A Talk About My Journey And Healing Through Nature

This is not a meditation, but a talk about my journey, my struggles through mental illness, and my recovery, which is what led me to write and become a therapist. I talk about how I take inspiration through nature and how you could look at the world around you and find your glimmer of hope. I’m not sure if anyone would even be interested in this but I had a calling to write it just in case you needed to hear it today.
Namaste

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Charlotte and I've been writing on Insight Timer since 2020.

I try and write as much as I can,

But I'm also a hypnotherapist and have specialised in the recovery from mental illness for 12 years now.

I love using my own sound recordings like birds and streams,

And I'll play some of those sounds on the background of this recording,

And also some snippets of my favourite music.

As I mentioned,

I've been a hypnotherapist for 12 years,

Specialising in mental health,

But I didn't one day just decide to work in mental illness with no personal experience.

I come from a background of suffering from severe mental illness.

About 20 years ago I experienced severe panic attacks,

Anxiety and depression.

My healing was an incredible struggle and I wanted to give up on life on many occasions,

But somehow I didn't and my journey got me here.

And 20 years later I'm healed and still healing.

I was writing long before I started writing on Insight Timer because I always wrote for my own clients,

But after 10 years I wanted to see if I could help others.

I know it's different because there are no therapeutic sessions,

But if I could just help one person feel better with something I've written that would mean the world to me.

Most of my work now is about nature,

And I love nature,

But it didn't always used to be that way.

But now I think I'm possibly addicted to nature.

And when I started writing nature into my work,

The more I realised that,

Oh my gosh,

The answers we're looking for are actually right in front of us.

I see that nature holds the key.

It shows us those pockets of hope,

And when we look we can see that it has the answers to everything.

We live in a world where mental illness is so widespread yet still so misunderstood.

Why are so many people desperately unwell with mental illness?

I know it won't be for everybody's case,

But a lot of my clients I see simply have lost their way.

They've never done what they really wanted to do,

And they've often spent years doing something they find no enjoyment in.

They throw themselves into situations that cause them distress and upset,

Sometimes every day.

When people start to struggle with keeping up with the world and society's expectations of what people think happiness should be,

And where we think happiness should come from,

It's also a feeling of being completely misunderstood,

Rushed through life unheard,

When what really matters is that somebody hears you,

That someone can stand there and say,

I see you.

I see you and what you want and what you need matters.

You matter and you and your thoughts are important.

You don't see nature trying to fit in.

A rose doesn't try and fit into someone's expectations because they think they should or have been guided through life to think that they should bloom in a certain way and at a certain time,

No.

A rose will always flower when it's its own time,

When it's ready.

We don't look at nature and berate it for not being good enough.

We just love it for how it is.

Could you even imagine a world where we just love ourselves and each other for who we are and for how we are?

Can you imagine waking up one day and just thinking,

Today I'm taking off the layers of what expectations have dressed me in.

Today I'm going to be me.

Not me with any add-ons,

But me with nothing added on.

And as I look around at nature,

I see the incredible offerings nature has.

Its rawness,

Its sheer ability to be itself.

It doesn't try hard to change or conform.

It's itself.

When I was on a walk the other day,

There was a broken bench and it got me thinking that it's that broken bench.

The bench that someone used to sit on.

The bench amongst the trees that used to listen to who sat upon it and spoke.

The bench that the trees and nature could feel and hear.

But now the bench is old and broken.

But the nature around it doesn't say,

Oh you're rubbish now.

It says,

Okay,

What's next?

It's the moss that begins to grow upon it.

It's the entirely new universe it creates.

It's the leaves that fall upon it from the oak tree in autumn or the weight of the snow that breaks a branch that lands upon it.

So the bench may be broken now,

But nature always has other plans.

It will consume it within it and it will become something new.

And it doesn't have to try hard.

It doesn't have to change form.

It just has to be.

I love the seasons so much.

I love autumn the most because it's a season that shows you how to let go.

I love winter for how it gently guides you through your downtime.

Then before you know it,

Spring arrives and it shows you that you can start again.

You can grow again.

You can each day become a new version that is closer to you.

And then summer,

A time of simply blooming in your own way.

A time of being warm and a time of stillness.

And then again,

Before you know it,

Autumn is back around.

And it shows you that it's going to be that time again.

Time again to let go of all the things in the year that you no longer want to keep hold of.

And when you see this,

I hope you can see that your precious life is not about trying to be different or adding anything more into your world.

