There are few cities in the world as green as ours or as abundant in nature. The character of Vancouver is carved out through its mountains, forests and ocean. It is part of our identity. And being outdoors seems to be at the centre of all we do – we descend from our glass towers, moving out into the world of green lush and salt water.

It can at times be easy to forget just how lucky we are and how unusual it is to have a profusion of nature within the urban space. Although I may notice the green trees dotted down every street and the blue ocean on the horizon, the city still churns, life carries on, and natures moves to the background of the scene.

That is, until we make a conscious choice to seek it out. To immerse ourselves in nature instead of metropolitan green. We leave the city streets to step into the woods, to a place where the ground is dirt instead of cement, where the canopy above is formed by tall trees instead of skyscrapers, where the neighbouring sounds are the songs of birds instead of the hum of traffic. A calmness follows, a peace, a slower pulse. Nature surrounds us and the primal nature within us responds. Yes, this. You need this.

There is something about being in nature that we all seem to innately know is good for us. As we walk into the wild, we find ourselves somehow more relaxed, less geared up. There is science to back this up as research shows that being in nature has a transformative effect on our emotional and mental state. It actually helps to quiet the never-ending narrative in our minds and release stress. I have certainly found this to be true, as a walk through the woods when I’m feeling stressed or burnt out can be restorative. It helps to bring me back to centre, to refocus, to breathe. I find that in a world full of stressors and relentless activity, the peacefulness of the woods is almost magical.

As it is for most of us, my relationship to nature – and my awe for all its inexhaustible, always novel beauty – began as a child as I played in and discovered this world. When I was young, I used to go on long walks with my dad during which he would tell me the names of the flowers, or foliage, or passing birds and we would be immersed in the natural wonder of it all. During a trip to the UK, we were on one such walk through Aubrey Common – a tradition in our family – and I had been taking pictures of cows and flowers and such along the way when we came to a high point on the trail that looked out over a vista of rolling hills. My dad paused, taking it in. I offered to take a photo, but he declined. “A photo won’t be able to capture it all,” he said. I didn’t quite understand at the time, but as I’ve grown up I can now see what he saw – that it is more than just the beauty of nature, it is something else entirely. It is a kind of magic. It is a power far beyond us and yet connected to us so intrinsically.

For me, these walks through nature have never stopped, nor has nature’s power over me. And now that I am so passionate about health and wellness, I want to soak up its green goodness even more. So I make it a priority to seek her out, because it’s not enough to just be in nature – as it surrounds and moves through our city – its about actively choosing to recognize its presence, to absorb and appreciate it. It’s about actively choosing to pause, to step away from the hustle and into the horizon. We can do this in brief moments through out the day – by noticing the abundant beauty in the parks and ocean as we pass by – but I think it is important to make time for those unhurried walks through the woods. To immerse in nature’s moments of calmness. To be lifted in its restorative power.