Let nature boost your team's creativity and performance
"If this is the future of work, I thought,
sign me up.”
Emma Jacobs from the FT describing her experience with Wonderwoods
There are now a plethora of studies that show time spent in nature has a positive effect on attention span and well-being. Companies that harness its power can create a resilient and productive workforce for the long term. We've long understood the power of nature and it's now that businesses are waking up to the idea that nature can form part of their performance training as well as team away days and get togethers. As the boundaries become ever blurred between home and work, many workers say they feel quite desperate to disappear from the challenges and overwhelm they face on a day to day basis. During lockdown however, so many people have discovered the powerful and positive effects nature has on us. We create powerful opportunities for individuals and teams to connect in nature that act as an antidote to the kind of prolonged stress levels that are on the rise in the workplace.
"Forest bathing can significantly influence cortisol levels over the short term in such a way as to reduce stress"
- Antonelli, Barbieri and Donelli (2019)
"When social restrictions lifted, some organisations offered perks such as sensory deprivation tanks and retreats. Last summer, I escaped for a day to the Surrey Hills to one run by Justine Clement. The most popular workshops among employers were Breathwork, Forest Bathing, Journaling and Storytelling and Manifestation. My brain unfurled. If this is the future of work, I thought, sign me up.”
Emma Jacobs, FT 2022
We offer a number of options from half a day in the forest, to a full day and overnight options. Ideally we'd want you to give at least a day to the process and we'd include each of the four elements of earth (Forest Bathing), air (Conscious Connected Breathwork), water (wild swimming/cold water immersion) and fire (fire ceremony for release). When we work with nature's foundations and learn ancient methods of connecting to the elements, alchemy occurs on a deep and often profound level for participants. They return feeling rejuvenated, both individually and as a group, and say that their sense of connection, cohesion, and performance continued when they returned back to work. They also report a greater sense of clarity and expanded perspective which is invaluable in these complex and uncertain times.
"We joined Justine for a days restore, recharge and reimagine retreat in June. As a team we wanted to spend a day away from our laptops, emails and endless video conferences, a day away from the daily grind to recharge ourselves and slow down. The day definitely delivered on that, set in a beautiful location in Surrey, surrounded by nature from the moment we arrived. She introduced us to new ideas and ways to restore and recharge which took us out of our comfort zones sometimes but also reminded us of the things we take for granted everyday."
Helen Marriott, HR Director of B Corp Danone UK
Environmental psychologists Stephen and Rachel Kaplan conducted a nine-year study for the US Forest Service and discovered that connection with nature can help alleviate mental fatigue and improve the brain’s ability to process information. Their findings led to their “Attention Restoration Theory,” which suggests that the capacity of the brain to focus on a specific stimulus or task is limited and results in directed-attention fatigue.
They discovered that the best remedy for this is a practice they called soft fascination, where wew experience a sense of awe and wonder that creates the space for reflection and introspection. The Kaplans found that being in nature encourages less active brain function, allowing people to replenish their directed-attention capacity. The mind can then focus on higher-order processes, detecting patterns and insights it might otherwise miss.
This is particularly relevant in today’s working environment, where our increasingly digital ways of operating require continuous directed attention. Yet our brains were not designed to deal with the multiple channels of communication that many feel bombarded by on a daily basis.
To find out more about how we can help bring vitality, creativity back to your team and in turn, boost their performance moving forward please contact Justine at justine@forestbathingmadeinbritain.com