Ecotherapy in Exeter

12/12/2025

Should kids be banned from social media?

Australia just banned under-16s from social platforms. After watching the BBC 'Moral Maze debate' , I'm wondering if we're missing something bigger.

The harm is real - overuse affects attention span, emotional regulation, and how we connect with others. A ban makes sense on the surface, but what if we could address the root cause?

I touch on this topic in my book "Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness":

"We all know that dopamine hit from social media - the one that keeps us scrolling. But here's the thing: you get the same neurological reward from engaging with the natural world. Would you rather chase likes or get your buzz from a walk in the park?"

What if nature connection could be part of the solution? The research is compelling:

**Mental resilience** - Regular time outdoors reduces stress and lifts mood, giving us a healthier baseline so we're less dependent on social media for emotional regulation.

**Cognitive reset** - Nature restores mental energy and helps us resist that automatic urge to check our phones when we're tired or stressed.

**Real connection** - Green spaces bring people together face-to-face, offering the genuine social bonds we're actually craving when we scroll endlessly.

**Better self-control** - Time in nature strengthens our ability to make intentional choices rather than impulsive ones.

The key insight: Since stress and negative emotions drive problematic social media use, nature directly tackles these underlying triggers.

This isn't just about mental health - it's a practical path to healthier digital habits.

Maybe the answer isn't just restricting access. Maybe it's also about reconnecting with what we've lost. 🌳

Time for that walk?

Live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week's news stories.

02/12/2025

The first review of my book has just been published on the GreenSpirit website: "I really enjoyed the book because Harris has a real enthusiasm for Nature connection and practises it regularly in his life. I found his passion infectious, and I will be using this book to deepen my meditation walks in my local park. I also liked the fact that the factual material in the book is based on recent scientific research; this helped me to learn more and know that the book is grounded".

      Embodied Pathways (2025) ISBN: 978-1919179513   Reviewed by Ian Mowll ______________________________________________________________________________ Nature Connection is a practical guide that aims to help the reader re-establish a sense of belonging to the more-than-human world: to redisc...

28/11/2025

Enrique Salmón writes:
“Indigenous people view both themselves and nature as part of an extended ecological family that shares ancestry and origins. It is an awareness that life in any environment is viable only when humans view the life surrounding them as kin. The kin, or relatives, include all the natural elements of an ecosystem. Indigenous people are affected by and, in turn, affect the life around them. The interactions that result from this ‘kincentric ecology’ enhance and preserve the ecosystem. Interactions are the commerce of ecosystem functioning.”
From 'Kincentric Ecology: Indigenous Perceptions of the Human–Nature Relationship' (2000)

We’re all affected by—and affect—the life around us. The trouble is that industrialized humans, caught in an anthropocentric myth, have largely forgotten this. But we can remember our kinship.

This is a central message in my book. I write:
“What makes us human is not our differences, but our ecological belonging. As a human being, you are a member of a wider community of species and ecosystems. You belong here.”
From 'Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness'.

10/11/2025

There are a few tickets left for tomorrow's online launch of 'Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness'.

I'll be talking to fellow ecotherapist Caroline Brazier about my book, exploring my ideas and the inspiration behind them. I'll guide you through an exercise from the book, read a short extract, and answer your questions. Hope to see you there!

Join Caroline Brazier and Tariki Trust graduate Dr Adrian Harris for the online launch of 'Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness'

04/11/2025

When I began writing Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness, I hoped to create something that would help people slow down, reconnect, and rediscover their place in the living world. 🌿

It’s been a journey of many years — listening, learning, and finding language for what it means to be human in relationship with nature.

That’s why I’m so moved to receive this generous endorsement from Caroline Brazier — ecotherapy trainer at the Tariki Trust and author of two influential books on ecotherapy:

“An important addition to the literature on ecotherapy — practical, insightful, and deeply grounded in lived experience. It invites us to slow down, get curious, and use our senses to reconnect with the natural world.”

Her words mean a great deal to me — not just as recognition, but as a reminder of why this work matters.

To everyone who has supported this journey, thank you. Here’s to remembering wholeness, together. 💚

29/10/2025

🌿 I’m thrilled to share this!

Charlene Spretnak — author of nine books and a pioneer of the eco-spirituality movement — has long been one of my inspirations. Her book 'The Resurgence of the Real' (on my own bookshelf!) was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the “Best Books of 1997.” In 2006, the UK Department of the Environment named her one of the “100 Eco-Heroes of All Time,” and in 2012 she received the Demeter Award for lifetime achievement as “one of the premier visionary feminist thinkers of our time.” 🌎✨

I recently sent Charlene a copy of my new book, and she responded with this wonderful endorsement:

“Increasingly, screen-saturated people who feel drained and disconnected are told they will feel better if they get out into nature. What is really needed is a sensuous and aware immersion in nature. Nature Connection shows us how to achieve that with simple practices, each leading to a deeper sense of our constitutional embeddedness in nature and a recovery of our full, vital selves. This book — so gentle, wise, and encouraging — is urgently needed in our hypermodern world.”

