Do you want to experience nature with all your senses, hear, smell, see, taste and feel it? Then you've come to the right place! Mother Nature is a fascinating place full of beauty, sounds, scents, tastes and touches. But in our hectic everyday lives, we often lose access to its diversity.
When we activate our senses and pay attention to our surroundings, we connect with nature in a deeper, more primal way. Studies have shownthat multi-sensory experiences of nature help to reduce stress, become more creative and sustainably increase our well-being.
In this article, I will therefore present mindful tips, ideas and nature education exercises to help you use and sharpen your senses in nature - whether on your own, with children or together with friends. Let's go!
Search game tip for the whole family: If you want to engage all your senses at once in nature, I can only warmly recommend these discovery cards* to your heart! With "Find something with a special pattern" or "Find something that floats", they give you clear search assignments 🙂
Hearing – The Calming Soundscape of Nature
The The sound of the sea, the Leaves rustling in the wind, the The chirping of birds or the buzzing of wild bees: In nature, it is often what we take in through our ears that is the very first thing that makes us relax.
Such The sounds of nature have a calming effect and promote our concentration. And in contrast to the constant man-made sources of noise in everyday life (e.g. road traffic or building sites), nature offers our auditory sense and those who listen carefullyunique sounds that make it much easier to get involved in the moment. 🙂
Exercises to sharpen your hearing in nature:
- Meditate on the sounds of nature: Find a deserted place outdoors and close your eyes. Consciously listen to the sounds around you and let your breath flow in the same rhythm.
- Record forest sounds: Record forest sounds with your smartphone or recording device and listen to them later with your eyes closed. Ideal for relaxation or meditation.
- Listen to bird concerts: Sit down early in the morning or in the evening in a quiet place in nature or in your home. Bird friendly garden and try to distinguish different bird calls. (Tip: The NABU bird book with bird song app*)
- Walking barefoot with your eyes closed: Walk slowly and carefully along a nature trail with your eyes closed. Concentrate only on what you hear. Are the sounds near or far? Which direction are they coming from? And what do the sounds trigger in you?
- Enjoy running water: Look for a stream, river or waterfall. Listen to the rushing and splashing - and try again to distinguish different sounds.
Smelling – Nature’s Scents as Emotional Triggers
When you more mindful life and effective nature experiences with all your senses, you should also sharpen your olfactory sense and consciously Perceiving odors through the nose.
Our sense of smell is closely linked to our memory. Certain natural fragrances call for example Memories of special places or moments and influence our emotional world. Be it the scent of fresh grass, earthy forest soil after the rain or the beguiling scent of lavender in bloom, for example in your own garden. creates a vacation feeling at home.
Exercises to train your nose in nature:
- Smell of the rain: Consciously perceive the typical earthy smell that arises when rain meets dry ground - and is called petrichor.
- Flower walks: Visit botanical gardens or flowering meadows and consciously stop to smell the flowers. For regular exercises, plant native fragrant plants in your own garden. Natural gardensuch as lavender, catnip and thyme.
- Collect wild herbs: Collect a few wild herbs such as wild garlic, ground ivy and meadow sage. Gently grind them between your fingers and consciously take in the scent.
- Breathe in the forest air: Take a deep breath when, for example walking the dog through the forest. The scent of pine needles, moss and earth has a calming and revitalizing effect.
- Recognize smells blindly: Close your eyes and try to specifically identify individual natural scents - be it leaves, wood, grass or a particular flower. This is also a great partner exercise 🙂
Tasting – Savoring the Flavors of the Wildfeel it on your tongue
Do you want to experience nature with all your senses? Then you should definitely also actively appeal to your sense of taste. Unfortunately, the so-called gustatory sense is often neglected when it comes to experiencing nature.
And yet wild nature offers a richly laid table with edible Medicinal plants, Fruits and Herbsto experience flavors such as sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami - from ground ivy to hawthorn. The motto is to inform yourself well and then try it 🙂
Exercises to activate your sense of taste in nature:
- Try wild herbs: Pick healthy edible wild herbs such as ground elder, stinging nettle or dandelion and taste them fresh. (Book Tip: Through the year with edible wild plants* by Janine Schneider)
- Sea water taste: Take a small sip of water by the sea and consciously taste the salty freshness - an intense moment of nature for you and your sense of taste.
- Tea made from wild herbs: Collect fresh mint, camomile or nettle and make a tea from it - at home or directly on site with this thermos flask with strainer*.
- Do a blind tasting: Blindfolded, you touch, smell and taste (previously collected) edible plants from the garden or nature - your sense of taste is sharpened in the process.
- Collect and eat fruit: Depending on the season, pick berries, apples, rose hips or nuts and taste them on the spot - a natural treat that appeals directly to your sense of taste. (Book Tip: Our edible nature* by Otmar Diez)
Seeing – Rediscovering the Beauty Around You
Like hearing and smell, sight is also one of the classic human senses. The visual sense is also the one that most obviously addressed will be when we outside in the fresh air or a new microadventure in nature.
However, our eyes often only perceive a fraction of all the wonderful things that actually surround us. By taking a conscious look and paying attention to (seemingly obvious) details, you will perceive Light, Colors, Forms, Movements and Contrasts much more intensely.
