HALLE, Belgium (AP) — Gilles Gui was looking for the magical purple bluebells that raise their heads each spring under the budding beech leaves of the Hallerbos forest, an annual explosion of color that draws crowds from around the world.
And in these times full of stress and anxiety about wars, economic threats and other tensions, he found something else too: a sense of tranquility.
“I notice that there’s a lot of silence in my head when I’m done,” Gui said. “Yeah, it helps me keep some peace in my mind, really just take my mind away from everything that’s going on.”
Spending time in nature, experts have long said, can be a balm in troubled times.
“From a stroll through a city park to a day spent hiking in the wilderness, exposure to nature has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders, and even upticks in empathy and cooperation,” a 2020 article of the American Psychological Association said.
“These are extraordinary times,” said Ignace Glorieux, a sociology professor at Brussels University, adding that the under-30 generation in particular is under pressure.
“This is also the generation maybe that suffered most from the COVID crisis,” Glorieux said. “And now they come into a situation where there’s a lot of international uncertainty. So especially this group, maybe more than (the older) generation, is suffering from that and feels very uncertain about their future.”
Gui, 26, knows what Glorieux is talking about. “I do know of people my age who are worried and also with financial situations going on, who try to keep level heads, but it’s very hard for them,” he said.
The bluebell woods offer a ‘big green hug’
During the pandemic, the bluebell woods were closed off for fear that throngs of people would make it a hive of transmission instead of a haven of peace. Restrictions kept some parks under seal and mandated masks in some others.
“It was a difficult period for everyone,” said Mark Demesmaeker, a former member of the European Parliament, gardening enthusiast and city councilor in Halle, where he has walked the woods for decades. Now, at least, nature is there to welcome those with anxious minds.
“These bluebells — but in other times of year as well, walking here, the forest valleys, the wildlife, the forest streams — you know, they work into your mind all year round. And it’s really a big green hug that you get here,” Demesmaeker said.
That hug from nature is just about everywhere right now. Japan is awash in a sea of cherry blossoms, which mesmerize people around the world. Bluebell season also coincides with the prime tulip season in the Netherlands. The renowned Keukenhof garden there has become a playground for influencers and those seeking that ultimate selfie.
Put down the phone?
The Keukenhof and the Dutch tourism board suggest good spots to “make your image come alive.”
To Glorieux, that’s where 21st-century humans push it too far.
“We have to be busy all the time, even in our leisure time,” he said. “We have to perform.”
Instead, he advised, “Focus! If you go out walking, focus on walking. If you go out jogging, focus only on jogging.”
Such advice was not wasted on Philippe Thiry, 64, a southern Belgian recently retired and ready to embrace the rest of his life. He had no phone as he set off in the sunshine to look for bluebells.
“I don’t want to use it here because I’m here just to relax,” he said. “I mean, just to see the flowers and to see, to listen to the birds.”
“I want to be disconnected.”