Nature has always been a huge part of my life. I was born in a small country town in the rainforests of Queensland and I know deeply that I have always had a strong connection with nature. The following is a story that my Mum has shared with me about growing up in the country.
When I was a two-year-old child the yard around our home was defined by where Mum mowed to. Outside of where she mowed the grass was very long and she said that she never worried about me leaving the mowed area, as I really didn’t like the long grass.
However this day – yes, somewhere there are photos to prove it – I had wandered into the long grass to sit under a horse and scratch her belly. Somehow I knew even then that this was a gentle horse and that she would not hurt me.
However, somewhere between being this very connected two year old and my teen years, something changed within me and even though I still loved to spend time in nature, much of this was because I wanted to escape my everyday life.
As a teenager, I rode horses. This was really quite an amazing thing, because as a child aged about 7 years I fell off a horse and was quite scared of them and didn’t show much interest in learning to ride until I spent the weekend with a friend who was absolutely horse mad. On this weekend I got a taste of the freedom that I felt when I was riding and this inspired me to push down my fear – that I might add was always with me – and learn to ride.
I know now that to do this, I had push down these feelings of fear by choosing to ignore how I felt, making my body numb with hardness. I forced myself to learn how to ride and as I write this I can feel that hardness in my body still. Little did I know it then, but by doing this I then set in motion a way of being, a built-in protective mechanism, that I had to ‘harden-up’ to cope with my life and to get things done.
I can say that in these years of my life I had an extremely gentle, trustworthy horse and while riding him I didn’t feel afraid: however, on every other horse I always did. But the reason that I rode was simply to escape my life for a moment. If you had asked me why I rode as a teen I would have said I enjoyed doing it, yet now I can feel the truth and even though I did enjoy riding, I did it to get out of cleaning my room, or helping with the housework or to simply be away from the house for the day. But most especially to feel the exhilaration of riding, as when I felt this I felt that I was special; that I was enough.
As I began to move through my life, the way in which I used nature to escape and disconnect changed. I had two beautiful children and riding was now not an option. From this moment in my life I began to walk instead, as I could push the pram and head off.
What I realise now though, is that both of these activities were done from a deep belief that I was not enough in my life and I simply used nature as a moment to not feel how I was feeling. It always felt so much better after and during riding or walking, that it was like a drug for me.
I walked every chance I could get. Yet never once did it enter my head that my life could be as equally enjoyable, so never once did I begin to address the things in my life that were making me feel quite depressed and that I was not enough in the first place.
Over the past few years though, this has changed; I am finding that I am feeling more like the two year old again. I have an innate trust in my body and what I feel, so my true connection with nature is again there for me to explore and enjoy, only now I feel deeply that I am as equally grand as the trees, the earth, the rivers, the creeks, the oceans. And when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me.
My walks in nature are now a part of my day, and if I am having a moment of trouble, simply walking in nature reminds me of who I truly am. As I watch the trees bend and move as the wind blows, going with the flow of the day, yet not changing what they are, I am reminded of the same for myself.
Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I. In feeling this, it is clear to me that some of the behaviours that I have chosen are not actually coming from the true nature of who I am. These behaviours are not solid and steady and often they are fickle and picky and are ways of being that are niggling, reinforcing the lie that I am not enough.
As I take stock and grasp fully these understandings as they arise, and make the necessary changes, there are times when I can feel tossed about a little, just like the trees in the wind, yet at the end of the day I am still me. The support I feel in nature is not grandiose or something I need. It is simply something that is, like many things in life, offered to us; it is then up to us to rise in equalness to the support that is present.
I would like to thank Adele Leung for writing “A True Relationship with Nature”, as reading this has inspired me to write about my own connection with nature.
Inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
By Leigh Strack, Receptionist/Esoteric Healing, Eungella, Queensland
Further Reading:
Being Still – With Joy
By Connecting To Our Natural Rhythms We Improve Our Well-being
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Yes Brendan, nothing I have ever experienced comes close to matching living in harmony with myself. The feeling is so glorious that I am deeply inspired and committed to living this way every moment. It is not easy to do this at times, especially when something triggers us, but it is worth understanding and letting go of our triggers, one by one. For each that we let go of allows us to stay with the harmony more.
Leigh you have a beautiful way of describing things. One part I really relate to is when you said you are feeling more and more like a two year old, I feel that too, a return of true wonder if the world and an innate delicateness for all that’s in it.
Let our two year old selves lead the way I say, each time I stop and feel my two year old self with in me, I am shared a wealth of wisdom, for I am always shown the absolute power at being present with my life. My two year old self always knows innately what I need to traverse what is presenting in each moment.
