (2018) highlight that childhood exposure is the strongest predictor of adult environmentalism. Without the freedom of "wild" play, children develop a lower emotional affinity for nature that classroom learning simply cannot replace (Otto & Pensini, 2017). Effectively, if we do not feel safe enough to physically interact with the outdoors, we lose the internal compass that drives us to protect it.Conclusion: A Crisis of Preparedness
As of 2026, the UK’s preparations for climate change remain critically inadequate (CCC, 2026). We find ourselves in a race against time where environmental advocacy is more vital than ever, yet a significant portion of the population is being culturally and psychologically "locked out" of the natural world due to systemic safety concerns. To foster a society capable of meeting the climate crisis, we must recognize that public safety is an environmental issue. We cannot expect a population to fight for a natural world they have been conditioned to fear or avoid. Securing our parks and streets from gendered violence is not just a matter of social justice—it is a prerequisite for building the emotional resilience and "nature relatedness" required to survive and thrive in an era of ecological uncertainty.So what do we do? Men need to support the work of the likes of Any Watson at HASSL and show up and challenge when witness to harassment of women, to undo its normalisation. Landscape Architects should listen to organisations like Make Space for Girls which works for parks and public spaces that make girls feel valued, included and ultimately willing to use them because they feel safe. Telling women and girls what to do to try and keep safe is victim blaming and shamefully ignoring where the real efforts should be put.

References
ActionAid (2016) Fearless: Women’s shared experiences of street harassment and violence. London: ActionAid UK. Available at: https://www.actionaid.org.uk/publications/fearless-womens-shared-experiences-of-street-harassment-and-violence (Accessed: 16 March 2026).Barker, A. Holmes, G. Alam, R. Cape-Davenhill, L. Osei-Appiah, S. and Warrington Brown, S. (2022) What Makes a Park Feel Safe or Unsafe? The views of women, girls and professionals in West Yorkshire. University of Leeds, Leeds. DOI: 10.48785/100/108Climate Change Committee (2025) Progress in adapting to climate change: 2025 report to Parliament. London: Climate Change Committee. Available at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/progress-in-adapting-to-climate-change-2025/ (Accessed: 16 March 2026).Evans, G.W., Otto, S. and Kaiser, F.G. (2018) ‘Childhood Origins of Young Adult Environmental Behavior’, Psychological Science, 29(5), pp. 679–687. doi: 10.1177/0956797617741894.Office for National Statistics. 2022. Perceptions of personal safety and experiences of harassment, Great Britain: 16 February to 13 March 2022. Available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/perceptionsofpersonalsafetyandexperiencesofharassmentgreatbritain/16februaryto13march2022Office for National Statistics (2025a), Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales: year ending March 2025. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/natureofsexualassaultbyrapeorpenetrationenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2025 (Accessed: 16 March 2026)Office for National Statistics (2025b) Nature of crime: violence. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/natureofcrimetablesviolence (Accessed: 16 March 2026)Otto, S. and Pensini, P. (2017) ‘Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature, together, predict pro-environmental behavior’, Global Environmental Change, 43, pp. 88–94. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.01.009.Rosa, C.D., Profice, C.C. and Collado, S. (2018) ‘Nature Experiences and Adults’ Self-Reported Pro-environmental Behaviors: The Role of Connectedness to Nature and Childhood Nature Experiences’, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, p. 1055. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01055.Soga, M. and Gaston, K.J. (2016) ‘Extinction of experience: the loss of human–nature interactions’, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14(2), pp. 94–101. doi: 10.1002/fee.1225.UN Women UK (2021) Prevalence and reporting of sexual harassment in UK public spaces. London: UN Women UK. Available at: https://www.unwomenuk.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/APPG-UN-WomenSexual-Harassment-Report2021.pdf (Accessed: 16 March 2026).Whitburn, J., Linklater, W.L. and Abrahamse, W. (2020) ‘Meta‐analysis of human connection to nature and pro‐environmental behavior’, Conservation Biology, 34(1), pp. 180–193. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13381.

Bird song & natural soundscapesSome papers on the wellbeing benefits of natural soundscapes, of various kinds:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36229489/
https://www.proquest.com/openview/7a8c1db681a200e18563fc94caca1ffe/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=51922
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7459586/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866721002806
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969724011914https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370744824BirdSoundsPsychologicalRestorativeEffectonTheVisitorsofBogorBotanicalGarden -During a recent woodland meditation, I found myself paying particular attention to birdsong. This wasn’t accidental. A few days earlier I’d been part of a social media exchange about the wellbeing benefits of listening to birds.
What struck me most was the sheer richness and diversity of sound. Some songs were bright and melodic, others rhythmic and insistent, others so subtle they were almost a memory of sound. Together they formed a layered, living soundscape that felt both calming and quietly energising.A quick internet search turned into a deep dive into a rabbit hole around the science of birdsong and wellbeing. One study caught my eye: bird sounds associated with positive scenarios are perceived as more restorative than those linked to negative ones. Apparently crows have a bad rap — their calls are often rated as less soothing, possibly thanks to cultural associations & experience rather than the sound itself.