What Is Your Relationship With Nature?

Yesterday, during my Forest Therapy Practitioner training, we were asked a question that I'm still reflecting on:

What is your relationship with nature?

Laura in the garden, aged 3

At first, I thought it was an easy question to answer. I spend time outdoors most days. I walk the dog. I enjoy being in the countryside. I notice the difference in myself when I've spent time outside.

But the more I sat with the question, the more I realised that asking about a relationship is very different from asking whether you like something.

Relationships have a history. They change over time. They ebb and flow depending on what else is happening in our lives.

The question prompted us to think about our earliest memories of nature, and I found myself wondering what those early experiences tell us about the way we relate to the natural world today.

For many of us, childhood and nature were closely intertwined. We spent hours outdoors without really thinking about it. Woods, parks, gardens, streams and beaches were places to explore rather than destinations chosen for their wellbeing benefits. We climbed trees, built dens, collected treasures and came home muddy. Time outside wasn't something we scheduled; it was simply where life happened.

As adults, our relationship with nature often becomes more distant and more deliberate.

Many of us spend our days moving between homes, cars and workplaces. Even those of us who work remotely can find ourselves spending long stretches of time indoors, moving from one screen to another. We know that being outside is good for us, yet it can become something we fit around everything else, squeezed into the gaps between responsibilities.

Reflecting on this made me realise that my own relationship with nature has changed significantly over the years.

As a child, I experienced nature with curiosity and freedom. Today, I value it for different reasons. Time outdoors gives me space to think, particularly when life feels busy or complicated. Some of my clearest ideas arrive when I'm walking. Problems that seem overwhelming at my desk often become more manageable when I'm moving through a landscape rather than staring at a screen.

What struck me most, though, was the idea of nature as a relationship rather than a resource.

We often talk about nature in terms of what it can do for us. We discuss stress reduction, mental wellbeing, physical health and cognitive benefits. Those things matter, and there is a growing body of evidence to support them. Yet framing nature solely in terms of its usefulness feels a little one-sided.

Relationships are rarely sustained because of what one party provides for the other. They are built through attention, familiarity and connection.

When we think about our relationship with nature in that way, different questions begin to emerge. How often do we notice it? How much time do we spend with it? How connected do we feel to the places around us? What have we gained from those experiences, and what might we have lost through disconnection?

These are questions I don't yet have answers to. In many ways, my Forest Therapy training is inviting me to stay curious rather than rush towards conclusions.

So I'll leave you with the same question we were asked yesterday.

What is your relationship with nature?

When you think back to your earliest memories, what comes to mind?

And how would you describe that relationship today?

I'd love to hear your reflections.