Ok – this is something I definitely have to try! You are absolutely correct when we are two years old we are naturally present, and there’s a huge power, sweetness and clarity that comes with presence.
So true Leigh, in feeling the strength of our true nature any behaviours we have outside of this become obvious, great to identify the difference. This is a very beautiful blog that feels supportive for me in the reminder of where we are from.
I agree Brendan,
The sounds of Nature I am newly discovering have a rhythm all of their own. Morning sounds different to evening. The birds one hears are different, there are birds that are active of a morning that we don’t hear or see of an afternoon. Yesterday I was washing up and found myself very aware of the sound of the wind in the mountains beside me and I clocked that even the wind sounds different from morning to evening. I feel that I am just beginning to explore this rhythm with in the rhythm of nature and look forward to doing so.
Dear Leigh,
Thank you for this blog. It is insightful to feel how we can use literally anything in life as an escape to feeling ourselves, even nature, the very thing that may be considered by many as very pure. It is inspiring to feel how you have cleared this and now have healed your relationship with nature through healing on a deeper level your relationship with yourself.
As a child I never questioned the fact that I was part of nature and it was part of me – I simply accepted it. As an adult of almost 50 I am rediscovering the joy of that connection the more I surrender to it (again!).
I love that we didn’t question Helen, this holds us strong as we re-remember who we are.
Leigh I love nature too but in the past I used it as an escape. When young I would spend as much time riding as I could spare. The companionship of the horse, its warmth, the freedom I felt when galloping, the tender green of spring or the bare trees of winter, the snow allowed me to forget myself and the pain I lived day in day out. Later on when horses were no longer available to me walking took their place. I know now that I was trying to compensate for a deep sense of emptiness, a total lack of self worth. I was using nature as a means to disconnect even further from myself.
Great point Patricia, we can use nature to bring us closer to love or nature can be used in a harming way to take us further away from ourselves.
Yesterday I brought my partner to the bus station in Frome, England. We were waiting in front of the bus. There was a beautiful sunrise many birds circling in big groups above us. It felt so amazingly and magical. I started to sing and my partner joined in. When I went to my car it was blocked by another car. So I stood in the middle of Frome and looked at the amazing sky and felt the connection to nature and God so strongly. Than I looked around and at the other people waiting at the bus station. They didn’t appear to see and feel the magic we are offered.
Dear Janina,
It truly saddens me as I watch other people in todays world. Many are constantly plugged into some device or another. Some I have observed, go for their walks in nature this way, missing the sound of the rustle of the breeze in the leaves, the birds twittering and connecting with other people. When I have walked in the city, these things are still there, along with the traffic noise and the general movements of the city, yet in their own way they too deserve to be heard and experienced. They bring us into our life and the reality of the world. Being plugged in does not allow for this connection, a true bane in modern society.
It’s absolutely astonishing the beauty people miss by not being consciously aware. Though I know if there is something wrong for me, or I do not feel connected and present within myself I have absolutely no awareness of what’s going on around me and the beauty I could be missing, sometimes just the realisation of this snaps me out of it!
“I had push down these feelings of fear by choosing to ignore how I felt, making my body numb with hardness… Little did I know it then, but by doing this I then set in motion a way of being, a built-in protective mechanism, that I had to ‘harden-up’ to cope with my life and to get things done.” It is incredible how a choice that feels like other anyone, you set a course for yourself that shapes your life and which also helps to define who you are because, it and you become one until the day you realise that this is not true.
Eduardo, living hard, constantly protecting self is exhausting and so very tense and hurtful in our bodies. What has been shown to me is that this way of living leaves me feeling uncomfortable and unsure. But this I did not realise was in my body affecting me constantly. Yet it is a great example of how we feel something, but override it until the day we “realise it is not truth”.
Dear Leigh I am not that “nature-type” and therefore I love what your shared about your experience you have made with nature. I am getting to be more still since and therefore I love what you wrote: “. . . and when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me”. You inspired me to go out to allow myself to feel this being still in nature as well – wunderbar.
Reading your comment Esther we can stop ourselves in the way we live to actually have a strong connection to ourselves and nature. Thinking we are not a “nature type” …As we both discovered that relating to numerology our name stands also for harmony and connection with nature, much more there for us both to discover and open up to!
Yes Janina I agree there is so much more to discover and open up to – perhaps in the end I will find out that I was and am a “nature-type” form day one . . .
Your comment so made me smile Ester. The presciousness and exquisite tenderness that I feel in you is reflected every where in nature, you cannot escape it, you are a nature type.
