What’s that sound?
Updated 21st June 2023
Nature’s sensory qualities encourage wellbeing …and play!
Stop and listen for a moment, what can you hear? Numerous studies have shown that listening to natural sounds like birdsong, ‘babbling’ brooks or ‘whispering’ tree leaves can lower the stress hormone cortisol. Use the audio post next to you to hear some woodland animal sounds, can you recreate them? Who can do it best?!
Smelling survival
Take a deep breathe through your nose. You may pick up the scent of geosmin: an earthy smell which alerted our ancestors to a water source…we are literally smelling the primal instinct of
survival, which instantly releases oxytocin and puts us at ease. Soil also releases a good bacteria, which decreases anxiety when we smell it and when we touch it.