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Chapter 1: What is the connection between birdwatching and mental health?
Being on stage, you know, performing in a sense, you get a buzz, you know, you do. You get a thrill and a kick and a buzz and you have your highs and you sometimes have your lows, you know. But with Birdwatching, it seems to be more constant and there's a gentle kind of feeling of contentment and learning and, I don't know, and peace, you know.
They say that's, you know, they say it's therapeutic values and it's... For mental health, it's a wonderful thing to be in nature, birdwatching, whatever you do. You know, being in the countryside, being outdoors, surrounded by trees and wildlife is valued by so many people more than other things in our lives. About what schools we go to, how much money we earn, where we live, you know.
being in those surroundings and feeling the benefits of the wildness around you is actually, this consensus they did, you know, is actually valued higher than all those kind of priorities, the health benefits.
And they even say, isn't there, there's a chemical that's released if you actually put your hands in the soil, there's a chemical that is released that calms you down, and I feel that. And I do think that for your well-being, we don't think enough about what we're surrounded by. And I don't think nature has to be a luxury. Nature is there. You know, it's there.
I'm Sean Bean, and this is Get Birding, in collaboration with Forest Holidays.
We found that there was one aspect that has the strongest effect.
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Chapter 2: How has Will Young rediscovered nature and its benefits?
And that's nature.
In this episode, we're exploring how birding can support mental health and why spending time with nature can make a difference.
You know, the colours, the sounds, the smells, everything comes alive. And in a way, it's kind of like another reminder of like, oh yeah, here we are. Actually, everything's going to be all right.
You'll hear from ornithologist Dr Maya Rose Craig.
Like, I'm not a very superstitious person, but whenever I see magpies, I do do the thing in my head and I'll see one and I'll be like, oh, it's one magpie.
Yeah, you're always looking for another one. If you see one, you're like, what? Yeah. What is it?
And singer Will Young. I do think that for your well-being, for all of our well-being, we don't think enough about what we're surrounded by. Do you feel like you've come back to something, moving out of London and back into nature again? Yeah.
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Chapter 3: What role does birdsong play in enhancing mental well-being?
That was there in your childhood?
Yeah, I do, because I always remember, you know, I was living in Sheffield, I was born and brought up there. I spent, you know, all my early years up there. But we were lucky enough to have woods and...
corpses and you know a lot of woodland and allotments around us and um near the church in a place called handsworth in in sheffield which they unfortunately look like they're going to be building a few thousand houses on which is uh we've tried to kind of protest about it and come up with some arguments against it. But it looks like it's going ahead now. But I was always surrounded by that.
And, you know, and then coming back here, it kind of reminds me of that. You've got little generals and little pathways. And it always reminded me, you know, when they're all worn down when you're a kid at school, you know which way to go.
They've all been there before.
yes and uh i think i've made a few of them you know where the grass is slightly worn you know i don't know it's just something um yeah because they're happy years aren't they when you're kids you know when you're at school and that you're just growing up and seeing things for the first time and and um it kind of it reminds me of that it's not as though i'm trying to recapture it or or recreate it it's just it's something that is it's very natural and it's still there and
And I want to be part of it. I want to immerse myself in that.
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Chapter 4: What scientific findings support nature's impact on stress and mood?
And give myself time to think and to just explore things and have some stillness in my life. It's about your life, you know, it's quite hectic at times. And you just want to settle down. It's made a huge difference.
Has it? Yeah, yeah, a huge difference. Just sort of... I don't know if it's an age thing. You know, I don't know when you feel like... It probably is. It probably is, yeah. And then when you feel like you've done enough good work, I guess, as well. Yeah. Creatively and that drive, you know, that you have. It changes, and the drive is different now. Has it changed your work, being here?
Chapter 5: How can birdwatching help alleviate feelings of loneliness?
Has it changed your approach to work at all?