I agree Leigh, we can trick ourselves so well with thinking like being not a “nature type” in that way avoiding the deep connection with actually have already lived in many lives with God and Nature and can reconnect to once we open up.
Thank you Leigh for sharing your beautiful story filled with inspirations. I especially appreciated your line “and when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me”.
I find that nature is there for us part of one big earth school really. It reminds us at times of how unnatural we are acting, shows how a diverse range of things can all work together in harmony, and demonstrates when things get out of balance how they need to be adjusted or restored to return that balance. I remind myself nearly every day to watch what is happening in the nature so that I can better understand myself and those around me. It is one of life’s free treasures but great teachers.
I love your last sentence Dean,
Nature is one of life’s free treasures and great teachers. Freeing ourselves enough to embrace this truth, is in its self one of life’s miracles.
And imagine that Leigh, nature surrounding us in every second and in every square inch of every single day. Talk about 24/7 support.
A support we have always had Dean, this begs for us to feel just how have we been living that we were not aware of it, and that now we are aware of it, that we don’t fully accept it as the natural truth it is, holding ourselves in the fullness of awe that we are so beautiful that being supported by the space (nature) around us is the simple truth of living.
‘It is one of life’s free treasures but great teachers.’ Super well said, all day and every day nature has something to teach us, I love how you pointed out that’s it can help us better understand ourselves and the world we live in.
I can remember that I used to escape from people and specially my family when I was a teenager, going to the horses and “feel free”. I was confronted with a radical power I could go and dominate by riding them.I had to harden up my body very hard to manage this horse power – but there was never a horse too strong for me. I remember saying: “it is easier to handle a horse and get physically hurt then dealing with people and get emotionally or psychologically hurt. There is straight proof and a straight result. That’s haptic and concrete to deal with.” How do you prove to the outside world that you get abused by the people around you, simply because they choose not to be who they truly are? There was no chance for me to see a way – so I decided to escape to the horses as well. That felt more honest than anything around me. Looking back it was me not claiming my truth and running away from that responsibility.
Dear Christinahecke,
Not claiming our truth and the responsibility that comes with it. Something that I am finding is that each day the truth to be claimed is different. There is always the depth of warmth and love inside, no matter what. This is the first and foremost truth to claim. Then though feeling the many and varied things that have been tried in our quest to be loved by others is the next thing to claim, in full, so that the truth of how we have lived, without our love guiding us, can be clearly exposed and let go of. I am learning claiming my truth is actually about taking responsibility for the choices I have made and still make sometimes. Anything that I accept full responsibility for can be easily dealt with. Anything that I blame another for, keeps coming back to me until I feel the part in it that I am responsible for.
That’s very beautifully said, Leigh! If ever I blame someone else for something I am not really taking my part in or – or accept and allow things to be different than I think they should be. Because even when we think we are speaking truth – I can be a lie looking back concerning the all – and then it’s not an universal truth that was needed that moment.
That would be great Christina hearing my about your experience with riding horses in a blog.
Thanks for inspiring me to do so, Janina!
My pleasure, i love reading blog from you Christina!
Leigh, I love the simplicity of your writing and yet you reveal to us all great truths. For example, “Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I.” This expresses for me the inner and outer connection, which I have always felt when walking with nature. Thank you.
I am inspired from this blog to get out into nature more. I love it when I do, but realise how little I take the time for this. being in nature is so very confirming.
Beautyfull Leigh Strack. What I got from this article is that we are so used to pushing ourselves through things to get relieve. I often wonder, why would we go for relief if there is truth? What I also felt is, how I have been supported by the Modalities of Universal Medicine (Serge Benhayon), is by always making sure that I capture myself and being honest when I make choices that are not loving. I will take a moment and sit with myself, feeling my heart and at the same time the possible emotions I have been running with. Most of the time, big things have occur that I did not want to feel. By feeling that after or maybe some times at that possible time, I can make a choice to let go of that. As I see that I am not THAT, but I am actually me.
Danna,
And sometimes it can be something as small as a look from another, no words exchanged. So learning to catch ourselves when we step away from our bodies is a life long commitment to constantly return to our body and our connection.
Yes Leigh, to always bring the honesty to our body and really feel what is going on. I know I have spend more time checking out, numbing myself – all not to feel my body.. Well I am building now a momentum(space of time) in my life that I make sure I am reflecting back to my body and take the time to feel how my body feels instead of running around making sure I do not contact my body at all! Must say it is so much better to feel what is going on than denying the whole lot!
