The Wave is set amid Malaysia’s vibrant beauty: blue seas, clear skies, and dense forests. We enjoy meals outside as the sun sets, hike in the jungle, and tumble down rivers in white-water rafts.
We build two-way connections with nature in environmental projects, learning to give back to our surroundings as well as living from them. We grow food for our kitchen in our garden, immersing our hands in the soil.
Nature is an integral part of every young person’s experience at The Wave. As a vital part of both mental and physical health, nature can nourish a young person’s recovery, helping them cope with stress, restore energy, and lift their mood.
How Does Nature Affect Our Mental Health?
Most people experience a feeling of well-being, calmness and sometimes even euphoria in certain natural environments. The benefits of nature for our mental health sometimes seem so intuitive that they don’t require an explanation. But scientists think there may be an evolutionary mechanism at play.
As humans, we evolved to live in natural environments, moving into urban spaces only in the most recent period of our existence. Since we’re predisposed to live in natural spaces, it makes sense that we feel less stressed and more content when we return to them.
Research suggests that spending time in nature affects our cognitive capacities, including attention, memory, emotions and our experience of stress. Studies have documented the benefits of interacting with nature, such as improvements in cognition and mood, a sense of restoration, and a reduction in depression and anxiety.
How Does Nature Affect Our Thoughts and Emotions?
Scientists have different theories about why nature makes us feel the way it does. One idea is that some natural places, such as open spaces with big horizons or places near water, are places where it’s easier for humans to live and survive. When we enter these places, we experience a positive psychological response that makes us feel calmer and happier. Another theory posits that the sensory overload of urban environments wears down our attention and prevents us from concentrating and focusing fully. When we spend time in natural places, these abilities return.
How Can Connecting with Nature Support a Young Person’s Recovery?
Young people living with mental health challenges often experience stress and low self-esteem. They may have difficulties regulating their emotions and coping with distress in healthy ways. Teenagers and adolescents with mental health disorders often also experience interpersonal difficulties, social withdrawal or unstable relationships with others.
Research suggests that spending time in nature may help young people overcome each of these challenges. A recent systematic review found that:
- Interacting with nature may improve young people’s self-esteem
- Spending time in nature may reduce stress among adolescents
- Adventure programmes in nature may help young people learn coping skills, improve their interactions with others, and improve emotional regulation
- Nature is linked to increased resilience
The Wave’s Collective Experiences in the Natural World
At The Wave, collective experiences constitute a core element of our recovery programmes. They’re opportunities to learn through experience, connect with others, acquire knowledge and build life skills.
Many of our collective experiences also involve exploring natural spaces and embarking on adventures in Malaysia’s breathtaking landscapes. Through these experiences, we bring nature’s healing power into young people’s recovery journey.
Some of our outdoor adventures include:
Jungle School
Our jungle school experience involves spending time in the rich, vibrant Malaysian jungle, surrounded by an incredible diversity of natural life. Led by the local community, we trek along traditional paths, learn about the flora and fauna, build shelters from natural materials and cook outside. We often camp under the stars before returning home.
Camping Adventures
At The Wave, we’re lucky enough to be surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. We frequently sleep outside or in tents in rainforests, on beaches and beside cool highland tea plantations. We even hold camp-outs on our roof terrace.
Wild Water Adventures
Our wild water adventures combine nature’s healing power with exhilaration and thrills. From white water rafting to sunset cruising and scuba diving, we explore the seas, lakes and rivers while working together as a team.
Hikes and Waterfalls
On our hikes, we immerse ourselves in the sensory experience of the natural world while feeling the physical power and strength of our bodies. We climb mountains and canyons, moving through forests, open plains and along rivers. We often pass by waterfalls and swim in the pools beneath them.
The Wave’s Kitchen Garden
In our kitchen garden, young people plant, grow and tend to fruit and vegetables that we later cook and eat together. We learn about different plants and how to care for them, including watering, pruning and harvesting. We understand the way we depend on the natural world to live and thrive, and how we can care for it in return.
Young people also have the chance to take part in Royal Horticultural Society courses, learning about sustainable agriculture, cultivating seeds and project management.
Giving Back to Nature Through Global Citizenship
During their stay at The Wave, every young person takes part in our Global Citizenship Programmes. Through these programmes, young people can give back to communities, support others, and understand their place in the world.
Some of our Global Citizenship Projects involve not only giving back to communities, but to nature itself. Through our environmental projects, we develop an awareness of our reliance on nature and the need for a two-way relationship in which we care for nature as well as taking from it. Young people might help to care for rescued animals, plant trees or clean polluted areas. These processes can bring young people closer to nature, helping them feel grounded and offering a broader perspective.
The Wave: Specialist Recovery Support for Young People
The Wave offers specialist recovery programmes for young people and families. We take a whole-person approach to mental health support, emphasising how past experiences and social relationships shape how a young person thinks, feels, and acts today.
We’re specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry, drawing on decades of expertise from around the world. We aim to make a difference in the lives of young people, building fulfilling futures for all.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our programs, get in touch today. We’re here to help.
Fiona Yassin is the Founder and Clinical Director at The Wave Clinic. She is a U.K. and internationally registered Psychotherapist and Accredited Clinical Supervisor (U.K. and UNCG). Fiona is EMDR trained (EMDRIA) and a practising trauma therapist.