I think it probably has. I think it's easier to learn lines. Oh, is it? When I'm down here, yeah. Because there's no distractions, really. There's no traffic, there's nobody knocking on the door, there's nobody calling, really. If they do, then I'm usually out here anyway. Yeah. And I don't hear them, but...
I think it's that, and I think it's also, I mean, I think with anything, when you're learning, you know, if you're learning a musical instrument, if you're learning, I don't know, art or any job for that matter, it doesn't have to be in the arts, but I think you need a bit of space to clear your mind of all the kind of,
flotsam and jetsam that you've collected, you know, over the days and the little worries and foibles that you have. And I like to just come out here for a while. Then I go back in, I might learn my lines for a bit, then I come back out again. And there's no pressure.
Chapter 6: What personal experiences do guests share about gardening and nature?
And as I said, you know, you feel quite lucid and it makes quite a remarkable difference.
It's a different type of excitement, I guess, to... you know, what I get maybe in being on stage or whatever.
I don't know if it's because it's connected to nature or... I mean, I think being on stage, you know, performing in a sense, you get a buzz, you know, and you do, and you get a thrill and a kick and a buzz and you have your highs and you sometimes have your lows, you know.
But with birdwatching, it seems to be more constant and there's a gentle kind of feeling of contentment and learning and peace, you know. So that's, you know, it's therapeutic values and for mental health, it's a wonderful thing to be in nature, birdwatching, whatever you do.
Nature is there, you know, it's there. for everyone. I always said, you know, because when you're working, self-employed, you know, I don't know if you've ever had this, but you sort of think, oh, well, if it doesn't carry on forever, you know, you sort of have that thing, well, if I don't get asked for another job, you know, what would I do?
And I always was like, well, I'll just become a gardener. I mean, it would be lovely.
I read something about that, actually. You dig a hole, put your feet in the soil and bury them. It's supposed to make you feel good.
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Chapter 7: How does creativity connect with nature and mental health?
Come on, let's do it. Let's do it now. Get a shovel. It'll be good for Instagram. Yeah. But I do think, you know, even when I was up in Mull recently, it was a bit of a revelation because I'd just forgotten everywhere I looked, it was just sea, nature, forest. I mean, eagles everywhere. It was just astonishing.
Yeah.
And it was like I was drinking in, and I thought, oh, come on, this is what you really want. Yeah. This is what you... What you really, really want. I know. But you do, you know, this is everything. Yeah, yeah.
Chapter 8: What birding questions do listeners want answered?
So it definitely helps me, that's for sure. Yeah, it does me too.
Yeah.
My name is Andrea Michelli. I'm a professor of early intervention in mental health at King's College, London. I'm a clinical psychologist and I've worked in the NHS for several years. And one thing I did notice is that when people move from the countryside to London, where I worked, often they will struggle. with their mental health. And this is something that is reflected in the literature.
People who live in cities are more vulnerable to developing mental health issues. So I wanted to understand why. What we found was that when people heard birds song or they saw birds, their stress level would decrease and their mood would improve. And there's also an aspect which to me was a little surprising, but they also felt less lonely.
Even if there weren't other people around, they still felt less lonely after seeing birds or hearing birdsong.
Yeah, I wish everybody could experience this soundscape of birds. because it's not just the sound of the bird itself, but the spaces in which they're in. And so to be able to give yourself that feeling that I am this person in relation to all of these other things that are going on around me, and it's beautiful. It's like we've got all these technologies like spatial surround sound,
3D sound and actually just stood here listening, it just feels like you're in a concert all around you. And it's just for me. How lucky am I?
Jason Singh is a nature beatboxer and composer. He spends his life exploring the relationship between us and the natural world through sound.
For me, it's sort of the beginning of life again. Having spent quite an intense time through winter, early spring sort of, especially, you know, the colours, the sounds, the smells, everything comes alive. And in a way, it's kind of like another reminder of like, oh yeah, here we are. Actually, everything's going to be all right.
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