Dear Stoics,

In the third week of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’ve been thinking a lot about what we could do to make our minds feel calmer and lighter. While we were doing that, our eyes kept wandering to the tree that bloomed beautifully right outside our window, where a pair of sparrows were quarrelling among the branches. So the eureka moment happened, and here we are bringing you the subject of birdwatching.

Birdwatching is one of the most underrated things you can do for your head. Why? First of all, birds are found wherever green, living things grow, the very places that are most calming and restorative to us. Did you know that just half an hour in the forest lowers your heart rate and blood pressure and reduces cortisol levels (cortisol is the so-called “stress hormone”)? You can read more about it here.

When you step outside and start looking for birds, your mind naturally calms down and gets back its clarity. You feel more present and grounded. It goes without saying that it’s a really good thing for your mental health.

But it goes even further. The more time you spend noticing birds, the more you start to notice the places they live, and the more you want to protect them. Birding has a way of turning people into advocates for the wild world we still have left. Given everything happening to our planet right now, it’s something worth taking care of. Does that mean that birds make us better people? Such small creatures have such great power!

Here are some wise words from the one and only Sir David Attenborough:

Birds were flying from continent to continent long before we were. They reached the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica, long before we did. They can survive in the hottest of deserts. Some can remain on the wing for years at a time. They can girdle the globe. Now, we have taken over the earth and the sea and the sky, but with skill and care and knowledge, we can ensure that there is still a place on Earth for birds in all their beauty and variety — if we want to... And surely, we should.

A few days ago, Sir David turned 100. A century of life, and he’s still saying the most important things. He’s so worth looking up to right now — for the way he cares so deeply about the smallest and most vulnerable beings on this Earth. Oh, and happy belated birthday, Sir David!

So here’s our tip for this week: go outside and look up. Check which birds are native to where you live (trust us, there are birds pretty much everywhere). Grab a camera, a notebook, or just a pair of eyes, and explore! Look from a comfortable distance, so you don’t scare them. Isn’t it a kind of meditation, watching a creature that has no idea you exist and doesn’t need anything from you?

Yours truly,
The Stoic App Team

PS: If you’d like to feed the birds, especially during the colder seasons, that’s a wonderful idea. Just do a quick check on what’s actually good for them first!

LINKS WORTH READING THIS WEEK (approved by The Bird)

Birdwatching & psychological wellbeing — peer-reviewed research
Journal of Environmental Psychology - ScienceDirect

Birdwatching and human-nature connectedness — cross-sectional study
ResearchGate

The benefits of birdwatching — a practical overview
Birda

Not every ending is a loss. Some things close so that something else can open, and this week in Stoic, we’re reflecting on that.

The weekly theme On Case Closed invites you to look back at the chapters that had to end: the situations you moved on from and the things that finished even when you weren’t ready. You’ll explore what those endings made possible, and what they taught you.

Every day until Sunday, you’ll get a new prompt in the app to help you dive into this subject. Come on, let’s do some reminiscing!