Guest blog, written by Wellbeing Nature Buddy - Michelle

Living with Unpredictable Health

I volunteer as a Wellbeing Nature Buddy with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, a role that draws on my own experience of living with long-term health conditions.

I live with Hyperadrenergic POTS and Reactive Hypoglycaemia. Most days I’m dizzy, faint, nauseated, exhausted, and in pain. Often I have to wait for tachycardia episodes or low blood sugar to stabilise before I can even sit up safely. I retired on ill-health grounds at 45 and had to rebuild my life from the bed up - a process that was physically demanding, emotionally draining, and often frightening.

Even on days I feel ready, there’s always a worry: will my body cooperate? That uncertainty can be as hard to manage as the symptoms themselves.

“There were days I couldn’t even sit up without my symptoms hitting me.”

Finding Nature Again

After months stuck inside four walls, I longed to be out in nature. Being outside doesn’t make the symptoms disappear, but it gives me moments to pause. Watching birds, feeling the wind, noticing sunlight on leaves, or observing the changing seasons helps me catch my breath, calm the tachycardia, steady my head, push through nausea and pain, and rebuild physically and emotionally.

Gradually, being outdoors has helped me rebuild confidence and trust in my body, which can feel frightening when it lets you down unpredictably.

I’ll never forget sitting by a river during a low blood sugar episode - feeling shaky and dizzy, whilst watching a kingfisher dive into the water. Nature distracted me just enough to manage the episode safely and made me realise I could cope anywhere, not just inside my home.

“Being out in nature doesn’t always mean doing the same things everyone else does - it just means being there differently, in a way that works for you.”

Adapting to Limitations

My physical limitations have varied over the last eight years. I’ve had to adapt with mobility aids: powered wheelchairs, a seated rollator, camping stools - just to be outside safely. Many places remain off-limits: distances are too far, group paces too fast, hills or uneven terrain unsuitable, or there’s little understanding that symptoms fluctuate from day to day. Some days I can walk for miles unaided; other days I can barely leave the path. Yet, being outside still gives me something I can’t get anywhere else.

I often have to change plans at the last minute or rest halfway through a walk. Learning to accept that unpredictability has been as much a part of my healing journey as the walks themselves.

“Even if your health is unpredictable, being in nature can give you moments of calm and control you can’t get anywhere else.”

Volunteering with Purpose

Volunteering with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Wellbeing Nature Buddy Programme lets me give and be with people who understand unpredictable health. Kirsty, within the Trust's Wellbeing team, supports me every step of the way, helping me engage safely while still allowing me to challenge myself when I can.

Being outdoors, even briefly, helps me feel grounded, capable, and connected. It’s not just about physical activity; it’s about emotional resilience, companionship, and reclaiming a life that illness has disrupted. Seeing someone take their first steps outdoors again, or smile as they watch wildlife, reminds me why this work matters - even when my own body struggles.

“My role is to be with people in nature, on their good days and bad, so they know it’s possible even when your body isn’t playing fair. Volunteering reminds me that even when my body doesn’t cooperate, I can still contribute and make a difference in someone else’s day.”

The Wider Need

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is leading the way with this pilot green social prescribing programme, showing how much safe, supported time in nature—even in local parks or nearby green spaces - can improve both physical and emotional wellbeing.

I hope that, in time, the NHS and local councils will make it standard to offer both indoor and outdoor physical health programmes in partnership with organisations like Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, rather than just short-term indoor programmes that later cost money.

Programmes like this aren’t just about exercise - they help people rebuild confidence, reconnect with nature, and feel part of a community that understands. For the thousands of people across Derbyshire living with unpredictable health, knowing there’s a safe way to be outdoors can make all the difference.

I hope more people with variable health find their way outside, even in small ways, and discover, as I have, that nature can be a place to rebuild, reconnect, and reclaim a little bit of yourself.

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