When did you last touch the bark of a tree, just to see how it felt?
Most of our walks are about getting somewhere. To the shop, to the school gate, to the car. We see the path, but we rarely feel it.
This week, why not take 15 minutes for a little hygge moment and notice five different textures on a walk? It is a gentle game that brings you out of your head and back into your hands.
A walk round the block is plenty.
Make it cosy
Before you set off, sort a few things:
- Comfy shoes or wellies you do not mind getting muddy
- A cosy layer, a scarf or a woolly hat
- Bare hands, or gloves you can easily slip off
- A route with a little green in it, a park, lane or garden
- Your phone on silent in a pocket
Your 15 minutes of touch
- Walk a little slower. Drop your pace so you have time to look around.
- Look for contrast. Rough and smooth, soft and spiky, wet and dry.
- Reach out and touch. Run your fingers over bark, moss, stone or a cold railing.
- Feel underfoot too. Grass, gravel and fallen leaves all count.
- Count to five. Name each texture quietly as you find it.
Slow it right down
This is not a race to find five and head home. Take your time with each one. You might find you notice far more than five.
As you walk and touch, try to notice:
- Whether things feel warm or cool under your fingers
- The tiny details you would normally walk straight past
- How the ground changes beneath your feet
- The way your busy thoughts start to quieten
Finish gently
When you get home, wash your hands in warm water and think back over your five. Small walks like this are an easy way to soak up the benefits of being in nature.
You could also:
- Turn it into a game with the children on the way to school
- Try five sounds or five smells on your next walk
- Bring home one fallen leaf or a smooth pebble
- Notice how the textures change from season to season
Steer clear of nettles, thorns and anything you do not recognise, and keep to paths you know.
Your 15-minute challenge
Today, give yourself 15 minutes.
Step outside. Slow your feet. Reach out your hand.
Then keep going until you have found all five.
It does not have to be the countryside. It does not have to be a long walk.
It just has to be today.
The world feels softer when you stop to touch it.
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