VIRTUAL NATURE BREAKS
A six-week creative wellbeing programme for healthcare staff commissioned by Hywel Dda University Health Board Arts and Health Team.
The project brief called for short, weekly online sessions that could offer NHS staff moments of togetherness and respite from their high-pressure roles, while supporting wellbeing through creativity and shared reflection.
In response, I developed a series of original video poems filmed across the seascapes, gardens, and ancient woodlands of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and Bannau Brycheiniog. Centred around movement, seasonal change and rhythms observed in the natural world, each video was created to inspire moments of calm, reflection, and upliftment. The facilitated sessions combined visual poetry with gentle participatory movement, creative writing prompts, and reflective activities - encouraging staff members to pause and reconnect with themselves through slow, immersive imagery and sounds.
Where spending time outdoors is not always possible within the demands of busy healthcare roles, the virtual nature breaks offered an accessible way for staff to experience the restorative benefits of movement and nature from their desks. These sessions provided valuable opportunities to pause, connect with colleagues, and engage in a shared, creative break together.
"I just wanted to say how much i enjoyed today's session, hearing the poem, the sound of the sea, and having some space for what I really love, which is to move!"
“The images made me reflect on the rivers close to where I live. I realised I didn’t know their names, and this break has inspired me to spend more time to get to know them.”
- Staff member feedback
Song of the Sea
"This weeks virtual nature break brings us to the ocean, where we'll immerse into the spirit of the sea with poetry and sound. We'll begin with some gentle movement, suited for both seated and standing positions, and make space for writing and reflecting on the seascapes that inspire you....."
Sample session outline and selected stills from video poems filmed across the seascapes, gardens, and ancient woodlands of Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire, and Bannau Brycheiniog