It's not about trying to be you.

It's about being you.

Uncovering who you are because we forget.

We go through life and we are made to forget.

Through school we do things we don't enjoy.

The worse you are at it,

The more you're made to do it.

But life likes to throw lots of different things at us.

And if I'd never have been pushed over into my darkness,

I'd have never been able to see how the light gets through.

And you can see that through the trees.

Look in a forest,

The canopy of trees casts a shadow.

But above the shadow and above the canopy of the trees,

There is the sun.

And every now and then,

When a gentle breeze blows,

You can see that there is a glimmer of light that speckles down onto what lay beneath.

It's nature showing you that through the shadows can come the light.

And that is really how I try and write.

It's not about adding.

It's about taking away.

It's about you finding you.

Thank you so much to all my listeners,

All my reviews that I get.

I really,

Really appreciate every single one of you.

And I wish you nothing but happiness and wellness and contentment.

Namaste.

Reviews

Lovely comparisons. We are here to grow and flourish, just as nature is. Everything else is noise, the canopy of leaves that does not let through the light.

What a beautiful bio in introduction to your work.I've listened to you for a while.And your metaphors about nature have brought healing. May Mother Nature continue to give you beauty and the Universe give you the words to share and heal. Be well

Thank you so much for sharing a glimpse of your story. Nature is a wonderful gift, I love the analogy with the rose 🥀. I will be visiting your profile once I have posted this. 🙏

Thank you for the beautiful sharing 🩷

Such a beautiful story. It was so inspiring & gave me so much peace. Thank you so much Charlotte. Your. Voice was so very soothing. Namaste 🙏

Such a lovely, poignant, heart-full meditation 🍃💕🙏🏻

Thank you for sharing your story and your journey. I can relate to so much of what you said. It’s a painful and long process but I’m hoping to get somewhere where one day I can say I’m truly happy. Sadly it’s been a long time! And winter is a difficult season for me. So I’m really looking forward to spring! You have helped me more than you know Charlotte and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sending blessings and positive vibes to you always. 💜🪻🎆

Dear soul, thank you for sharing your experience with the world. As a Naturopath, I can relate to parts of what you have lived through. Nature was and is the key to a balanced life. Blessings to you Charlotte for your work of love.
✨️🙏✨️

How soothing and beautiful! Thank you for speaking your truth and sharing it to help others.

Thank you for sharing this insight into your own journey, and for your gift of writing and composing meaningful and insightful meditations that you are sharing with the Insight Timer community. Many blessings for you 🙏 ✨

Thank you for sharing some of your personal journey. I too am recovering still, over 40 years later & only recently found my bliss and love of nature. Truly balancing my perspective on my life’s experiences & helping me recover by sharing her awe inspiring wonders 🌸🧡🌸

If we can be addicted to nature, I’d say I am as well. Great talk! Thanks for sharing 🙏🦋💜

Beautiful. This is how life is. Just go with the flow. Let it be just like nature, it all works out as its supposed to be . Thank you for sharing this insight with our community

Thank you. Thank you for being you and sharing. Sending love and light 💗

Thank you for sharing your story. So encouraging. Thank you Charlotte.
I am so pleased you came up on my recommended list. 🙏🌟🕊

A beautiful simple description of your long healing journey shared for us. How we strip away layers to find ourselves, our rhythms, and what gives us joy in life is something we rarely focus on. We strive to add more, be more. It is exhausting. I love how you talk about nature as your healer, teacher, and sanctuary.
I try to find hope and ways to support the good many are doing. It's one way to counter despair I feel at the suffering we humans inflict on each other across the world. You are a gentle force for good.
Thank you for love and hope. Namaste.

You have a soft, friendly voice and I could totally imagine walking in the woods with you, and seeing what you see. It made me smile 😊
Thank you 🙏

dear Charlotte-
your words feel as if they are landing deep deep inside my being.Thank you for sharing some of your story-it did help me.❤️
I have been moving through some dark,dark times,and I too feel I am becoming addicted to nature..I hold conversations with the wee creatures as I move alongside them,they are so wondrous.
I discovered one of your meditations last night-and your words quite literally made me cry-when you spoke the words
“you are worthy “
so grateful for you and your beautful gifts❤️

Thank you for not only speaking well, yet also listening so well, listening which informs your speaking. Thank you for the deeply important work you do. Grateful 🙏Namaste.

This was so lovely, Charlotte - it was just as soothing as one of your meditations ❤️ thank you.