Self-Care Practice: Nature Therapy

I don’t want a year like 2020 again (does anyone?). So many challenges, so many mutterings of “Well, this is new/unexpected”, so much shifting, changing, grieving, and wondering. As is often true during our most challenging human moments, 2020 provided us with chances to be different. To do different. By wiping the slate clean of many of the usual “gotta”, “should”, and “must”, space opened up to allow other opportunities and appreciations – both familiar and new – to take hold. 

Prior to lock-down, I walked regularly, often with Sally, our Jack Russell/Australian Shepherd mix. I enjoyed our walks (and Sally always enjoys her walks!), often leaving my phone at home, the better to enjoy our time together. Although I was never rushed, and I enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature, there was always “something” to get home to do, a “next thing on the list”, My appreciation and enjoyment were of the “walk-thru” variety, and my mind might often wandered. 

Looking back, it feels like spring was a few days of light-green, fuzzy trees, some early blooming, and then “all of the sudden” all the trees were leafed out, and flowers were in full bloom.  

But nature is not quick, not in the Upper Midwest. That’s for sure. Spring has a big job to do to get us from winter to summer – a big job, and a slow one. Walking during spring 2020 gave me a new outlook on spending time in nature, and an even deeper appreciation for the magic that is spring.  

I had all the time in the world, so Sally and I took that time, stopping at all of the “new” things we experienced. The rich and promising smell of earth after snow melt. The colorful sight of first leaves and tiny, brave early blooms. The fuller and less-brittle sound of wind through increasingly fuller branches. The rich cacophony of frogs and insects, awake again. The feel of increasingly warmer air on increasingly barer skin.  

I stopped and closed my eyes - listening, feeling. I breathed expansively, welcoming in new energy. I challenged myself to let angst or heaviness melt away as we walked many, many miles. I allowed.  

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. 

I was excited for spring 2021, excited to experience another spring seen through my new lens, and it was as awesome as I hoped it would be. I came to appreciate that I, too, am part of nature. As goes nature, my transitions – from spring to summer, sickness to health, uncertainty to solid ground – take time. I have leaned into that idea, using many of the tools we embrace on the mat – breath, mindfulness, kindfulness (a Green Lotus word and concept), space, and time – to get me there. 

Amy and Sally

My walks now are a rich and vital part of my self-care, for all of my selves: physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and energetic. Spending time in nature reduces our blood pressure, stress and tension and increases a sense of positivity. In Minnesota, we are blessed with an abundance of opportunities to enjoy nature in all seasons. Where can you enjoy those blessings, and how can they become a part of your self-care?  

Need a quick dose of nature? Click on the video below, watch/listen (maybe close your eyes?), and breathe (4 counts in, 4 counts out, then lengthen to 4 in and 6 out). 

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