Restorative nature
Tony Milne of Rough Milne Mitchell on the great outdoors and the pleasure of bringing it inside.
While the blossom has already blessed the flowering cherries I run under, the daffodils still cheerily mark my path in Hagley Park. There seems to be plenty of bonhomie in the air. It must be spring.
My running mate Boony and I enjoy the challenge the inclement weather of winter can bring. There is a vitality about it, almost a righteousness. However, our self-bestowed hardness quickly dissipates with the sights and scents of spring flowers. I’m not sure our stride lengthens, nor is there any greater bounce in our step, but our chat is sprightlier.
It may be a result of the promised libation at the end, or is there a more profound stirring of our soul? Is it this very simple experience of nature, running around a park, that elicits such a stirring, such a positive response within us? I firmly believe it does, and this is certainly not a new concept.
This is not too dissimilar to the effect colour has on us. It is widely accepted colours have qualities that can cause certain emotions in people. Bright, warm colours stimulate energy and happiness, while cool, subdued colours soothe and calm.
If I cast my mind back to when our children were younger, I was most likely responsible for them missing out on an extra boost of joy as I rolled Half Thorndon Cream and Double Parchment onto their bedroom walls. Their mother was happy, though, as she was with the ubiquitous yucca proudly standing in a corner of our cloistered hallway.
Our restrained colour palette has remained as that, but it is with some relief that nature, albeit tamed, has tentatively poked its head into the interior of our house. A little more wild would be interesting; we are, though, modestly tipping our hat to the practice and principles of biophilic design. Most simply consider it “keeping a fruit salad plant”. Not us, as I proudly proclaim to the adorer of Thorndon Cream. It is more than that.
Biophilia is our innate biological connection with nature. Consider this the next time you sit around a campfire pondering the flames, or as you look out across the rhythmical roll of the ocean. Biophilic design seeks to reconnect us with nature. A reconnection that is said to help reduce stress, improve cognitive function and creativity, improve our wellbeing and speed up our healing.
I am convinced that the views of the river from our studio, the overhanging branches of the courtyard paperbark maple that invite themselves in through the open sliding window to our workspace, enhance the creativity and wellbeing of our team. As does the odd curious pīwakawaka.
I enjoy a leafy park run to restore and recharge the batteries, to clear the mind and, of course, for the company too. Boony too, I think, or for him it may be that the Irish Red is a healer in itself. So, let’s not forget the opportunity to connect with nature. For the sake of our own health.
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