Nature as Therapist

Seeing The World in a Raindrop (and Happy Equinox!)

Hello! I’m Kate, a psychotherapist sharing weekly Letters from Therapy. If you enjoy my writing, make sure you’re subscribed. Improve your life and relationships and join me to nurture your soul, accept yourself and find deeper meaning, by upgrading to a paid subscription. You’ll get enriching discovery tools, worksheets and journaling, the podcast, the Heal Your Past Course and more. You’re invited!

The Healing Power of Nature

‘To see a world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.’ William Blake

Hi friends,

I’m writing this from the middle of Bushy Park on the edge of London, a wild, ancient space with roaming deer, long grass, and endless birdsong.

The tree above me sways with new spring leaves glinting with hope. Mud squelches under my boots while my hands warm in my pockets. Pepper chases invisible creatures by the glimmering stream. A group of Blue Jays bow to each other as I pick my way along the path. They remind me that change is afoot.

A twisted memory surges up like a fire, as a drumming woodpecker offers her beat. I tread the swell of past pain into the ground for the next storm to wash away. A robin adds his melody as a drifting feather floats into my palm. Cool air dries my tear as my lungs fill with a deep breath. My shoulders drop. The sun kisses my face as I close my eyes, and bask in the birdsong lullaby. Inspiration burrows her seed in my soul.

I pull a wet branch dotted with pink and green towards me, brimming with a sweet scent surprise. A valiant raindrop clings to the tip. Inside shine the trees, the ground, the sky, the river, the blossom and green specks of hope. I see myself. The whole world in a raindrop.

A stormy sky over Bushy Park

Nature as Therapist

It’s well documented that walking in nature is good for our mental health, as

Dark Coffee Reads

attested in a recent comment. When walking in nature we use all our senses, bringing us back home to our body. We escape the looping stories in our minds that rarely hold truth, and send them off on the winds. My daily walk in nature is my place and time for healing, reflection and inspiration. It’s where I find community too, as fellow walkers join me on my wanders.

Walking releases the feel-good endorphins to send those shadows and untruths away. Our muscles stretch, and life flows again through stagnant cells.

Nature for Better Sleep

I’ll sleep well tonight. Being out in daylight stimulates our brain to make melatonin, one of our essential hormones that makes us fall asleep. It’s not stored in the body: the only way to make it is from being out in the light. We sleep even better if we’ve had some exercise too. Trouble sleeping? Get outside.

The Soothing Colours of Nature

The colours of nature are shown to soothe us too. The greens, blues and yellows of spring, the rainbows of summer and cool browns of autumn. I’m lucky to have trees on my street to watch, and in the garden outside my home, where birds nest and sing.

Nature Welcomes You Home

It is easier to commit to daily walks when you have your own personal trainer (see photo). If you’re out of practice it can take self discipline. You may even feel awkward at first, though trust that it’s where you belong. Nature is where you came from.

Will you experiment with me and take a walk this week, of one of the following options, and let us know how you felt?

My personal trainer, Pepper

Daily Nature Therapy for Well-being

If you can’t get out to walk in nature, there are more options for you to come home to yourself:

• The park (complete with benches).

• The sea, or a river, outside or inside it.

• The scenic route to work.

• Nurturing houseplants promotes well-being. Take time to study their form and beauty.

• The sounds of nature, like birdsong, are shown to have a positive impact on mental health. I discovered this mind blowing work free on Audible: The Healing Power Of Nature packed with beautiful sounds including birdsong. I’m sure you’ll find more like this online.

• Look at the trees outside your window.

• Go all in and try forest bathing.

• Gardening:

  Farrah @Substack
  gardened her way out of burnout.

• Moon-gaze, and stargaze.

• Watch the sunrise/sunset.

• Watch the clouds float by, and imagine unhelpful thoughts and residual pain float away with them.

• Bring home a treasure: a feather, acorn or a leaf to keep and remind you how nature has evolved through the depths of time.

• Jodie Melissa Rogers
  has more ideas for spring here.

• Live with the seasons suggests

  Victoria Harrison
  , find her ideas to celebrate todays equinox here, a day when day and night are of equal length.

• Look inside the next raindrop you see!

Try a walk in nature, or one of these and let us know what change it brings. Make it a daily ritual to commune with nature! Bonus points if you write about your experiences while you are out.

Bluebells in Dorset

You Are Nature, Nature is You!

We are made of earth and atoms; of stardust. Nature is our mother. You are nature. Come home to yourself. Nature is you!

Let me know how your nature experiment goes in the comments, or tell me your favourite place to be in nature!

If you’re reading on Substack, don’t forget to press the like, and feel free to share with someone you think might like this too.

With love,

Kate

You might also like these posts Setting Intentions To Reclaim Your Power, The World Will Hold You, or The Road Less Travelled and Everything I Wish I Knew Before

My wanderings in nature

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