“Every cell in our body sings:” how nature renews Tandia Walsh

The magic of the outdoors has always been important to Perth-based scientist and entrepreneur Tandia Walsh, who grew up near the Kimberley town of Broome. A lifelong love of the ocean, nature and science, plus her mother’s experience with cancer, inspired Tandia to create MOTHER SPF, a natural and sustainable Australian-made mineral SPF that safely nourishes and protects the skin without compromising aesthetics. We asked Tandia to tell us about her relationship with nature:

What’s your favourite thing to do in nature?

Anything to do with the ocean! From as simple as an ocean swim first thing in the morning to spending hours out at sea diving.

Describe your connection to nature: what positives does it bring to your life?

Being in nature helps me renew: a salty swim knows how to push my reset button! The sun is my energy source and the sound of the ocean calms me into a meditative state. To me, nature is my lifeline.

What are your fondest memories of spending time in nature?

I grew up in the Kimberley region of Western Australia: a childhood of salt-stained skin, pindan-stained clothes and a body constantly stained by the warmth of the sun.

My father was a pearl diver and I would spend every weekend out on the pearl farm looking for oysters and walking through the mangroves being careful of crocodiles. My mother is what I would call a ‘plant whisperer’. She would spend hours daily in our garden looking after every fruit and vegetable you could imagine. I loved going into the garden with her to pick whatever herbs and vegetables we needed for dinner.

Many of us are time-poor and might not get out into nature as much as we’d like. Any suggestions for a quick nature-based pick-me up? Something sensory, experiential…?

We know we feel alive in nature and that every cell in our body sings when we are surrounded by it. We also know that we don’t need to live in a rainforest to reap the benefits of nature. My quick nature based pick-me-ups would be:

• Having as many indoor plants as possible
• Setting up your desk near a window where the sun shines through
• Spending your lunch break eating outside instead of at your desk
• Skip your indoor gym classes for a walk, run, swim etc outside
• Swapping your café meetings to a walk outside, or getting a takeaway and sitting in a park/beach close by, with your keepcup of course :)