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It’s easy to dismiss this as just another social media meme, but every example is rooted in real science.

Whales really do sing songs that can travel extraordinary distances through the ocean. Trees can connect through underground fungal networks and preferentially support their own offspring. Dolphins develop unique signature whistles that function much like individual names.

Lightning can transform sand into glass. Horses can distinguish between human emotional expressions. Rain carries its own scent, known as petrichor, often detectable before the first drops fall. The sea can glow in the dark through bioluminescence, and some of the stars we admire on a clear night may have long since ceased to exist, their light only now reaching our eyes.

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of walking is rediscovering a sense of wonder.

When we’re constantly rushing, it’s easy to stop noticing. But out on the trail, something changes. We begin to look up. We become curious again. We notice the patterns in clouds, the call of a bird we’ve never heard before, the smell of rain on the wind, or the vastness of a night sky filled with ancient starlight.

It’s no coincidence that awe and wonder are increasingly recognised as contributors to wellbeing. They help us step outside ourselves, quieten the mental chatter and remember that we’re part of something much bigger.

This is one reason I created the BOOTS Wellbeing Walks. Not simply to get people moving, but to help create opportunities to pause, notice and reconnect with the extraordinary world around us.

Sometimes wellbeing begins with wonder.

Trail Reflection: What fills you with wonder when you’re outdoors?