Overworked or overstressed? Nature charity the Woodland Trust has a potential cure for you. The Trust is suggesting people take a relaxing walk in the woods to enjoy bluebell season.
“A bluebell wood at this time of year is actually one of nature’s great tranquillisers and mood improvers,” said Andrew Fairbairn of the Woodland Trust Scotland, which owns 80 sites across Scotland covering 8,750 hectares. “And it is free of charge, with no side-effects," he adds.
Blue according to colour psychology has a soothing effect. As cool blue merges into the deep greens of summer, woodlands should provide a respite from our busy lives as they have for centuries of people before us.
The Trust is even holding a special blues band performance by 'Woodland Blue and The Belles' to celebrate the blues-busting benefits of the flowers by performing among the bluebells at Hermitage of Braid in Edinburgh today at 11am.
Other Edinburgh Parks experiencing a dash of blue are the Water of Leith, Corstorphine Hill, and Ravelston Woods.
You can find woodlands throughout the UK at VisitWoods, a partnership project, led by the Woodland Trust Scotland, which is funded by the Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage. The site has around 1,000 woodland sites of various sizes.
However, it's worth noting that this year Scotland witnessed the earliest flowering bluebells for a decade, due perhaps to the mild winter and cold snap in February. Catch them while they last.