Explore how slowing down in nature at Terra Expo City Dubai can reduce stress

How Slowing Down in Nature Can Change Your Mind, Body and City Life

In a city that rarely stops, finding space to breathe and reconnect with the natural world can feel like a luxury. At Terra Expo City Dubai, Cristiana Ruggieri, Head of Visitor Experience and Programme Delivery, is helping visitors rediscover that stillness. 

Through immersive experiences like Art of Stillness, Cristiana and her team show how spending intentional time in nature can calm the mind, restore perspective, and even shift daily habits, all while making wellness accessible, playful, and deeply connected to the environment.

In this exclusive interview, she shares her insights on why nature matters now more than ever, how sustainability and personal wellbeing intersect, and why the simplest practices, such as movement, breath, and community, can transform both body and mind.

How does time spent in nature impact our physical and mental health?

Yeah, I think that’s the feeling — everyone feels like there isn’t much nature around anymore. We’re used to thinking of nature as big forests or wide open fields, but if you really look around and observe carefully, there is nature. We’re just not used to this kind of nature, so part of it is about reprogramming our brain and body to notice and reconnect with it.

How do we do that when we’re so busy though? We’re stuck in traffic every day, we have family commitments, work and everything else, so how do we actually make it happen? That’s one of the reasons we’re doing these events because the practice itself is very simple. It’s about movement and movement plus nature equals happiness. 

The real questions are: how can this be more accessible to people and how can we bring more of it into our daily routine? We schedule everything else. We schedule breakfast with friends, trips to the mall, dinners… everything has a time and place, but where is the schedule for yourself?

Someone once told me, “You need to block time in your diary. This is my hour, these are my two hours and make it non-negotiable.” I feel like that’s the start. Then there’s the community aspect too. Doing things alone can feel a bit boring, so how do we create a sense of community around it? How do we come together and share these experiences? That’s where the real shift happens.

“Art of Stillness” feels especially relevant in today’s overstimulated world. Why was Terra Expo City Dubai the right place to host an experience centred around slowing down and reconnecting with ourselves?

I think Terra has something very, very special. There’s this beautiful, magnificent space around us that’s actually quite underutilised at the moment. I feel like what we’re doing fits perfectly with the serenity of the place.

We’re also partnering with PXB, the vegan restaurant, and it just really makes sense bringing the two together as it helps elevate the whole experience for people. They bring the food, we bring everything else and we’ll see where it goes. This is just the beginning and our idea is to create a community around this. 

The owner of PXB has already been hosting wellness weekends every couple of months, which is fantastic. He also leads the journaling sessions and curates the entire PXB concept — an immersive, fully vegan edible experience. For me, the alignment feels completely natural; it just fits.

Many people think of sustainability as something external, but not necessarily about personal wellness. How does Terra Expo City Dubai bridge that gap between environmental awareness and individual wellbeing?

When people hear the word sustainability, they often switch off. They think, “Oh, that’s boring,” or “That doesn’t relate to me,” or “Someone else will deal with it — maybe another country.” But really, sustainability is just the simple act of living in harmony with nature. It’s as basic as that.

We already teach our kids not to litter and that’s sustainability in action. It’s something everyone can do, which means it’s actually very accessible. Yes, we do talk about bigger topics, and that’s part of what Terra stands for, but when we engage with the community, our main focus is families, especially parents with young children. There’s a natural curiosity there.

Through simple themes, such as the Bee Fest, mushrooms, or enchanted forest festivals we’ve hosted, we create fun, engaging activities that build awareness. We help people experience these ideas and practice them together, but, in the end, it’s up to each individual to carry that awareness into daily life.

Kids are incredibly perceptive, they notice everything and when parents don’t follow through, the kids are often the ones reminding them. We’ve seen that happen at our festivals, events, and camps. We work with young people all the time and that’s so important.

It’s not about reinventing sustainability. It’s about making it truly accessible  and bringing it back to the simple, everyday act of living in connection with nature.

What do you hope visitors feel or walk away with after experiencing Art of Stillness? Is the goal relaxation, reflection, behaviour change or something deeper?

It starts with reconnecting with yourself and actually taking that time. It’s about scheduling time for yourself (those two or three hours over the weekend) and you can bring your family along because there’s so much to do around you.

My kids, for example, don’t need a lot. They don’t need constant hyper-stimulation. If we simply let the landscape offer what it naturally has, they’re happy. For parents, it becomes a moment to just be, whatever that looks like. Maybe it’s reconnecting with yourself, finding mental clarity through breathwork, or releasing built-up tension through yoga, letting go of the heavy energy you’ve been carrying all week.

Life is stressful. For most people, every single day comes with some form of stress, whether it’s from working too much, not working, overthinking, unhealthy habits, or just the pace of life. Everyone is dealing with something. So the question is: how can we help bring those stress levels down, or at least offer a few hours of relief?

As parents, there’s often guilt around taking time for yourself, especially if it means leaving your kids. But where in Dubai can you actually do something for yourself together with your children? Here, they can be right next to you. There’s space for everyone. There aren’t strict rules like, “No, you can’t come in,” or “This isn’t for you.” Not at all. We really want this to be as open and inclusive as possible, a place where families can recharge together, not separately.

In a fast-paced city like Dubai, where burnout and constant stimulation are common, how important is it to intentionally create spaces that encourage pause, presence, and sensory connection to nature?

I love this question because the answer is really important. The truth is, we’re just not used to spending time outside. Statistically, it’s proven that staying in contact with nature brings happiness, calm, clarity, and peace, but despite that, we tend to retreat back indoors.

We’re a perfect example of this ourselves, even in beautiful weather and a stunning space, unconsciously we chose to stay inside. This happens to almost everyone; it’s not just us.

The real question is: how do we shift that mindset and start experiencing something different, even if it feels a little uncomfortable at first? Some people might think, “Oh, it’s too hot,” or “There are insects.” But being outdoors is about learning to coexist with the environment, rather than rejecting it.

I see this with my own kids. They often want to go to indoor play areas, but when I take them to the park, they’re the happiest. Children are naturally free, they can run, jump, fall, and experience textures like grass. I don’t have to guide them; they just thrive.

That’s what we aim to create, a space where you can come with your kids, your friends, or your family, and enjoy something different every weekend. A place to reconnect with nature, each other and yourself.