Looking back on my life I can see times when I have been very disconnected from nature, even though working with it on a daily basis. I was so checked out, I see what was going on right under my nose. From time to time I still check out a bit if faced with a boring task but all it takes is a second to choose to reconnect and see the beauty of whats going on and what I am doing.
This goes in anything that we do Kevin McHardy, there are so many boring tasks that are required to be done, but each of these tasks support us to live. The boring is disappearing from my vocabulary and in its place is deep honor that I can do a task, with me present and tender knowing that what I am doing supports me to live, and often times supports others as well. I am beginning to understand, how can a task be boring, when it holds with in it the offering of supporting someone who is in true service to humanity.
“The boring is disappearing from my vocabulary…”
I love this discussion Leigh and Kevin McHardy, we are so used to walking through life constantly looking for stimulation and of course if stimulation is our goal then boring is part of our lives. However, as you are sharing, when I bring all of me to a task how can it be boring as I am there in all my joy and gorgeousness to do it?
To be in and see and feel nature, the rhythms taking place, the steadiness of just being naturally resonate inside me, either helping me to reconnect to or confirm the same interconnected beingness in me.
Reading your blog Leigh I realised that I do not fully appreciate the power of nature and the Magic of God that is around us in every moment. I loved (and will ponder on) your line “Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I”. There is so much to learn from nature and, like you, I am committed to just being me as I learn and evolve from it’s lessons.
So true Shirl, nature has so much to offer as far as reflecting back to us the natural beauty we all have within
How true Shirl all the offerings that are before us to bring us back to “the Magic of God” that is with us all the time.
Re-reading this awesome blog again today I realise how much (and I feel pretty sure many of us have) throughout my life I chose to ignore or push down ‘those feelings of fear’ a little message from our body to say STOP and feel, ‘is this the self loving way or do we carry on and numb and harden our bodies pursuing more escaping ways to avoid feeling our truth? To walk in nature is a beautiful way to bring ourselves back to feeling (if we choose) and just look at the view while doing so. Thank you Leigh an inspirational sharing.
There are so many ways that we carry on and numb ourselves Marion and these are constantly being reveled to me, and I am constantly feel the invite to refine how I live. It feels very natural to live life this way and very beautiful to know that the support that nature offers is forever present in our lives, if we are open to it.
I used to have a real need to be in nature, for it to give me something I felt I was lacking. This only helped to confirm the belief that I was lacking something in the first place. Whereas now, when I am out in the woods or the fields and I feel full and lovely with myself, then nature is simply a confirmation of who I am and my place in the whole universe.
I love Nature and I love to be in Nature. I love to see and feel its beauty, strength, steadiness and power. Being in Nature supports me to let go of things I am struggling with and to re-connect to me.
I agree piajung and when i am in nature and let myself be with nature as one, i return to my natural flow and harmony.
Hi Leigh, while reading your blog I have realized how much I still ignore and override what I am feeling and my body then hardens due to this. Thank you for your sharing.
This is a great way of putting it Brendan – that there is support on offer, but for it to truly be supportive it has to come from inside us first.
Leigh’s sharing “simply walking in nature reminds me of who I truly am” is something I can relate to. Walking in nature (which is everywhere) I feel where I am from – and that it is possible to live a steady flow of self connection amidst anything I come across in life – that the expansion, magic, order, precision, divinity, rhythm, flow, grace, power, minute ordered heavenly detail of nature is equally my natural state, and can be lived and returned to by us all – not in any ‘back to nature’ mental picture, but just in a practical lived connection with ourselves through our days.
Recently I realised that we so often get distracted by the beauty of nature, because we see it as more beautiful than we are. In fact, as you have so beautifully written here, Leigh, nature is the same as we are. The beauty we see in the stunning absoluteness of nature is the same stunning beauty that is within us, they are reflections of each other.
I can feel stillness and deep acceptance in you Naren, it is truly beautiful.
Most people I hear talking about the amazing beauty of nature are not aware of their own beauty and don´t feel being reflected and deepened in their connection with themselves. Nature then becomes something to fill themselves with, leaving them even more empty and very dependent on the next ‘fix’ may it be a walk, run, horse riding, gardening etc
To understand nature as a reflection of and for ourselves is a very much needed revelation that Serge Benhayon has re-introduced to humanity.
So very true, Alex. Nature is an amazing support for us to reconnect to ourselves, but it supports us to realise that we are just as magnificent, just as stupendous, just as powerful, just as cyclical, just as delicate, and just as fragile.
But to give ourselves away to it, or to hold it as more or less than us, as opposed to equal, is a degradation of the relationship that it offers us all.
