Nature
For me, one way we can do this is by getting back to Nature. We can approach this in a variety of ways:
- By sitting in Nature and noticing all the different sights, scents, sounds and sensations
- By observing the feelings we experience when we do this
- By contemplating the Life Force shared by all living things
- By watching other creatures that share our space, and learning more about them
- By having plants around us – in our homes, and gardens if we have them
The news recently reported that there has been a huge surge of visitors to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) website as people turn to Nature and growing things in order to use these weeks and months productively, and also to support their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing in these strange and uncertain times.
The opportunity to put our hands in the soil and to watch things grow, nurturing them and tending to them, is so good for the soul! It connects us with the Earth, with all living things, and with something deep and elemental within ourselves. It can take us out of thoughts of the past and worries about the future, connecting us with the present moment, while also holding a vision for growth and a harvest ahead.
Growing your own is also a great way to provide extra, fresh produce for the dinner table where you can know exactly where and how it was grown. And it’s as ‘local’ as it can get!
You don’t need much space, and if you don’t have a garden or an allotment, you can use a windowsill! You can start small with a few herbs – such as mint, chives, parsley or coriander – which make a tasty, and healthy, addition to meals.
Hanging baskets are another great way to create space for growing things such as cherry tomatoes or strawberries.
You can also grow plants in pots indoors. My mother in law has a kumquat plant in her living room. It has produced enough fruit for her to make a delicious marmalade. Chilli plants too, seem to have become very popular in recent years.
Another wonderful thing about Nature is that she can help to ‘re-wild’ us; that is to strip back our conditioning so that we can access our elemental, ‘wild’ self. I think that this term has become misunderstood though. We often picture ‘wild’ as being crazy, frantic and chaotic, but in fact it is the opposite of this. Things in Nature tend to conserve their energy and focus on being balanced and in harmony with their environment. They are always authentic and aligned with who they are. Spending time in this space can help us to reconnect with the core of who we are, to accept this, and to live from this place of Being.
Tomorrow I’ll be looking at ways to spend time with our animals, and what we can learn from them.