Build your own practice

Choose a place

The best place is one you can reach easily, because you will go more often. A wood is ideal, but a large park, a churchyard, a riverbank, a garden or a street lined with trees all work. Look for these qualities:

• Quiet enough to hear birds. Distant traffic is fine. Close traffic makes it harder to settle.
• Somewhere to sit. A log, bench, rock or dry patch of ground.
• Felt safe. You should feel comfortable being there at the time you go.
• Some variety. Different trees, a stream, a clearing or a slope give you more to notice.

Once you have chosen one, return to it. Seeing the same place change is part of the practice.

What to bring

• Shoes and clothes for the weather, with a layer to spare.
• Water, and a flask of tea if you like.
• A small mat or waterproof pad to sit on.
• A notebook or the journal on your phone, for afterwards.
• A charged phone, kept on silent, for emergencies and not for scrolling.

You will not need special equipment. Leave headphones at home, as listening is a large part of the practice.

Staying safe

Woodland is generally safe, but a few sensible habits make it more so. This is general advice, not medical or legal advice.

• Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back, especially if you go alone.
• Go in daylight, and leave time to get back before dusk.
• Check the weather and avoid woods in storms or high wind.
• Watch for ticks. In many parts of Britain, Europe and North America ticks can carry Lyme disease. Keep to paths where you can, wear long trousers tucked into your socks in long grass, and check your skin and clothes afterwards. If you find a tick, remove it promptly with fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool, and follow your local health service's advice, especially if you develop a rash or feel unwell in the following weeks.
• Do not eat wild plants or fungi unless an expert has identified them.
• Respect the land. Keep to paths, follow local rules, close gates and take your litter home. Look out for notices about tree work or hunting.
• Know your limits. Stop if you feel unwell. If you have a health condition, ask a doctor about activities that suit you.

A 90-minute session

This is a full session once you are comfortable with the basics. A shorter session works too: for twenty minutes, do just the arrival, a slow walk and a sit.

The walk timer on the main page can keep time for you.

Adapting it

A city park

Choose a corner away from the main paths and use the sit spot and the senses. A single tree is enough to start with.

Limited mobility

Choose a place with a smooth path and a bench, and shorten the walk. A sit spot gives most of the benefit, and you can do the whole practice from a bench or a wheelchair-accessible spot.

With children

Keep it playful and short. Treat the senses as a game, such as finding five colours or three different sounds.

In a group

Walk in silence at first, then share one thing each person noticed. Groups of three to six work well.

At home or at a window

On days you cannot go out, open a window or sit beside it. Watch a tree, a patch of sky or birds at a feeder for ten minutes.

Making it a habit

The research suggests regular time in green places matters more than one long outing. A realistic target is two hours a week in total, split however you like. Fix a regular time, keep the first visits short and make the place easy to reach. Use the journal to note how you feel, and after a month look back at what has changed.