Healing My Neurodivergent Nervous System Through Nature
Doing what it takes to feel safe when past trauma dominates the present moment
A few reasons are driving my recent interest in camping, but at the centre is my need to be close to nature. For now, my home base is a large city but I’m always planning the next escape.
I gave up on hotels a while ago because they’re so clinical and boring unless you’re prepared to take a financial sting. I opted for Airbnb to find what I wanted, and usually, that meant somewhere with an expansive garden in a rural setting.
It’s more than an aesthetic pre-occupation. I’m constitutionally unsuited to built-up and crowded environments and crave unpopulated open spaces. Growing up somewhere rural means that there’s a lot of space between me and the outer limits of my comfort zone.
But it’s not just about the space — otherwise you could just put me in an empty sport field or carpark.
It’s about the soul-nourishing benefits of being immersed in the natural world and how crucial it is for my nervous system. It’s the best way I know how to ground and reset; to return to a kind of homeostasis that just isn’t possible when I’m immersed in the sensory onslaught of the city.
