Wellbeing without effort

Disconnecting from tech turns on healing parts of your brain, explains Manoush Zomorodi in Bored and Brilliant. You’ll feel better with some downtime and you can supercharge the effects outdoors. The natural world is full of invisible good things called negatively charged ions. These molecules fast track your brain into a mood boosted state of relaxation. Exposure to them has a significant effect on decreasing depression. Melt away stress with sensory wonders like sitting under a waterfall, swimming in a wild waterhole or looking at star-filled skies. Nature is a remedy that takes your head out of the virtual clouds and puts it back in your body.

Best camp to ignite your senses: Banskia Green campground, Myall Lakes National Park

Nature doesn’t get much better than this. The sights, sounds and scents of a coastal campground give your brain plenty of space to recharge. Myall Lakes National Park is a wealth of sensory wonders and just three hours from Sydney near the beautiful Hawks Nest. At Banksia Green campground, you can fall asleep to the sound of dingoes howling and waves crashing. Wake to salt air and dig your toes in the sand (take care, the beach is not patrolled – read up on water safety).

Your brain and body are still much like your primitive ancestors, yet in fifty years the amount of information we process has increased by more than three times. It isn’t surprising you feel overwhelmed. Nature gives your brain a break. In his book Claim your Wildness, Dr Higgins explains that time in nature kicks off neural pathways for daydreaming. You notice things without effort and enter a state of wakeful relaxation. This is the off-switch you’ve been looking for that leads to that elusive sense of wellbeing.

Camping is one of the best ways to switch off: Euroka campground, Blue Mountains National Park. 

Ease into the natural world with a short one hour trip from Sydney. This large campground is popular with the local kangaroos and located fifteen minutes from Glenbrook. Rest under the gum trees or at wild swimming holes. Blue Pool is a ten-minute drive from camp and a short 1km return walk. For a change of scenery wander along the Nepean River walking track with a beautiful 1.8km loop passing through canyons and rainforests.

As an added bonus a stint in nature can improve relationships. We connect on a deeper level with others by turning off the tech. Nature enhances empathy and is a great equaliser. We realise we are all human and no one can move a mountain or change the tides. Social comparisons slip away. People bond without the interrupting chimes of phones. You will return home with a heart more fully connected to others.

Camp with the locals: Newnes campground, Wollemi National Park

Even the wallabies and wombats get in on the communal action at Newnes. Three hours from Sydney, about an hour past Lithgow, you can soak up conversation by the river. At dawn and dusk, the wallabies come by to see what’s new. Don’t miss out on nature’s fairy lights and the local ruins nearby. Remember: take care not to disturb those delicate glow worms, please don’t shine a light on them or use flash photography.

A weekend of camping consists of life’s simple things. A place to sleep, an esky, and a gas burner. Borrow them from a friend, rent them from CampNow or visit Camplify and hire a nearby van. Pick a spot, grab some food and water and hit the road. Your brain will thank you. Research tells us that the health benefits of a short stint in the wild have lasting effects.