I’m deeply honored and touched by her words. 💚

16/10/2025

It may be autumn in Devon, but it’s definitely *springtime for nature connection! 🌱

Last month, I went to a 'Transpersonal Psychology Conference' on 'Sacred Unity: Transpersonal Dialogues with Nature, Earth and Self.' Then, just last week, I joined the very first conference on coaching with nature. Both events were so inspiring — and I’m still nurturing those seedlings of insight and inspiration. 🌿✨

In a recent episode of 'What’s Up Docs?', Dr. Chris and Xand van Tulleken spoke with Baroness Kathy Willis, Professor of Biodiversity at Oxford University, about how nature affects our health and wellbeing. Professor Willis shared a fascinating fact:

-> “90 seconds of looking at a screen with trees on it versus one showing a cityscape will lower your blood pressure.”

🎧 You can listen to the episode here: [BBC – What’s Up Docs?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0m6zyqx)

This morning I also read a thoughtful new article called 'Healing With Nature: How the Outdoors Can Support Mental Health.' More evidence that connecting with nature truly heals. 💚
--> https://statesofmind.com/healing-nature-outdoors-mental-health/

Meanwhile, Psychedelics for Climate Action are piloting a new experience called 'Nature Reconnection for Inspired Action' — designed to help people deepen their connection with the living world and spark meaningful climate action. 🌏

All of this beautiful work — from science to Transpersonal Psychology, coaching, mental health, and environmental activism — shows how *interconnected* it all is. Perhaps **nature connection** is the most transdisciplinary field there is! Because, after all, **we are nature.** 🌺

That’s also why the second part of the title of my new book is 'Remembering Wholeness.' 🌼

In the 'Coming Home' chapter, I write:
“For centuries, we’ve looked for ways to show how humans are different from other animals. But this is entirely wrong-headed. What makes us human is not our differences, but our ecological belonging. As a human being, you are a member of a wider community of species and ecosystems. You belong here.” 🌳💫

🌸 I’d love to hear from you: how do *you* connect with nature in your daily life? Is it through time outdoors, mindfulness, creativity, or something else?

From forest bathing to mindful photography, experts say connection with nature can improve mental health and wellbeing.

13/10/2025

My book just got its first Amazon review, and I'm delighted, as they describe the book I aimed to write:
"An inspiring and practical book to support us to connect deeper to nature. I love how it is filled with lots of clear and practical exercises. Really recommend this for all people - no matter how connected to nature you feel we always can go deeper. It’s small and light enough to take out with you on foot for inspiration too".
Thank you, E. Parker!

10/10/2025

It's World Mental Health Day, a perfect moment to remind you that nature heals.

Chris and Xand look a little deeper into the relationship between nature and our health.

25/09/2025

12/09/2025

My new book, 'Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness', is now available on Amazon. In this book you'll discover the Three Keys to Nature Connection: slow down, get curious, and use all your senses.

This unique book includes:
• over 60 exercises;
• links to video and audio guides;
• tie-in with the Embodied Pathways podcast.

There's an Kindle and a paperback edition, and both are at a special launch price for the rest of September: £2.99 for the Kindle, and £4.99 for the paperback. Reviews are very welcome!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1919179518/

19/08/2025

How can we deepen our connection with nature? Miles Richardson and his colleagues applied psychology research to develop Five Pathways to nature connection:
- Contact
- Beauty
- Meaning
- Emotion
- Compassion

It’s a brilliant framework, but when I’m working with people outdoors, I’ve found it’s not always easy to remember or apply in the moment.

After years of exploring ecotherapy, forest bathing, mindfulness, and environmental psychology, I distilled my own Three Keys to Nature Connection. These simple actions invite those five pathways to open:

1️⃣ Slow Down – Create the space to notice.
2️⃣ Get Curious – Wonder draws us into beauty and meaning.
3️⃣ Use All Your Senses – Fully embodied experience anchors the connection.

These two models share some similarities but also reveal a key difference in how they guide practice. The Three Keys are expressed as verbs, inviting direct, embodied action, while the Five Pathways are nouns that describe abstract qualities. This means that the Three Keys actively engage people in the moment, making them easier to apply in real-world settings, whereas the Five Pathways offer a theoretical framework for interpreting the experience. The real value of the Three Keys lies in how they translate abstract pathways into tangible practices that you can use right away.

The Three Keys and Five Pathways interlock in simple ways: slowing down enables contact.

- Curiosity opens beauty and meaning.
- Sensory engagement deepens emotion.
- And through this process, compassion often arises naturally.

These two models complement each other: The Three Keys are accessible and action-oriented, while the Five Pathways provide theoretical conceptual depth and structure.

I’ve unpacked the full comparison here:
🔗 Nature Connection: The Three Keys: https://adrianharris.org/blog/2025/08/12/nature-connection-the-three-keys/

Which Key will you experiment with on your next outdoor moment, and what do you hope to discover?