Supporting Nature

Nature is essential to our emotional, psychological, and physical well-being. What can we do to ensure that we reap the benefits?

Shift Collab is excited to announce our newest philanthropic initiative in partnership with Trees for Life called Root to Rise. For the month of May, we will plant a seedling for every therapy session. This means that every session will result in a direct positive impact on our environment.

Who are Trees for Life?

Trees for Life is a national charity committed to mobilizing, empowering, and inspiring tree-planting initiatives across Canada. Every tree we plant today will have an impact on the health of our environment, including cleaning our air and water, creating habitats, and cooling our climate for generations to come. Green spaces not only protect our environment, but they also lift our spirits. Particularly during challenging times, we could all use a little more nature.

During this time, we want to highlight the benefits of green spaces to our mental well-being.

Spending time in nature is linked to both cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health, and emotional well-being. It is associated with lower incidences of poor mental health and decreases depression and anxiety levels. Unfortunately, modern living makes it so that we have to make a conscious effort to be in nature.

Get Outside

Here are some ways that you can encourage spending more time in green spaces: 

1. ‍Ride your bike to the office. If you work in an office, biking to work gives you the opportunity to spend some time outside before your workday begins. It gets your heart pumping and gives you a needed burst of energy to get your day started. Also, feeling the fresh air on your face and the sun on your skin will allow you to feel more connected to your environment. ‍
2. Start a garden. You don't have to be an expert gardener to start a garden. You can start a garden anywhere like in your backyard or even on your windowsill. Nurturing your plants and watching them grow will give you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. And you’ll also cut down on your food bill! ‍
3. Have lunch outside. At lunchtime, find a nearby seat or picnic table outside. If you're lucky enough to live near a park or forest, you could even sit and enjoy the scenery. Take a walk when you’re done in order to aid digestion. Make sure you drink lots of water to stay hydrated! Spending some time working outdoors can reduce work anxiety and may even increase your motivation to get through the day. ‍
4. Do your workout outside. Instead of spending all your time in a stuffed-up gym, why not take your workout outside? Go outside for a walk or a jog then make your way around the neighborhood. If you have a park or forest nearby, even better! Spend some observing the wildlife and becoming aware of the environment. Exercising outside is known to increase the production of happy chemicals like serotonin due to direct sunlight. ‍
5. Work outside. If you work remotely, it allows you to work nearly anyplace outside as long as you have access to a Wi-Fi network. Even if for just a few minutes a day, take your phone or your laptop and do some work outside for a bit. A change of scenery will make you feel more refreshed and perhaps more motivated to work. 

Being in nature is one of the easiest ways to improve your mental health. We encourage you to make a conscious effort to spend more time in nature so that you can take advantage of the many benefits.

One seedling for every session.

Here at Shift, we encourage our community to take part in Root to Rise. If you haven't started your therapy journey yet, now would be the perfect time. You can start by completing our matching questionnaire. If you are already seeing one of our therapists, book a time with them in May to join this movement! 

Update: As of May 31, 2022 we’re planting 1788 seedlings!