Mindfulness in Nature
We love to acknowledge the achievements of our celebrants whenever we can.
And so it’s our Hugh Asher who is coming under the spotlight.
Hugh, who lives in Ardnamurchan in the Scottish Highlands, has been shortlisted for an award in the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ category for the RSPB’s ‘Nature of Scotland Awards’ which recognises individuals and organisations making a difference across local communities, schools and businesses to support Scotland’s wildlife and natural environment.
Hugh said: “I am quite excited to say the least! The award is for a pilot project I ran on the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Wing of HMP Inverness earlier this year, when I sought to bring nature connection and nature mindfulness to the men who lived on the wing.”
“For over a decade I worked in various roles around the provision of treatment and support for drug users in prisons across England. I then went on to work for several years supporting juveniles and vulnerable adults in police custody, whilst also working for a charity delivering Learning Disability and Autism Awareness training to staff across the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales.
“I moved to Scotland in 2017 and began working for a local mental health charity and also established a ‘Social Croft’, a little like a Scottish equivalent of a Care Farm, in the Western Highlands.
“Then Covid happened. I was very fortunate to live on a croft, with lots of space (but no Social Croft clients!), and early on discovered that just sitting outside and noticing what I saw, what I heard and what I felt whilst sitting in nature really helped me.
“I then discovered that this was an actual thing called ‘Forest Bathing.’
“It had originated as a health and wellbeing nature-mindfulness practice in Japan in the 1980’s, where it was called ‘Shinrin-yoku’, which translates into English roughly as ‘immersing yourself (or bathing) in the forest atmosphere’.
“I became quite evangelical about it and ran webinars and devised nature-connection activities to share with people so that they could it try for themselves in their one hour outside each day.
“I then decided to train as a ‘Forest Bathing Guide’ and then as a ‘Nature and Forest Therapy Practitioner’.
“What I noticed in myself and what I learned from the people that I worked with, was that nature-connection practices such as Forest Bathing can be quite effective at reducing stress, anxiety and depression, and improving emotional regulation.
About 18 months ago it suddenly dawned on me that these were the same affective mental health challenges that often underpinned problematic drug and alcohol use in the first place, and were major risk factors for relapse for those who were in recovery. I decided to combine my passions and create a nature-mindfulness programme and a set of resources, to support people in recovery to learn some self-management skills involving nature-mindfulness.
“I secured some funding to deliver a pilot project in the Highlands and thought, ‘I wonder if this could be delivered in a prison’?
“So, I approached HMP Inverness, who said yes, I could deliver my pilot on their recovery wing. Which I did. And if I can deliver it in a prison, I can deliver it anywhere!
“The project involved inviting the men on the Recovery Wing to join me in the prison yard behind the wing, that included raised beds and a poly-tunnel, for an hour or so each week. We explored things in nature that we could hear, see, touch and smell (with a very little bit of tasting!) and that brought us pleasure.
“The idea was to teach them about mindfulness and being ‘in the moment’, even just for a short time. We then discussed how these mindfulness practices could be used to prevent relapse and to help them to deal with negative emotions and feelings.
“We finished each of the twelve sessions by watching a 10- to 15-minute-long nature film that I created each week, with footage and sounds of mountains; forests; rivers, streams and waterfalls; lakes and oceans; and people interacting with nature, such as dipping their hands in running water, or feeling the texture of tree bark or moss.
“This was a substitute for the nature-deprivation and lack of access to nature that they experienced. Each weeks DVD was added to a library of resources held in the wing office that they could borrow when they wanted to.
“Fast forward to the end of a project and around this time I got a phone call from a national drugs charity I was very familiar with, telling me that they were currently renovating a property in rural Aberdeenshire, that it would be opening late 2024 as a residential rehab.
“It would have a particular focus on ‘Recovery Through Nature’ and they asked if I might like to do a small piece of work with them. This in turn led to a job interview for a full-time position and the offer of a job as ‘Recovery Through Nature Lead’.
“I start in November, and it is probably my dream job! The adventure begins.”
Editors note: This is such a wonderful achievement for Hugh and all of us at Celebrate People wish him the very best of luck with both the award and his new job.