escaping
100 CalmMoment.comT
he late cosmologist Stephen Hawking
once invited us to “look up at the stars
and not down at our feet,” but when
was the last time you stepped outside
to admire the night sky? Research has
proven that time spent in nature is essential for
a healthy mind and body. According to the mental
health charity Mind (mind.org.uk), not only can time
outdoors improve our mood, reduce stress and keep
us active, it can also improve our confidence and raise
our self-esteem.
While getting enough good-quality sleep is also
vital for our wellbeing, studies suggest that being out
in nature after dark can offer further ways to feel
more mindful and less stressed. A recent study in
the European Journal of Ecopsychology indicated that
stargazing and watching nocturnal wildlife led to
a heightened sense of participants’ personal growth
and increased several positive emotions. Long-term
advocates of stargazing claim it can combat over-
thinking, help us to place our problems into a wider
perspective, and allow us to see the ‘bigger picture’
of life in the universe.
I first discovered nightwalking when my boyfriend
was away on tour with his band. Not usually a poor
sleeper, I would struggle to drift off without the
comfort of knowing he was at home, so to clear my
head and encourage peaceful thoughts I would make
a flask of mint tea, hop in the car and drive up to
Butser Hill, my favourite spot near my home near the
South Downs National Park (southdowns.gov.uk).Leaving the car parked, I would hike through elder
trees and hazel copse, stumble over rabbit warrens
and jump over cowpats to reach the top of the hill,
until, at last, I was alone on the summit beneath a veil
of glittering stars cascading over Hampshire and
Sussex. On the far side of the hill, an Iron Age burial
mound lay strewn with mosses and wildflowers,
polo-shaped and facing away from the sea. On my
visits, I would climb into the mound and lie down with
my back propped against the dirt, dock leaves pressed
against the palms of my hands. Sipping hot tea in my
hidden corner of the world, I would spend an hour
watching each constellation tell its tale on the
midnight stage, foxes barking in the forest behind me
and fresh night air filling my lungs.
I love how it feels to look directly into the heart of
the universe. In our anthropocentric, pressurised
modern world, gazing up at the night sky helps me
feel reassuringly insignificant – and my daily
problems and worries even more so. But at the same
time, I am empowered by how fortunate I am that the
exact cluster of atoms came together to form me, with
my exact mind and body, and how lucky I am to be
alive on this earth. I also love the sense of solitude it
brings – the peace and serenity of experiencing the
landscape when the rest of my species is asleep and
so many others come to life.
When I am no longer able to rely on my eyesight for
guidance, my brain switches to survival mode, and
every sound and scent is magnified to help me absorb
and process my surroundings. There is fear, yes.
Being outdoors at night, especially as a lone woman,
challenges every social rule I’ve ingested since
infancy – to be scared of the dark, of strangers,
of solitude and unknown spaces. But forcing myself
out of my comfort zone helps me feel liberated and
adventurous, all of which allows me to move closer
to nature, to my primitive roots, and to live more
harmoniously with the world around me.
My nocturnal excursions became mildly addictive,
and I started travelling to new places around the UK
and Europe, curious to understand more about our
relationship with the landscape at night. Over the
course of a year, I experienced 24-hour daylight while
swimming in the Gulf of Finland, and visited Arctic
Norway to witness the Northern Lights and speak
to people who live in darkness for three months each
year. I hiked through the haunted yew forests ofThe ultimate walk under
the stars: Tiffany explored
Arctic Norway on foot to
see the Northern Lights.Photog
raphy^ Tiffa
ny^ Fran
cis