Tag: nature

January and Wellbeing

17/01/2024 / mayagreen / 0 Comments

January and Wellbeing

It’s that time of year when the festive celebrations are over, and the promise of spring still seems quite far away. January is often the time when many of us start to feel the winter blues which is why it is increasingly important to be kind to yourself and look after your mental health.

While the short winter days and cold weather can sometimes make it less appealing to adventure outdoors, there are benefits to wrapping up warm and heading outdoors to experience the smells and sounds of the winter. Small things such as the feeling of crunch of snow underfoot, spotting a robin on a tree branch, or stopping to admire beautiful patterns created by frost can all bring a little joy and help to boost spirits.

Self-care

Thriving with Nature – a guide for everyone was published by the Mental Health Foundation to help readers find ways of connecting with nature throughout the year. The guide contains creative and straightforward suggestions for activities to help engage with nature and encourage you to get outdoors regardless of whether you live in the centre of a city or out in the countryside.

The Library has several books on nature and the benefits it can have on our health within the Shelf Help collection:

Braving the wilderness: the quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone by Brené Brown.

The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell

Into the forest: how trees can help you find health and happiness by Qing Li

Don’t forget, ENGAGE Fitness at Edinburgh Napier University provides a performance gym, fitness suite and sports hall at the Sighthill campus for those days when you don’t want to exercise outdoors. A student trimester pass is available for only £55!

Search the Library more nature or fitness-related printed or online resources on LibrarySearch.

Read more on wellbeing in our section Wellness Collection, full of useful and interesting books or take some time out in our Online Relaxation Zone

RSPB Garden Birdwatch

27/01/2023 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

RSPB Garden Birdwatch

This year we’re promoting the RSPB Garden Birdwatch in our relaxation spaces. The birdwatch has been running since 1979 and it’s very simple to take part in. All you need to do is count the maximum number of each type of bird you see in an hour either in your garden, from a balcony or in a park. Your results can be entered online. This year the birdwatch runs from 27-29 January. It’s a good way to take a break from your studies and you are contributing to a valuable citizen science project. The results are published later in the year and are useful for conservation projects and make interesting reading about the state of our garden birds.

“I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence – that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.” – Lynn Thomson, Birding with Yeats: A Mother’s Memoir.

All the information you need can be found at Big Garden Birdwatch or scan the QR code on the posters in the relaxation spaces.

You can use Library Search to find books and articles on birds, conservation and citizen science which are in our collection.

By Vivienne Hamilton

Image by Marko from Pixabay

read more about the power of nature in our article on “thriving in nature”

Support and Wellbeing Over The Exam Period

06/12/2021 / julietkinsey / 0 Comments

stressed student needing Support and Wellbeing

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During exam time, it’s important to look after yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. The library is here to support you and your wellbeing over the exam period.

Relaxation Spaces

Each campus library has a relaxation space where you can take a break and relax on comfy furniture or try a mindful activity like colouring or doing a jigsaw puzzle. Check out our virtual relaxation space here on the Library Blog for some excellent wellbeing resources.

Shelf Help

We also have Shelf Help which is a collection of resources aimed at supporting your wellbeing. There are print and ebooks, tv shows, podcasts and more which we’ve organised into themes. You can find resources to help tackle stress, insomnia, anxiety and low self-esteem as well as cookery books to help you eat well on a budget and ways to deal with procrastination and increase your productivity.

Spotify

If you are looking for some relaxing music to listen to while you study, the Library has some Spotify playlists for you here.

Get Outside

One of the best things you can do is to get outside and have a walk in the fresh air. Although don’t forget to wrap up warm in the cold Scottish winter. Nature is proven to help us feel better. Read more on this with our article on “thriving in nature”

Contact

Library opening hours can be found here You can also contact the library 24/7 by phone and email on 0131 455 3500 and library@napier.ac.uk

The university is here to support your wellbeing and you can find out more about the services they offer here

By Julie McGregor

Lions’ Gate comes to Craiglockhart and Sighthill Campuses!

