Hiking/Walking: This to me is the best way to connect with and immerse myself in nature. Take time to stop and soak in the beauty and intricacies of Gaia. It's magical. Even in the city you can reach out to the life around us at the beaches and cliffs or in the reserves / parks. It doesn't have to be full on 25km+ day hike through the rainforest. I'd argue that smaller, easier walks make it more likely we will take out time to actually fully immerse ourselves in the life around us rather than get hung up on proving or challenging ourselves.
Gardening: If you have a decent yard, get your hands dirty. Gaia may spoil us crazy with this world, but few things in life are as satisfying and right as getting your hands dirty and repaying some of her love by nurturing some new life ourselves. I love my yard, despite the vagrancies of La Niña and the fact that right now it is very much a work in progress. I think any gardening effort is always rewarded and appreciated, but for me, nurturing and immersing myself in native species is incredibly rewarding, and is a major change in my older thinking that bringing together species from around the world was fun and interesting...
Diving/Snorkelling: Compared to the land, it's relatively easy to escape the human delusions of grandeur underwater and literally immerse yourself in the real world. And damn is it a beautiful and bizzare world down there. Snorkelling as kid was my first real escape from human hubris and it's stuck with my throughout my life, even in darker times. Scuba can seem like a very artificial and mechanical exercise, and to be fair, on the surface it 100% feels like that.... but the minute you drop into the ocean, it vanishes along with the weight, and you can just loose yourself in the reef. I always keep a minimalistic approach to diving ("technical" diving has never appealed to me) and treat it more like underwater hiking than a technical sport. It's just a means to let me linger on the reef and take in the diversity and richness of life down there. Freediving would almost certainly be the way to go for those younger and stronger than me.
Crafting: Wood, stone and shell working are certainly good ways to connect - and damn satisfying for sure.... not that'd I'd know to be honest because I'm not very good at it! But it's certainly something I'd love to be able to do and can see it giving a very strong connection. I am still working on my songcord though
)? How do you stay in contact with the actual world beyond grey concrete walls?
) with my math-class which also had an indoor garden. Idk why, but the memory gives me such a relaxed vibe because I have rarely been in such a dense forest.