Its true Naren – and until we accept ourselves as the stupendous being that we are we really can’t appreciate nature in all its reflective glory.
Indeed, Helen. There is no separating the viewer from the view.
Being in nature is something that can bring me back to myself so very quickly. It can be walking along a river, near bush or beside the ocean. I can get the same reconnection no matter where it is, experiencing the magic of god, but there, aware of its beauty is really wonderful.
I recall when I was young I would love to go outside after the summer afternoon rain and enjoy the feeling of all the plants rejoicing in the watering they received. The colours of the grass, plants and trees would glow it was a magical moment. I lived next door to a creek which held much wonder. I had so much fun playing in the nature that surrounded me. I’ve realised that now there is so much busyness that to take time out to spend in nature is a planned event.Thank you Leigh for reminding me of how the connection to nature has a powerful healing effect.
Natalie,
I too love the moment after rain. And adore when there is a rainbow to crown the joy you speak of from the plants and the Earth it self. These moments truly are magical and we as humans could all be well reminded how the simpleness of enjoying these moments supports us all to connect and to share the love we feel with all.
Many of us recognise how rejuvenating and healing it is to be in nature. But if we seek to be in nature, in disconnection, loaded with that which doesn’t belong, aren’t we asking nature to deal with rather a lot?
That´s true for sure, we burden nature with our undealt stuff. Nevertheless, there is the grace God offers us via nature but that doesn´t take away the responsibility we have to live lovingly and honour nature for what it is.
Yes we do have a responsibility Alex, first of all to care ever so deeply for our selves. Once we make this our way of being it is almost impossible to not care for and fully respect nature.
As a child I had a very intimate relationship with nature, I felt naturally entwined in it. God was never spoken about in my family, simply because God was never really considered. However looking back I now feel clearly that I was in a very loving two way relationship with God, through my relationship with nature. The relationship was incredibly nurturing and loving and it didn’t matter at all that I never considered God, I was held by him constantly. To add, we are all held by God constantly, it’s just at times it feels more apparent than at others.
Alexis,
I love how you can feel how much God really holds us. That you know it clearly from your childhood. What a huge support for you. It is never ending, always present, and if I am not feeling it, than where has my head wondered to?
I realized this morning when i am connected with my body focused and still and go out for a walk the connection is directly there. And i just felt at one with nature. Amazing what is possible if we focus the attention on deepening feeling our body and not getting lost in thinking.
As the body is part of nature being connected to it would mean being connected to nature naturally so. But when we see ourselves separate from nature by identifying with the mind and being an individual we instantly are disconnected from nature just as we are from ourselves and everybody else.
Yes Alex Braun,
It is the feeling seperate from others that I really don’t like to feel when ever I let my head run away from my body. The feeling of interconnectedness that I have when I am fully present, filling my body with love, is becoming a clear marker, that pulls me to return when I pull away from me.
Leigh I love walking in nature too, I find if I am feeling out of sorts that after a short while of walking I reconnect to me. Nature to me is a real leveller and presents many messages along the way when I walk. What I love is that it is everywhere, even in the busiest of cities, it may be a little more built up, but nature finds it’s way into all of our lives.
True Jennifer. Once we have felt that flow in nature and in us, and felt how utterly held we are in that huge love – it stays with us on the busiest of city streets – and God’s magic knows no bounds – it’s in a typo – a sign post – a car numberplate – equally as it is in a rainbow, a feather, a bird or a vast breathtaking natural landscape.
I was introduced to the magic of nature at a very early age and have always felt such a strong but natural connection to it and the cycles that continue season by season in divine order. These days I live in the country and out my windows nature unfolds daily with so much joy and delight always on offer, with endless messages being presented to me, but of course it is up to me whether I listen, or not.
There is a purity about nature that we have often used to conceal that fact that there are different qualities of being out with nature as there are also different qualities about how we live in our day. Just because we head out into something as pure as nature can be does not necessarily mean the initial intent was to reconnect and truly be with ourselves.
Yes Leigh, we can escape in nature as much as be truly inspired by nature. It is up to us to feel and realise the difference. One goes on holiday the other stays open to the wisdom of the reflection of nature, and the magic of God.
Beautiful Jenny and so true: “Yes Leigh, we can escape in nature as much as be truly inspired by nature. It is up to us to feel and realise the difference.”
I have definitely experienced both – and hands down know which I prefer!
When we begin to address our hurts and take responsibility for our wellbeing, it changes every thing. There are still moments when I feel not enough but instead of reacting and blaming another like I used to, I commit to me by feeling more deeply the lack of self worth without indulging in it. Accepting there is more to heal and appreciation for the opportunity are key.