23/07/2021 / jemmalidgard / 8 Comments

Many of you will have visited the Lions’ Gate garden at Merchiston campus (you get a good view of it from the Library’s Relaxation Space!). Well the good news is that Callum Egan, the garden co-ordinator (working with ENSA, the Business School and the Development Office), has secured funding from the Scottish Government’s Community Climate Asset Fund to develop areas at Craiglockhart and Sighthill campuses.

Raised beds, a water harvesting kit, top soil and compost have already been purchased, along with plants with culinary and medicinal benefits. The fund has also been used to buy apple and plum trees. The team working on this would like to create a micro-forest at Sighthill, and at Craiglockhart there’ll be a small orchard and a thinking walk around the grounds.

Interested? Read more about it in the Lions’ Gate blog

https://blogs.napier.ac.uk/thelionsgate/university-community-an-orchard-and-a-micro-forest/

The good news is that the Craiglockhart orchard has now been created. I was lucky enough to be part of a group of 15 helping out with the planting of 2 plum and 10 apple trees. Take a look next time you’re on campus. It’s directly opposite the chapel entrance. Before and after photos below.

Orchard, Chapel Lion’s Gate Garden

Plants Lions’ Gate Garden

On a library-related note! Check out the Garden Collection of books held at Merchiston Library. Merchiston campus too far away? Request items via LibrarySearch.

By Cathryn Buckham

Lions’ Gate Garden: Digital Growth

05/07/2021 / jemmalidgard / 0 Comments

The Lions’ Gate Garden is a permaculture habitat adjacent to the library at Merchiston campus. The gardens, allotment, pond, and outdoor laboratory provide a space to relax and unwind.

Three years ago, Research Fellow and Interaction Design Lecturer Callum Egan sparked the idea of using digital technology and environmentalism to create “techno gardens to make real spaces for people”.

The digital interactions aim to inspire people on educating and taking action for climate change and ecosystems.

Some of these interactions include:

Augmented realities
QR codes
Building food forests
Wifi and sensor icons

The pandemic has even taught us all to be more resourceful and individuals have shown a growing hobby for urban gardening! As the seasons change at Lions’ Gate, we can be more ‘fruitful’ by generating natural resources, from strawberries to Christmas trees. This creates social spaces and could even make homemade jams and chutneys!

Photo by Dave Michuda on Unsplash

But how can we incorporate more ‘greenness’ into university teaching spaces and libraries?

Growing edible plants i.e. fruit trees
Outdoor classroom spaces, open structures, and eco-roofs
Community volunteering at Edinburgh Napier’s Sustainable Society or Volunteer Edinburgh to promote sustainable practices:
https://www.napierstudents.com/organisation/societies/7511/#

https://www.volunteeredinburgh.org.uk/volunteer/find-opportunities/?search=

You can find more information about the Lions’ Gate Garden project in the link below:

https://blogs.napier.ac.uk/thelionsgate/

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021: Thriving with Nature

10/05/2021 / julietkinsey / 1 Comment

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Nature is an incredible resource for maintaining our mental health. Simply being outside and experiencing green spaces has proven beneficial to us. Health Awareness Week 2021 is all about the potent value of nature on our minds. Spending time in nature and connecting with the natural world is a free and positive way to help us live happier lives.

Numerous studies on the subject make connections between experiencing nature and improvements to our psychological health, such as the study Understanding Nature and Its Cognitive Benefits by Kathryn E. Schertz and Marc G. Berman . Being in nature can even help you study. Researchers found that taking micro breaks to view a meadow green rooftop improved student’s attention rates. Read more about it here.

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Looking for ideas of what to do and where to visit? The Scottish wildlife trust has many options:

On your own and would like to not only connect with nature but people? There is an Edinburgh meetup group you can join here:

For a detailed guide on how to use nature to thrive, you can read this free PDF from Mentalhealth.org and if you need any help or support, you can find it here.

Tag: nature

January and Wellbeing

January and Wellbeing

Like this:

RSPB Garden Birdwatch

RSPB Garden Birdwatch

Like this:

Support and Wellbeing Over The Exam Period

Relaxation Spaces