Lives Well Occupied: Talking Nature with Bronwyn Paynter, Nature OT from Australia
This week’s interview took us to Australia to talk about noticing nature. You’ll find the audio link below after the text of the introduction. The introduction is about 2 minutes long, transcript can be found below.
(0.00) Today’s guest provided us the unique opportunity to start and end the day at the same time (well, we in Minnesota were starting our day, while Bronwyn was ending her day in Australia-- and we are nearing late summer while Australia is deep in winter-- explain that to a 8 year old and watch their interest in learning more about differences around the world register on their face as their eyes get huge and the questions roll out)
Bronwyn Paynter is an occupational therapist in Adelaide, Australia. Today she shares her own nature story- one that begins with connection and belonging-- so woven into her childhood and family routine and goes adrift as she manages the shifting roles and responsibilities of adulthood while navigating the unexpected.
Bronwyn has since reconnected to nature, with deep gratitude-- introducing her nature story by saying, “Nature saved me.” In the international occupational therapy community, she is known as the Nature OT. She is passionate about permaculture principles and connecting occupational therapy practitioners around the world to incorporate nature into their practice or start their own practices-- at this time she has worked with occupational therapy practitioners in 36 countries.
Bronwyn shares with us her personal journey of reconnecting with nature, and how research supports why our connection to nature is so critical to our well-being and the well being of all those around us. Whether you’re a nature lover or feeling adrift from nature yourself, you will find plenty of things to consider about why reconnecting with nature is well worth your time.
And now, we’ll hear more from Bronwyn.
1:00: 46 seconds
Occupational Therapy Recap
For all of us:
If I were to sum up this conversation in four words for all of us, what I hear is: Notice nature and live reconnected.
Nature has an abundance of benefits and healing properties / as Bronwyn would say, nature is magic. Nature is always around us, never leaving, yet as we hear in Bronwyn’s story, sometimes our ways of living result in us feeling disconnected.
Bronwyn shares about her experience of feeling the need to fit so much in should her life be shorter than expected after being diagnosed with cancer over 20 years ago. She recognizes this sense led to feeling anxious, busy, and working hard to secure her family’s financial future.
Well intended, her work morphs into workaholism until another unexpected event inserted a pause to make other choices. This pause led to studying permaculture and a 10 day forest bathing experience and that is where she realizes she’s been living disconnected from nature as she recognizes how still and calm her mind and body feel in the forest. By initiating this different experience-- she has the opportunity to notice what feeling better feels like and that shaped her way of life to what we see today.
We are reminded there are so many ways to incorporate and notice nature in our everyday lives (be more intentional, in big and small ways) -- and, if you have one key goal after listening, noticing nature is a worthy goal.
Noticing our daily rhythms- making it a habit to connect with nature whether oneself, outside, or with other beings is part of community and is not limited to just people. For example, who lives around us? Notice the plants, notice the trees, the bodies of water, the animals and birds, the elements of nature like the earth, the wind, the sky, etc.
We hear about the evidence, empirical research, our own noticing, and as multiple cultural and lived experiences have long known and supports this wisdom that nature is not only a nice to have-- it is key to our well-being.
What we’ve heard over the past two interviews may be prompting us to notice and wonder if time with nature may be a key missing ingredient in the rhythm and routine of our days.
It may prompt us to wonder-- how have we gone so adrift? What makes reconnection possible? Who makes connecting with nature central to living and how might we learn from them? What are other ways of knowing by various cultures and other lived experiences that help us better understand the impact of nature on us and our impact on nature as well. As Bronwyn reminds us-- we are nature.
We hope this helps us reflect on what is possible, how important nature is as a context to how we live as humans and to notice how time in nature resets and refuels us. What are our opportunities to enjoy occupations in nature together as groups and communities? How might reconnecting to nature help all of us?
For Occupational Therapy Practitioners or other Healthcare Professionals
If you are an occupational therapist or other health care professional, there are several highlights to consider.
With what we know about the evidence of the benefits of nature, it is clear that considering nature as part of someone’s environment and context is essential. We are reminded it is important to know what someone’s access to nature is, how nature calms individuals and groups with its multi-sensory input possibilities, the impact of awe and wonder, just to name a few.
We hear numerous health outcomes from nature include: how it resets executive functioning, including our fight/flight/freeze responses, we notice the many ways nature increases mental functions (i.e. concentration/productivity, memory), we hear how it reduces anxiety and depression, and increases our awareness of what and to whom we are connected.
Occupational participation and performance skills benefit from nature and include: increases in spiritual participation, social participation, and the effect on motor and process skills. Process skills such as organizing space/time, how someone notices/responds, restores and/or accommodates (i.e. prevents future harm, leave no trace), empathy (i.e. your actions and choices can affect the environment in good and bad ways), initiating (not waiting until you feel the motivation to do something but doing it because you know you’ll feel better afterward)
Nature can be graded to allow the just right challenge for each person or group
Elements of nature can be included for all occupations and interventions *consider enfolding
Nature facilitates engagement of all sensory functions
Nature can be considered for all OT assessments. In fact, the many benefits of nature on human function and well-being suggest if you are not already assessing access to nature, barriers, and factors affecting how someone may connect with nature-- it would be well worth including as a standard of an assessment process. Particularly while living during a global pandemic, assisting individuals to figure out what is possible to reset our nervous systems is a goal every community member could benefit from. This calming effect helps us not only as individuals but as a society as we recognize co-regulation is always happening.
In addition, intentionally partnering with nature for burnout prevention as health care professionals for these same reasons and to acknowledge how co-regulation occurs, offers us abundant and low to no cost opportunities to reconnect with nature, the whole, and ourselves.
In closing,
For anyone working in health care, we know this is a particularly challenging time in our careers and world. We appreciate you and notice your commitment to your communities. Time and time again, we are called to answer the question, “What is possible now?”
If you haven’t had the chance to reconnect with nature yet today-- consider this your invitation. We hope you find this conversation valuable and perhaps even a chance to reset our relationship with nature.
Thanks for listening and being partners on the journey
To a life well occupied.
Want to learn more about Bronwyn? Find her at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NatureOTs/
NOTE: For more references on the benefits of nature, check out the previous blog posts below:
https://solidagovc.com/blog/looking-for-a-great-roi
