Connecting to nature through ‘feel-good’ nature journaling: Practising the KNACK

Rain patters on the roof and drums down the gutters, but doesn’t deter our resident Little Wattlebird. He or she is croaking and squawking raucously from the banksia, surrounded by blooms. I can hear the rain and the bird as I write this: I feel happily connected to nature, in this beloved place I call home. But many people are not so fortunate.

A recent study has found that human connection to nature has declined by more than 60% since 1800. The same research also predicts that levels of nature connectedness will continue to decline unless far-reaching changes are made.¹

“Nature connectedness is now accepted as a key root cause of the environmental crisis” said Professor Miles Richardson, author of the study. “It’s vitally important for our own mental health as well.” ¹‚²

The main aim of my work is to connect people with nature. I do this by creating images and writing about nature, often together, and selling these creations on a range of items, and also through practising and teaching nature journaling. I started out doing this mostly to help nature: along the way I have also realised how important nature connection is for human health.

Nature journaling workshop at Owen Springs, Northern Territory. Photo: Sheridan Martin,

I define nature journaling as simply ‘drawing and writing in response to nature’. I encourage people to respond in any way they like. I’m not teaching people to draw or write in a certain way – the process is open-ended. I’m thrilled when I see people attending closely to nature and then the lines and words appearing on their pages. Because this means they are slowing down, looking closely, and responding to nature.

I don’t critique their responses. There can be points of truth, but there is no right or wrong in nature journaling – only your own personal response. (For example, a plant might have an accepted scientific name, several common names, and multiple indigenous names. The points of truth are the different names, but the choice of which name to use (or to use no name at all) is up to each person – that is their own personal response.)

I am enthusiastic and warm with my praise of other people’s nature journaling because many people find drawing and writing hard, and many people are terrified of showing their creations to the world. To be vulnerable in this way sometimes takes enormous courage.

In my workshops, curiousity towards nature is encouraged. Analytical thinking is encouraged. But so is imagination and emotions. Attending to nature in a range of different ways gives us a better understanding of nature ³, and a deeper, more multi-faceted connection to nature.

I call this approach to nature journaling ‘feel-good’ nature journaling. It’s a bit different to some other approaches to nature journaling, e.g. which might focus on creating realistic drawings, or planning a page layout up-front, or using nature journaling mostly to investigate the scientific aspects of nature. All of these approaches have their merits. But I suspect that the ‘feel-good’ approach I’m describing here is more accessible to a wider range of people, and also is more directly focussed on connecting to nature. (I’m in the process of writing a book about it called Let nature liberate your mind: the feel-good guide to nature journaling. I was hoping to get the book out this year, but life got in the way! However I’m on track to release it in mid 2026, fingers crossed.)

In the meantime, I’d like to share with you the main elements of this ‘feel-good’ way of teaching and practising nature journaling. You can also apply this approach to other aspects of your life, as it seems to activate parts of the mind that are generally helpful for our wellbeing, and for making sense of the world. I’ve summarised these elements using the acronym ‘KNACK’. The KNACK of feel-good nature journaling is to try to:

Keep your mind Open,

Non-judgemental

Attentive

Curious and

Kind.

Contour drawing, drawn with one continuous line, and not looking at the page. 

The way to practice the ‘KNACK’ while nature journaling goes something like this: Go outdoors, into nature, with a pencil and notebook. Find a quiet spot where you can sit or stand. Regard an aspect of nature (a tree, bird, flower, lake, whatever…) and give it your full attention. Allow you mind to be open, non-judgemental, curious and kind. Observe what arises in your mind and heart.

Then jot down some words, or draw something on the page. (If you’re a bit scared of drawing, do a ‘contour drawing’ (see above) where you don’t look at the page, and use one continuous line to describe what you observe. No pressure – as there’s no way that your drawing will look like the thing you are drawing! Or allow yourself to look at the page, but use one continuous line (don’t lift your pencil from the page). This is a ‘modified contour drawing (see below) and can also be very freeing.)

It’s important to also use KNACK while regarding yourself, and your ideas, drawings and writings, while nature journaling. Be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to be open. Be curious about what arises. Don’t judge what appears on the page.

Modified contour drawing, drawn with one continuous line.

This approach to nature journaling has much in common with mindfulness meditation practices (e.g. 4), but unlike many mindfulness practices, the focus of nature journaling is nature, not the self. Nature journaling, and this focus on nature, has the potential to bring you out of yourself. Nature seems to soak up our negative emotions and petty problems, and soothe and calm us, in a gentle but powerful way. Drawing and writing in response to nature helps us to connect to nature. I encourage you to do some nature journaling, practising the KNACK, when outdoors, in nature – and see where it takes you.

I would love to hear about your experiences – email me at paula.peeters@paperbarkwriter.com

I’ll be teaching the elements of ‘feel good’ nature journaling at my upcoming workshops in Victoria, at the Outdoor Health Forum in NSW, and at Binna Burra, Queensland. See my Events page for more details. 

 References

1. Human connection to nature has declined 60% in 200 years, study finds. By Patrick Barkham. The Guardian, Sat 9 Aug 2025
2. Hari, J. (2019) Lost connections: Why you’re depressed, and how to find hope. Bloomsbury.
3. McGilchrist, I. (2019) Ways of Attending: How our divided brain constructs the world. Routledge, London.
4. Kabat-Zinn, J (1994) Wherever you go, there you are. Piatkus.