Our annual autumn photo walk – and the power of being outdoors

Life

25 Nov

Does anyone else feel themselves doing a giant exhale about 20-30mins into being in nature? All of those feelings of tension in your body start to release and a general calmness comes over you.

It’s something Neil and I notice every time we go to the woods near our house, or head out on a country walk.

Sure as clockwork we say things along the lines of: “Ahhh, it’s feels great to be out in nature”.

Last week we headed out to Friston Forest in Sussex – home to the most amazing autumn display every year.

We’ve missed a couple of years now, but we try to do an annual autumn photo walk, timing our visits for when the leaves have blanketed the forest floor and the colours are on fire. Some OG Fifi McGee followers may remember our previous walks, hidden in the archives of our blog?!

We chose a mild, relatively cloudy weekday (a photographer’s dream – no full sun and fewer photobombers!) to grab a coffee at Saltmarsh and did a 2 hour loop around the forest.

Some of our friends often marvel at how Neil and I can live and work together. They say things like “I don’t know how anyone can work with their partner, we’d clash!” (and we’ve definitely had our moments 😂) but we often think it’s the time we spend outdoors, regrouping and dreaming up ideas or brainstorming solutions that keeps us motivated and happy.

As a couple we’ve always been interested in the power nature has on people’s health and mental wellbeing and we prioritise walks for this reason. Our hikes are a big source of interior inspiration for me – I draw colour schemes and material ideas from nature.

During our conversations on this particular walk we were chatting about the power of fractals.

Fractals, if you don’t know, are a geometric pattern that the laws of nature repeat over and over to make up what we see. They occur in trees, leaves, coast lines, flowers, water…

The best visual example I can think of is Romanesco Broccoli. I’ve literally stared at them for ages in the veg aisle… they’re amazing, aren’t they?

Fractals are pleasing to look at but interestingly, science has found fractals to be even more stimulating for our brains. They help reduce stress and cortisol levels.

How? Well, the brain finds fractals far more relaxing to look at than man made materials. It doesn’t have to ‘work as hard’ to process them. Many studies have shown they can reduce people’s levels of stress up to 60%.

It’s just another reason why being in nature is so good for your wellbeing. Armed with this knowledge it adds even more reasoning to get outside and into nature, leaving the screens behind so you can achieve all of the happiness-inducing benefits.

We’re constantly grateful we have areas of such outstanding beauty near us and all around the UK. Even the busiest parts of London have the most beautiful parks to explore.

When we look back through photos of our first autumn walk in Friston Forest back in 2013, if you’d have told us Fifi McGee would become our interior design + renovation business, I’m not sure we would have believed you!

We feel so fortunate.