30 Ways to Go 30 Days Wild When You’re Feeling Tired

Some days, everything seems like too much effort. Maybe you’re having a hard week at work. Perhaps life stresses are getting you down. Never fear! Even when you just want to curl up with the door closed and your phone off, you can still go wild. Try one of these.

1. Watch a nature TV show. I love the Durrells (and Springwatch is obviously the perfect accompaniment to 30 Days Wild).
2. Eat locally sourced strawberries.
3. Water a houseplant.
4. Have a ‘bath in a bowl’ to save water – and mean you can wash in bed (assuming you don’t need to wash your hair). Fill a bowl with hot water, aromatherapy oils (if you have them), oats to soften the skin and (non toxic) flower petals if you have any to hand and want to add glamour. Dip a flannel in the water, wash your face first then work your way from cleanest to dirtiest areas, rinsing the cloth regularly. This uses so little water that you can use a flannel to dry yourself afterwards rather than a towel (It’s also handy for both minimizing the amount of stuff you take to festivals/camping, and chronic pain flare ups, when getting out of a bed to have a bath or shower is too much effort). Use the water on your plants afterwards.
5. Look at an insect in the house.
6. Watch a nature film. I love Ring of Bright Water.
7. Eat homemade jam on toast.
8. Read a gardening magazine.
9. Smell an aromatherapy oil.
10. Read a nature book. I’m really looking forward to reading Fingers in the Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham, which I’ve finally got a copy of, having read an extract ages ago and loved it. I’m saving it for a treat when I’m stuck in bed.
11. Watch wildlife from your window. I’m lucky enough to have a canal view but even when I lived in the centre of a city, there was always something to watch, from seagulls to pigeons (and the native wildlife in Brighton has some of the most glorious displays ever: the peacocks of the human world).
12. Knit something wild.
13. Look in the mirror and see your inner animal (even if that’s a sloth right now.)
14. Listen to nature-themed music. I love My Life as a Duck by Charlie Winston (and not just because I love ducks. He’s one of my favourite songwriters – and wrote the happiest song ever about death.) Scare Away the Dark by Passenger is another lovely nature-themed song and video (though there is a touch of Eden-style nudity at the end of the video so not one for youngsters, lovely as the video is).
15. Press a flower or leaf.
16. Do some nature themed colouring in. There are some wonderful botanical and other nature images to download through #ColorOurCollections (search the hashtag on Twitter too – loads of great museums take part and there’s a huge amount to choose from.)
17. Listen to a radio show about nature. I find Gardener’s Question Time both soothing and informative.
18. Do a nature meditation. Calm has some lovely nature meditations and Joyful Nature has a free nature meditation (in a lovely Scottish accent).
19. Drink elderflower cordial.
20. Look at nature art (a picture on your wall counts.)
21. Play Plants vs Zombies.
22. Have a wild gin and tonic (there are many lovely gins around now that have exciting botanicals added.)
23. Stroke a pet.
24. Listen to a nature-themed podcast.
25. Look at the clouds through a window.
26. Look at the stars through a window.
27. Have a cup of mint or chamomile tea.
28. Listen to the sound of the sea online.
29. Listen to birdsong online.
30. Count sheep.