Connect To Nature For Support During Stressful Times

Sharing and connecting to the resources of nature to support your well-being in the stressful times of COVID-19. When we allow ourselves moments of connection to nature, the nervous system can be restored to healthy states.

Transcript

Hi, Welcome. Thanks for taking a few moments to join me. I'm here in my backyard, New opportunities with our current recommendations and new changes that a lot of us are adapting to, To be staying home more and taking care of ourselves and doing our responsible part for our community to help us in this time of our changing cultural landscape with the COVID-19 pandemic. So I want to meet with you to be able to provide some resources, Be able to provide some ways to take care. As a lot of these changes that are coming create feelings of stress or anxiety or worry, Fear, Even just the sense of uncertainty or instability can be consuming at times. And we have lots of different resources that can support us to get through in a healthy way during this time, Not just physically, As many of us are focused on, But also emotionally and mentally. So I just want to take this opportunity to share with you how important actually just being outside can, Can help our immune systems as well as our emotional and mental health. When we spend just a few minutes outside connecting to the sounds, To the colors, The temperatures, The quiet can be really soothing for the nervous system. And when the nervous system is supported and buoyed, We can manage stress better. We can manage the challenges that might be arising in our life a little bit better. So I just invite you, This is one resource that we all have access to in different forms, Even if you've only got a patio, Which is what my condition is. I do live in a canyon and I plan to be recording from here and trying to invite in some opportunities to practice with nature. But just being in it in some capacity will facilitate a greater sense of ease and calm for your body and your nervous system, Which supports your immune system. And then also meditation, Mindfulness practices are really helpful during this time to also support all the strain or struggles we might be facing with these changing times. So I want to offer some resources around that as well, Tips, Some tools to help you take care of your inner landscape in a healthier way. So in this moment, I want to invite just a short and brief practice together, Which is to, If you can, Open a window, Take yourself outside, Get connected to something in nature. And as you do that, I want to invite you to just begin to turn your attention in. If you want to close your eyes, You can, And if you don't, That's fine too. Maybe you want to leave the eyes open to sustain the connection that you're inviting yourself to notice in nature. And as you do that, I want to invite you to just feel into what in nature is alluring you. What is calling to you right now that just feels easy, Natural, And available for support? So as you begin to allow yourself to connect in that way, Maybe it's a sound of a bird, A coolness of a breeze, The sense of the smells or the vastness that you might be connecting to. And as you feel into all of that, See if you can just let a little bit of that land in this inner landscape and see if you can notice if it helps support the calming the mind, Maybe grounding the body, Or maybe softening or lightening the heart. And so that's just a little simple brief practice, Right, In which to feel what we can be connected to around us and how that can land on the inner landscape to support us, Soothe us, Nurture us, Care for us in whatever way we might need. Just this little simple act of what's here around us, Supporting us in nature and how that can fill our nervous system, Fill our wellbeing up and taking the time for that as best you can throughout your day in this time. So I'll be offering more of these little brief connecting opportunities for us to learn various ways to practice, To be outside, To practice mindfulness and to resource ourselves during this time that we're all dealing with and we're all in it together. Just want to end with just reminding us how interconnected we are. And if we're not seeing that or didn't see that before, Now more than ever, And what a gift, What an opportunity. So I just invite you to continue to take care of yourself, Continue to feel supportive ways to be amidst all of this. And I'm here to support you.

Reviews

I’m up before daybreak. I thought that it would be a good idea to visit the screened in porch and notice nature as day breaks. Birds are very noisy at this time. Everything seems a bit mysterious. A meditation in this environment is what I was now thinking about. Apparently I wasn’t the first one.

Really nice. I'm fortunate to live in a country setting on many acres of land, just outside a small town and a bit further from a larger one. While as essential personnel, my husband and I still have to go in to work on a regular basis, we can come home and go for our daily/nightly 3.5 mile (give it take) walks along our back country road, listening to the crickets and spring peepers, and last night we saw the first fireflies of the season. While in graduate school, I did research on the positive effects of nature sounds in an office setting (specifically an open floor plan, cubicle-based social work office) with respect to which sounds were optimal for decreasing stress, increasing calm, productivity, creativity, etc, and the ideal delivery method for these sounds. I later did creativity research where individuals took tests of creative thinking in a room in which there were no plants but a bookshelf with diverse titles featured, no bookshelf but a single plant, no plant and no bookshelf but a window with a view to a green landscape with trees and grass, and a variation of the single plant experiment which examined different specific varieties of plants to see if there was any noticeable difference as to the type of plant and creative effects. (I was surprised to find there were some pretty significant ones, and not exactly what I had hypothesized for the paper, though on a gut level it made sense. Pro tip: If you want peace and free-flowing creative juices, avoid sharp, pointed leaves and stay away from cacti, though aloe is okay, probably because it's associated with soothing and relief actions.)

I miss my mountains and snow, but having the opportunity now - especially now - to get out and wander around in nature, listen to the stream at the back of our property and check out what new creative ideas the beavers have gotten up to, say hi to our horse (and the horses, cows, donkeys, and mules across the street), our free range flock of chickens, the wild rabbits and turkeys, listening to the owls and hawks and frogs and birds, seeing all the tree frogs glued to my kitchen window at night (the light draws the bugs, meaning the frogs get fed rather easily - smart critters!), and much more - all very soothing and restorative to my heart, spirit, mind, and body. I am truly blessed. Fortunately, though, even looking at photos of greenery can provide some of these benefits for those without green access, such as apartment dwellers in a downtown area of a large city. Even better if there is a soft background track of nature sounds playing while looking at the photos, or wall hanging, or even a nature documentary on tv.

The healing and steadying power of nature cannot be overstated but is sadly frequently underestimated. I'm so grateful for people like you who bring this beautiful natural resource out, front and center. And now, with the few minutes I have left before heading out to work, I think I'll do some cloud-watching as the sun finishes rising. 🌄🌤️❤️☺️

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights with us here. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤️🤲🏻

Very nice, thank-you!!