Dear Caroline,
So many of us find it easy to use lack of self worth to keep us stuck in old patterns and beliefs. I have felt and realised one of these such moments tonight and am eternally grateful that, thanks to the presentations by Serge Benhayin and all other Universal Medicine Practitioners, I could see it for what it was. To let it be and to now simply ponder upon it, to get a sense of what lies behind it. This so supports me to drop these unwanted behaviours.
“My walks in nature are now a part of my day, and if I am having a moment of trouble, simply walking in nature reminds me of who I truly am.” When I’m feeling not myself walking is a great tool to help me come back to me. I walk every day and it is now part of my day too.
It is always a choice whether we connect to our stillness or not, and whether we are in a city or surrounded by nature, the choice to see and feel the stillness and beauty is equally there. There is beautiful confirmation and reflection of our grandness in nature but the magic of God is everywhere, reflecting back to us even in the midst of a city, if we are willing to see it.
Yes it is Rosemary, nature is not just the wide open spaces or tree laden rainforest. The space around us is nature, be that in our home, in a city, on a bus or train. I am finding that when I surrender to my body and open to the space around me that I feel a sense of belonging/presence that is very stilling and I become very aware of what is happening in this space.
True Rosemarydunstan. I once would have ‘needed’ wilderness, or forest, or something pristine to remind me and bring me something I was not choosing within – now in connection with me, the flow and gracious space that I know in me and in nature, still walks with me on the busiest city street.
And a PS that God’s magic is everywhere and literally knows no bounds – even in the thickest of ‘urban jungle’ – car number plates strategically timed to deliver a loving message or reminder, so many ‘signposts’ available for God to playfully remind us we are always walking in a huge body of love, not only when we are in the countryside. God doesn’t need unspoilt country side, or any country side at all to offer constant support and love letters at every turn.
So very well said Kate.
Very beautiful Kate.
So well said Kate. It so important to remember that the Magic of God is everywhere, not is some particular garden, building or environment but everywhere.
Yes Jonathan – and doesn’t life change when we actually feel that we are absolutely held in such huge love – in a real tangible everyday way – and accepting that support and relationship – is the best friend we could ever dream of, supporting us with nudges and playful winks back to who we are. And on writing that – the kookaburras are going off in the morning sun (they are an Australian bird that laughs (loudly!)- with unrestrained joy) – yes we are forever held in a stupendous Love – and if we are willing to go to the letterbox, the love letters are everywhere.
“And when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me.” Yes Leigh I love this feeling too. It is a confirmation for us all that we are indeed part of a much bigger picture and we are connected when we are in our stillness.
Yes Kelly Zarb, nature does confirm us and remind us that we are part of a much bigger picture, one that sees us all as forever connected as one.
Thank you Leigh. Nature is very beautiful. It always offers me a reflection to connect and remind me of who I am through the magic of God. Nature reflects this back to me because it is me who knows who I am. A lot of us feel this from nature, and we feel inside that we are grand, but as we walk it is in disconnection from who we are. If we do not walk who we are then everything outside of we see is a distraction and stimulation to ‘keep us looking’.
Walk with our body. What supports me is to focus on one part of the body (eg. my legs) that I feel is the weakest or needs it and feel it as I walk. The focus is then on me and not what is around me.
Rik,
“Nature reflects back to me because it is me who knows who I am.” Just now I am flying home looking at the ocean and I have never before seen it so still. As I open my heart and fully appreciate what I am being shown my body becomes even more still and deeply solid.
Beautifully expressed Leigh – “Nature is solid” “And when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me”. To appreciate that connection within myself first to then appreciate fully the gift of what nature naturally reflects back.
Beautiful said Leigh and Marion.
Leigh, like you “my walks in nature are now a part of my day, and if I am having a moment of trouble, simply walking in nature reminds me of who I truly am”. Walking in the country is quite different from walking in the city. Having experienced both, I much prefer walking in the country. In the country nature is more accessible and the Magic of God is in every plant and animal one encounters along the way when we are connected to our inner most.
I used to escape a lot into Nature when I felt misunderstood and rejected. What I have come to now is that I don’t need anything not even nature to run away to, because I have found home inside of me.
Beautiful Monika2808 – from a need for escape and respite from harshness to “I don’t need anything not even nature to run away to, because I have found home inside of me.” I can totally relate to this shift – invaluable awareness.
