Get Into Nature For Teacher Stress Relief

If you're an entrepreneur teacher, you already know that teacher stress is at an all-time high. Unprecedented stress levels and low pay are causing teachers to leave teaching and explore entrepreneurship. If you have a teacher business, the stress of being an entrepreneur will also impact you. Utilizing practical stress relief tools are critical.

Luckily, one of the best teacher stress relief tools is located right outside your front door. It's nature. 

Hundreds of scientific studies validate nature therapy's positive impacts on stress, mental health, and nervous system regulation. And researchers have studied nature's beneficial effects on conditions like ADHD, pain, mood, anxiety, and depression.

In this article, I'll outline easy ways for you to get your nature Rx. These include caring for indoor plants, gardening, guided meditation at the park, and more. I'll also talk about the roles of positive movement and mindfulness, the stress cycle, and easy ways to make time for personal nature therapy. 

While making time when you're already stressed can feel challenging, the therapeutic benefits are worth it.

What is Nature Therapy?

Nature therapy is the use of nature to increase well-being. While "nature therapy" can refer to clinical nature therapy programs, it can also refer to anyone taking a much-needed nature recharge. It's also called ecotherapy, green therapy, and even horticulture therapy. Regardless of what you choose to call it, nature therapy always involves getting out into nature and appreciating it in some way.  

The Role of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an often overused word, but its meaning is simple and accessible. In the context of nature therapy, it can refer to enhanced awareness of the natural environment. One of the best ways to do this is through the senses.  

One of my favorite ways to get out of my head and into my senses is the "3 Things" exercise. Try doing this in a natural environment that brings you a sense of calm or peace. The practice only takes a minute or so, and you can do it during other activities.

Easy and Quick Mindfulness Exercise 

Take a few deep, even breaths. Then, look around and identify the following:

• 3 things you're seeing
• 3 things you're hearing
• 3 things you're smelling
• 3 things you're physically feeling (the wind on your skin, for example)
• 3 things you're tasting (*you could skip this if it's not applicable)

Connecting Teacher Stress to the Stress Cycle

Now that we've discussed mindfulness, let's discuss the "stress cycle." This cycle is well-documented across various disciplines and refers to how your physiological system reacts when it encounters a stressful stimulus or event. The brain categorizes the stimuli as an actual or potential threat and triggers a nervous system response. These responses are often called "flight, fight, freeze, or fawn." The stress cycle completes when you become aware of your response (whether you're in fight/flight/freeze/fawn) and have allowed your system to process it fully.  

Nature can help with both of these things. It can give you the space to become more aware of your body and emotions. It will also help soothe your system and ground you.

The Role of Positive Movement in Teacher Stress Relief

Teacher businesses often involve sitting too much, which is really bad for your mind and body. Some have even called sitting the "new smoking." One of the most significant benefits of nature therapy is that it invites gentle, approachable movement, which diffuses stress and helps re-regulate your system. While some forms of nature therapy can be done in stillness, others are movement-based.

Choose whichever one most calls to you on a given day. 

8 Nature Therapy Ideas for Entrepreneur Teachers

• Take a walk: Taking a walk is one of the most popular forms of nature therapy. We all know what it's like to feel unsettled or upset and need a walk. When we return, we often feel better or more emotionally regulated. To engage mindfulness, you could play the "3 things" game to allow nature to draw you further out of your mental chatter. 
• Meditate outside: There are so many forms of meditation these days that there's a type for everyone. Nature provides an opportunity to do many of them. You can rest in a beautiful place and do a sitting or breathing meditation. You could also use your headphones or earbuds and do a guided meditation. Finally, you can simply take in and reflect on the beauty that surrounds you.
• Garden: Gardening invites gentle activity and positive movement. You also get fresh air and the feeling of creating something beautiful and productive. You can grow beautiful flowers to cut and arrange on a hard day, fresh oregano for dinner, or enough tomatoes to share.
• Yard work: Even if you don’t love yard work, I'm sure you can think of a few chores that uplift you. What about raking fall leaves on a beautiful October afternoon? Or, planting a beautiful hedge to look at or smell every time you pass? Anything that positively engages and helps ground you is beneficial.
• Visit a favorite park: There are so many beautiful parks that almost all of us have at least one we love to visit. Going to a park is enough stress relief on its own, but if you feel like it, try adding some mindfulness, meditation, or a good animal-watching session. 
• Watch animal life: No matter how old we are, most of us enjoy watching animal life. Their antics, personalities, and behaviors provide an enjoyable and relaxing de-stress session and give us a fresh perspective on life. In addition, many animals are beautiful and invite us to feel interconnection.
• Water your plants: Nature therapy also encompasses indoor gardening. Not only do plants cleanse and detoxify your air, but they add natural stress relief. Watering plants only takes a few moments, and they can be a helpful reminder to connect with nature. 
• Reflect on the beauty of nature: Nature is one of the few things that can inspire awe and wonder in nearly anyone. This feeling of being part of a greater whole or immersed in beauty helps heal the body and mind. You deserve to sit in the radiance of nature every single day. 

Wrap it Up

What about you? How do you prefer to handle teacher stress? What's your favorite form of nature therapy as an entrepreneur teacher, and how can you bring more of it to your daily life?

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Get the teacher stress relief infographic "Getting Into Nature" as a free bonus when you sign up for the Teacher Life Balance Membership. The membership offers business efficiency tips, stress-management ideas, and additional support from a teacherpreneur community every month. Doors open in April 2023!