During such stressful times, we all need a healthy outlet to alleviate stress. One of the very best remedies for these hard times is often overlooked: our natural greenspaces. From a simple outdoor walk to more organized activities, our natural surroundings are perfect for helping to calm nerves, clear your head, and achieve a sense of peace.

The Mental Health Foundation wrote an evaluation of mental health for 2021, speaking on mental health awareness and how to use nature for your benefit. They described how a little bit of nature in our lives can improve our happiness and overall well-being. Whether your form of connection with nature is a forest, a walk in a park, canoeing on a river, or even just sitting in your backyard—all can play a role in improving your mental health. Those who live in areas with less access to nature can bring nature into their homes with house plants, creating a calmer, meditative space.

“There are ways that we can develop our connectedness with nature,” the report reads. “Activities that involve the senses can help to develop our connection with the natural world, as can activities where we feel emotions such as compassion, perceive beauty or find meaning in nature.”

According to an article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, green spaces help cognitive development in all ages. Green spaces near schools and workplaces have been shown to help people’s attention span, overall brain function, and memory. With stress reduction connected to attention span, being in nature decreases stress and helps you focus more. Not only that, the connection to nature changes our whole state of mind and how our body reacts helping our happiness, mental health, and overall well-being.

Living in a world that is constantly evolving and changing is stressful, even more so during a global pandemic. It is important to protect your mind and have healthy habits to improve your mental health. The Mental Health Foundation suggests you use as many senses as possible in nature, such as smelling flowers, listening to birds, or walking in the grass. Even if you can’t go outside, it has been shown that nature documentaries can have a positive benefit.

According to an article in the Annals of Leisure Research, “Contact with nature generates an increase in positive emotions and feelings of vitality and a decrease in negative emotions; it also provides relief from mental tiredness and an improvement in our attention span”

Here in town, we have many ways to utilize nature as a form of escapism. The Town of Manchester provides a detailed Trail Guide, where you can use the maps to see in full view the multitude of hiking and walking trails throughout the town.

The Trail Guide also provides safety tips and guidelines for each trail in order to keep the trails clean and accessible for all. Each trail provides trail stats for each area which includes the length, difficulty, hours, and surfaces you should expect so you know how to properly dress for your hike, walk, or bike ride. Each trail also includes a “highlight” of the trail, telling you something fun to enjoy at the park or trail. If you can’t make it to a park, walking around your neighborhood is another great way to go.

“Choosing to hike your neighborhood (urban-style) is another safe alternative to getting your daily dose of exercise, sun, and fresh air, besides it helps to more broadly space our community during this time of distancing and take some pressure off our larger parks and trail systems more notably now that Spring and Summer are just around the corner,” according to the Recreation Division.

Manchester is also home to a variety of family-friendly parks, including Charter Oak Park, Northwest Park, Center Memorial Park, and many more. For further information on each location and to view available programming, please visit the Recreation Division’s website.

For other forms of green spaces, the Jay Howyrod Fitness Trail has recently been installed and includes an 8 piece workout circuit, which sits at the waterfront of Union Pond.

Outside of parks managed by the Town of Manchester, Wickham Park is a getaway filled with biodiversity that increases important wildlife in our community, while also creating a space for people to relax. Wickham Park has 280 acres of land filled with wildlife and many different species of plants.

All of these different varieties of plants and spaces provide for the needs of essential creatures like bees and other wildlife. Not only that but all these different plants and trees help filter the air in our town, helping with air quality.

For at-home activities, creating your own garden or planting at home can be a healthy habit to help with mental health and bring some light into your neighborhood. Some benefits of gardening are the fresh food it provides, the calming effect of the activity, and the contributions to biodiversity for the health of the animals in our town.

Plenty of other resources exists to teach you how to garden at home, such as Monthly Gardening Tips, CT Vegetable Planting Calendar, and Connecticut Gardener. Feel free to visit all these different parks and see the beauty they have to offer, as well as possibly create your own getaway at home!