😀 High Life Highland Wellness Month Blog
By High Life Highland Senior Countryside Rangers, Eilidh-Ann Phillips and Andy Summers
With High Life Highland’s Wellness Month underway, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the profound connection between nature and wellbeing — and to discover the ways your Countryside Rangers can help make that connection possible.
The Healing Touch of Nature: Nature is more than just a scenic backdrop — it’s a powerful source of healing. As highlighted in this article: The Healing Touch of Nature. Here at the High Life Highland Countryside Ranger Service, we know only too well that spending time outdoors can reduce stress, improve sleep, and enhance cognitive function. Even passive exposure, like gazing out a window can lower cortisol levels and promote emotional balance. You don’t need to be an expert – you don’t need to be able to identify every bird song and every plant; you don’t even need to be into long walks and trekking for miles over hill and bog. Even ten minutes spent outdoors can make a difference.
From the gentle rustle of leaves and the breeze on your face, nature engages our senses in restorative ways. If you stop and engage a while you will start to notice things you didn’t see a minute ago. Maybe a blackbird raking methodically the leaves under the bush, a tiny yellow mushroom on the log, the vibrant colours on a leaf or the scent of a nearby flower. Nature offers a space for reflection, mindfulness, and connection —especially vital for both children and adults who can benefit from its calming presence and continuity.
Volunteers at the Heart of Green Wellbeing: Volunteering is the perfect way to ‘Make Life Better’ and give something back to the world around us. When the world seems to be falling apart it is so easy to be overwhelmed by the enormity of it all, if you can do something positive, however small, it can make such a difference to your own sense of wellness.
From footpath restoration, tree planting, counting butterflies, digging up invasive species, sowing wildflower seeds, helping at our pollinator counts, making bird nest boxes, or making places for hedgehogs to hibernate, the High Life Highland Countryside Ranger Service offers a range of opportunities for volunteers to conserve and support wildlife. We need your help. You don’t need to be an expert, a super fit, muscle man – we just need to you to care.
Volunteering isn’t just about giving back — it’s also about growing as a person, connecting with the world around you and other like-minded people. It is about thriving while spending time connecting with nature.
Wellness Month: This September, Wellness Month will spotlight the many ways we can nurture our physical, social and mental health. Nature will play a central role, with activities and events designed to encourage outdoor engagement, mindfulness, and community connection. Whether it’s a walk in the woods, a moment in the garden, or a shared conversation on a scenic path, nature offers a timeless remedy — and it’s accessible to all.
Get Involved: Feeling inspired? We can help you to engage and connect with nature in many different ways, from gentle indoor nature crafting, a short walk exploring the nature on your doorstep, a delve into the rockpools on the shoreline, or a climb up a mountain for those with the energy and time to take this on.
You can find a list of our events on our website: Upcoming Events – High Life Highland Rangers. Please do join us as we explore the world around us, because sometimes, the best medicine isn’t found in a bottle — it’s found under the open sky.