Exercises to sharpen your visual perception:
- Camera click: Let a person lead you to beautiful motifs with your eyes closed - when you "click", open your eyes like a camera and consciously take in the image (or moment). Then close them again, process what you have seen and sharpen your visual perception.
- Do a tree meditation: Encounter a tree on a mindfulness walk with your eyes open - take time to look at it consciously, notice its presence and admire it. (Book Tip: The secret life of trees* by Peter Wohlleben)
- Experience a micro perspective: Use a magnifying glass or your smartphone to take a close look at small details such as moss, insects or leaf veins and immerse yourself in a new world.
- I see something you don't see: The popular color game can be played among adults or, of course, with children: Look for anything that is red, yellow, green or blue. This trains your eye for details, colors and differences in nature.
- Observe the play of light: Pay conscious attention to the interplay of light and shadow throughout the day. It is particularly fascinating in the forest or during sunrises and sunsets.
Touching – Feeling Nature Through Skin and Movement
To gain valuable experiences of nature with all your senses, you should also sharpen your tactile perception. This refers to the sense of touch, with the help of which you can Touch, Print, Temperature, Textures, Vibration or Pain directly.
Whether walking barefoot on moss, feeling the wind on your skin or dipping your hands in cold water - Feeling means being in the moment. It is also the sense that connects us most strongly with our environment.
Exercises to sharpen your sense of touch:
- Recognize the tree: Touch the Forest bathing blindfolded, discover the shape, structure and surface of a tree - and then find it again with your eyes open.
- Slow walking: Walk consciously and very slowly over natural ground or barefoot paths - feel how the soles of your feet touch the ground and how your body reacts. The slower you walk, the more finely you perceive details.
- Blind treasure hunt: Feel your way barefoot along a rope blindfolded and find little treasures just by touching them. This is an exciting journey of discovery for the sense of touch.
- Immerse your hands in water: Hold your hands in a stream, lake or waterfall and consciously perceive the temperature and current.
- Collect natural materials: Leaves, stones, feathers - collect different things and feel their surface, shape and temperature. (Game tip: These discovery cards from rabano*)
Awakening Additional Senses Through Nature
In addition to the classic five senses In modern sensory physiology, there are also other senses that can intensify our experience of nature. This often happens unconsciously. And even if they may be less well known, the following senses play an important role in our experience of nature:
Sense of Balance (Vestibular Sense)
It helps us to Balance and to keep our Movements in space to coordinate. This sense is particularly activated on uneven terrain or during physical activity.
Ideas for concrete exercises:
- Balancing on a tree trunk - barefoot or with shoes.
- Walking over uneven natural paths or stones and consciously balance it out.
- Lying on a hammock or a swinging branch and feel the sense of balance.
Body Awareness (Proprioception)
This sense of purpose enables us to Posture, Muscle tension and Movement even with your eyes closed.
Ideas for concrete exercises:
- Play petrification with friends and family - Those who are touched are petrified, those who are freed are allowed to move again. Ideal for body tension and experiencing attention.
- Walk slowly along a hill or path with your eyes closed - purely by feel.
- Consciously feel your backpack - Weight, movement, contact with the body.
Sense of Temperature (Thermoreception)
Whether cooler Windwarm Sunbeams or ice cold Water - Temperature is a powerful stimulus that often immediately triggers emotions and should therefore not be missing from genuine experiences of nature with all the senses.
Ideas for concrete exercises:
- Walking barefoot through morning dew or warm sand - and feel the temperature.
- Enjoy the sun's rays on your facestand still, perceive and Vitamin D refuel.
- Reach into the earth with your hands and feel the difference - warm on the sunlit surface and cooler underneath.
Pain Awareness (Nociception)
Even if this sense often sounds negative, it is important - it protects us and sharpens our attention. Used in moderation and consciously, it can even promote body awareness.
Ideas for concrete exercises:
- Sitting on a solid stone floor or lying down and consciously perceiving pressure on the body.
- Walking barefoot over hard and pointed natural surfaces - e.g. gravel, pine cones or small stones.
- Carefully brush along thorns, dry branches or prickly grasses - Feel exactly where your limits are and how your body reacts to them.
Experience Nature Mindfully – Using All Your Senses Boosts Wellbeing
Discovering nature with all your senses is more than just a Outdoor walk. It is an invitation, consciously connect with the environment and find inner peace, clarity and new energy. Every sense plays an important role - whether it's listening to birdsong, walking barefoot over moss or breathing in the fresh forest air. 🙂
If we allow ourselves to perceive nature with all our senses, we can experience moments of pure mindfulness that ground and inspire us. And the best thing about it: anyone can start right away - at any age and regardless of whether it's a walk in the forest, by the sea or in your own garden.
Here and now you have learned many useful tips and practical exercises. Try them out and discover how enriching it is, to really feel nature.
"Nature must be experienced through feeling."
Alexander von Humboldt (more at Nature Quotes)
Do you have any questions or can you think of any other tips and exercises for sensory experiences in nature? Then I look forward to your comment.
Stay mindful,
PS: Many of the exercises also help to improve the To specifically promote children's connection to nature. You can find out what else parents can do in the linked blog post.
