How to stay positive and enjoy nature during the pandemic

Many countries, including Germany where I live, are in the middle of more or less strict lockdown restrictions at the moment. We’re also in the middle of winter, which doesn’t make this whole situation easier. I’ve heard of a lot of people who are beginning to feel burned out, or are in the middle of it (myself included), so looking after your mental health and finding good ways to cope with the pandemic is still really important.

I always remind myself that nature really does help even if things seem very tough and bleak, it improves your mental health spending time with or in nature, and no matter where you live, nature is everywhere around us and can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

I’ve collected a few ideas how you can engage with nature, learn more about it, and even enjoy wildlife during this hard winter. In a lot of places we have restrictions right now, so please also follow the latest advice of your government regarding the pandemic.

Here’s a video version of this post in which I do a bit of bird sketching while I talk:

How to stay positive and enjoy nature during the pandemic

Some ideas to enjoy nature this winter:

• Bird watching: Winter is a great time for birding, either from your window or in the nearest park. There are plenty of species to discover, sometimes in winter there will be different migratory species around that you can learn a lot about. I notice that when I observe birds I immediately forget about the world around me. Birds can come very close if you sit still, and you get a glimpse into the wild life of an animal that way which I find fascinating.
• Taking long walks: if permitted in your area right now, this is a great way to be in nature, be active, get some light and also rest the eyes on the horizon for a while. I have to get back into a regular walking routine myself, it really makes a difference. We can’t really do a lot of hiking right now (and everything is snowed in), but if you can, try it out!
• Learning: reading up on different topics or watching nature documentaries can keep you busy for a long time. There are so many cool things you can learn about nature. Even just reading reference books can be really interesting, and of course there are great books by naturalists and scientists out there. Some of my favorites include the books by Bernd Heinrich, Sy Montgomery, any documentary featuring David Attenborough and whatever Peter Berthold (a well-known German ornithologist) puts out. Or if you’re into art and science, check out the sketchbooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Many great explorers kept field notes when they traveled around the world to find and describe new species, and often these are beautiful works of art, too.
• Wildlife webcams, online talks, podcasts. There are many awesome webcams with animals from all around the world (here’s a wonderful list).
  Many museums and scientists are offering interesting new formats that are happening online, like Nature Live Online at the Natural History Museum, there are also interesting Youtube episodes by Linnean Society or The Urban Birder.
  And there are great podcasts out there. One of my favorite podcasts about nature is the Journaling With Nature podcast by my friend Bethan Burton. She does amazing interviews with all kinds of interesting guests who are all nature journaling nerds themselves. Another gem for birders is the Golden Grenades podcast by YoloBirder.
• Gardening: for many plants, the new season has already started. I’m currently deciding on which chili peppers I want to grow this year, and I’m preparing the seeds. If you’re starting this early, you’ll need additional light and a heat source, but from late February/early March on you can grow plants with natural light on your window sill.
• Nature Journaling + Sketching: As most of you know, this is one of my favorite activities, because of the way that learning new stuff about nature can be combined with drawing. Simply start by observing any part of nature that interests you, make small drawings and take notes. If you’re new to nature sketching, read here why and how to get started. You can basically combine all of the things above with keeping a nature journal, and documenting all of your activities, encounters, or findings in a sketchbook or notebook (if you prefer written notes, that’s totally fine!).
• For drowning out noise that you don’t want to hear or if you need to concentrate in a noisy environment (like a home office) there are noise generators that create nature noises like rain, thunder, or wind. You can transport yourself to the soundscape of a primeval forest or to a warm summer night. I particularly like mynoise.net and I use it as a background noise for drawing or writing.
• Reading creative blogs, taking classes: this is more indirectly connected to nature, but I like to read up on what other artists are doing right now, this always gives me energy and fresh ideas to try out. Many artists (myself included) also have creative online classes or tutorials, where you can learn sketching techniques and go more in-depth and get even more input for spending your time creatively in nature. I regularly try to support my favorite artists, because I know how important it is to have access to art during hard times, and how difficult the situation is for many creatives. We all need culture and arts and entertainment. So if seeing the art of a certain artist makes you happy, support them! If by any chance you want to take a peek at my nature sketching classes, you can find them all on my website. I’m deeply thankful for any support from each of you, and I try to honor it by making more posts and classes about the thing you and I love most: nature.

These are my ideas for trying to stay positive and enjoying nature during the pandemic or even during a stricter lockdown. This is continuing to be very hard on all of us, and I’m collecting these ideas for myself as much as for anyone out there. Birdwatching always lifts my mood, as does cloud gazing, and sketching birds and nature journaling helps me to collect my thoughts. Nature can give so much, and it’s all free and out there for us if we take care of it.

If you have additional ideas and sources, please add them in the comments! I’m always happy to hear what you find helpful, and it makes the post more valuable to other readers. 🙂