I like your blog Leigh, Nature is awesome and absolute fair. With the weather we get back what we had pollute the earth with. My true connection with nature is to explore and enjoy it in equality. ” I am as equally grand as the trees, the earth, the rivers, the creeks, the oceans” beautiful said.
Leigh I also love this part ‘As I watch the trees bend and move as the wind blows, going with the flow of the day, yet not changing what they are, I am reminded of the same for myself.’ Something that we can all honour… going with the flow and always staying true to who we are.
“Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I.” Really lovely to remember this Leigh.
Yes I was just about to write a similar comment. It is great reminder of how solid we are and what a solid offering nature brings us. It makes me think that this could be a reason why people can be hell bent on destroying nature because of the solidness it brings the world. Many companies profit from us being a bit flaky and shaky – with many remedies available to cure that!
Theres food for thought SarahFlenley – I had never considered that before.
I connect the solidness of nature to its absoluteness – never would a tree not want to be a tree or moan about the weather, it just is the tree that it is with whatever the circumstances are. That is a huge reflection exposing us in not knowing who we are, the needs and desires, the trying and longing, the lostness and waywardness – until we get to know ourselves again as the divine solid beings that we innately are, reflected, reminded and confirmed by nature consistently.
Being who we are no matter the circumstances. This needs great consideration for each of us. The level of strength, solidness and stillness that we can deliver in the most challenging circumstances can truly bring great change to the lives of many. In this each of us is no different than the greatest beauty we can imagine in nature, the beauty and strength we hold is just the same.
Beautifully said Alex, why are we living in a way that constantly is about not wanting to be who we are and at the same time living driven by the longing, the emptiness and waywardness to re-connect back to our origins? We often use nature as an escape space to re-connect, but we don’t really accept the true reflection that nature is giving us. Nature reflects us the harmony to be lived as human beings in absolute brotherhood independently of our temporal human expression. No flower compares itself to a tree or the clouds longing to be something different they just are the beauty they are meant to be constellated in the Universe that is forever evolving.
When reading your words what came to me is that as children we feel so at one with nature because it is simply natural for us, we feel the rhythms and cycles of everything around us, it is part of us, we simply are in this as we are part of this big womb of God. But then when we grow up we slowly buy into what the world offers us, offers us to disconnect from this naturalness and join a created version of all that we know is naturally ours. So we lose connection to our true being-ness but still deep down know how it feels to be full and the whole that we originally are, so nature becomes our soothing pill, it brings us calm and reminds of our of what we once had. But we tend to use it as a go-to-relief – instead of making it the fullness of our living.
So true Esther, very well said.
Well said Esther, I love how you point out that we use and therefore abuse nature to re-connect us back to something we once had “instead of making it the fullness of our living”.
I agree Rachel, this point also stood out for me and makes me realise/be aware of the unconditional love of God.
So true Esther and Rachel, if we come to nature already knowing and feeling the fullness of connection within us, then we are not seeking anything from it. In fact, as well as observing it and receiving its reflections, we know we are part of it, every particle of us and it moving in cycles together.
After reading many comments on this blog again this morning I’ve come to conclude that human life is one of continual reflections. How, and if, we see, feel and even hear those reflections is entirely up to what we want to see, feel and hear about ourselves.
At the end of the day we are actually left consistently with moments to appreciate the opportunities to return to who we truly are.
Beautifully said Elizabeth “How, and if, we see, feel and even hear those reflections is entirely up to what we want to see, feel and hear about ourselves.” – it is a real take or leave it, misinterpret if you will, but the offering will never stop, situation.
I agree Elizabeth. These moments you refer to that are with us all day every day are forever showing us that we can return to who we truly are at any time we so choose.
Thank you for your great blog about nature ,it really is an enormous foundation with its amazingness, stillness and absolute knowing and living in the all of the world . A beautiful sharing of the knowing and connection you tune into when in nature, thank you for this great reflection!
The picture you describe Leigh of this young child simply sitting in the middle of nature alongside a horse is so strong, like you were so in tune with you and what you felt. In this is a sense of complete trust and security too, with no fear able to break this flow. I love how we have been given the tools through the Esoteric Healing work to return to this gorgeous natural state as adults. It is not something that we have to leave behind at all.
Nature knows its self and its place in life, to feel the beauty and stillness of nature when I am in tune with myself and are not seeking anything from nature.
Nature is and always has been the place to get myself centered again whenever I felt beside myself and out of rhythm – just by seeing and feeling its rhythms, stillness, purpose and beauty in every little detail.
Yes nature is a beautiful reflection of that which we are too, stillness, purpose, beauty and part of divinity.
