Nature – waiting to help when we’re ready

I read an article recently about a woman who turned to gardening to help her cope with the cancer diagnosis her husband had received, his ten year fight against it and eventual death.

Some might say the diversionary effect that gardening had on her was the key.  For others it may be writing, painting or some other activity.  I’m not so sure it’s as simple as that.

She focused a lot on the cycles of Nature: the autumnal death followed by winter planning knowing that life would spring forth again.  Every gardener understands the cycles of Nature and it’s not a huge step to understand our own human cycles follow similar patterns.  Although this understanding doesn’t make grief go away it does perhaps give some perspective to life and enhance our coping mechanism.

But even more than that I believe that being with Nature, in whatever form that takes, offers a unique advantage to us – much more than other hobbies.

A University of Essex (UK) 2010 study showed that just being outdoors for five minutes had a positive effect on our mental well-being.  Nature alerts our senses: the bright colours; the wind rustling through the trees; the scent of flowers; the feel of the ground under our feet – all of these prove our vitality and our ‘aliveness’.

But there’s more to experiencing Nature than just our five senses: our body’s natural vibration is in tune with the earth.  Remove ourselves from the higher vibrations from electrical appliances, overhead lines and phone masts and we get back to a frequency that our body and brain likes. 

Try taking your shoes off and connecting with the earth.  Just touching the soil with our hands or our feet will allow us to discharge into the earth, to ground ourselves.  If I’m feeling stressed nothing deals with it better than a little barefootedness: the stress is literally sucked out of you.  (Find out more about the health benefits of grounding: Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?)

Another bonus that comes from Nature is exposure to natural light.  Not only do we re-connect with the earth but we can feed from full spectrum light.  This is discussed more in my blog When is Light not Light?

It’s hardly surprising that this woman found her coping and grieving process through Nature.  It’s also a shame that others don’t know about the perfect ally they have right outside their doors – just waiting.

Jackie Notman is a copywriter, feng shui consultant and e-commerce retailer.  This article is from her blog ‘Life – and everything else’ where you’ll find an eclectic mix of articles and information.

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