What I got from your blog Leigh, is how we can use the same things either to confirm or escape. We could be looking at the same thing but if our inner love and truth is not held within then that same thing reflects a totally different perspective to us. It’s the same as looking at the world through eyes of hurt, as opposed to looking through the eyes of love. If we hold ourselves equal to all then we receive the equal reflection back.
Great expansion Kimweston2 and extremely valid point of quality – the action is a part of it but the energy, intention or quality is the defining whole. Even in an example of having a cuddle, we could be doing it to fill a need and escape from having intimacy with ourselves OR we could hug another in confirmation of the love we feel for ourselves and sharing that with another. Both look the same from the outside, yet the quality feels very different.
‘Yet never once did it enter my head that my life could be as equally enjoyable’. Such is the common thought that many of us have or I should say lack of thought. It always astounds me when I discover something about myself that I have never questioned. Yet once question, ‘it is then up to us to rise in equalness to the support that is present’. Great Blog Leigh.
When I read your blog I can feel the immensitiy and stillness of nature and what we can align to all the time- I loved reading your blog… It was easy ro read and felt alive- thank you!!
I felt when I read about how you pushed down your feelings of fear and how you harden by forcing yourself to learn how to ride, that this was the same for me when I learned how to ride a bike. I know sitting on a saddle felt awful and how I disliked the unstability. The only way to learn it was to ignore my feelings and be a good girl which meant I learned it because of recognition and I didnot want to be excluded from all the other kids who could ride a bike.
I too used to ride a bike when I was a child. I loved the thrill of riding fast ignoring and numbing what I was truly feeling. Sometimes it wouldn’t be for very long but it would be enough to give me the temporary fix to feel better. So whether it is riding a horse, a bike or some other activity, to me it is nothing but a distraction to feeling what is truly going on within our body and in our lives.
‘The support I feel in nature is not grandiose or something I need. It is simply something that is, like many things in life, offered to us; it is then up to us to rise in equalness to the support that is present.’ This is my experience too Leigh, nature is just there to support us, a lot of times it is bringing a smile on my face, feeling the joy to be an equal part of the whole.
“… it is then up to us to rise in equalness to the support that is present.” Unpicking our connection to nature to expose our feelings of inequality and not feeling enough is profound. I just adore how you have unearthed (pardon the pun) how nature can be used as distraction or an escape if we allow it. It is an inspiration from which we can return to truly connect to who we are. Awesome.
One of the things I love most about nature is the playfulness. Who designed all those different coloured and shaped fish and birds? How come the most beautiful birds make the most ugly noise? Everything is reflected in nature and available for us to see if we so choose.
Yes Nicola I too love the playfulness in nature. The falling leaves, the tiny birds darting every which way, the shapes of trees, the absolute fun a dog has in living – every day. I so love the philosophy of my dog, he has taught me so much about joy.
Yes Leigh, animals are so much more connected to nature and to the rhythms of nature that they can teach us a thing or two if we are open to seeing it. This includes the natural joy that domestic animals express whenever they go for a walk or play outside.
I love it, very true, there is so much quirkiness in nature, why are we then so strict and hard with ourselves when it comes to our own way of being?
Great point Esther 🙂
YES! I totally agree, who designed nature to be such an absolutely perfect reflection? How do the seasons change? and how DOES a beautiful bird make an ugly sound? I love it, it’s absolutely fascinating, and such a great reflection of human life.
Very soon after beginning to consider that even one person choosing to express fully from their heart has huge impact, I started noticing the presence of one bird in the midst of the noise of the traffic and the singing and chirping of all the other birds. For a long time every morning as I stepped out of my front door into the day, I could hear this bird very loudly singing its heart out, A tiny bird with a huge sound. I could feel the absolute power, love and full on expression – this bird was not going to hold back for anyone! Every day I would burst out laughing in recognition of what this was showing me. I could hear the singing a long way away – even when it was very faint I was aware of the bird just doing its thing with no hesitation or control. My joy of this moment would help me remember an absolute knowing that every aspect of my life mattered in the same way. There is a magic and playfulness in nature that provides a great confirmation of who we already are or what we need to focus on – an absolute blessing.
Absolutely Golnaz,
A blessing that never ends, that is always consistent, that never holds back its love, nor in showing us just how much we are loved.
That’s very beautiful Golnaz. These experiences are their everyday for us to observe and enjoy and take away what we are ready to learn. There is a never ending supply of this if we only stop and notice.
How we relate to nature, how we look to provide what we are lacking, can be like anything else we look to in life. In my own life I have often gone to someone for support hoping they will take away my issues. And at times I have sought support in order to deepen my understanding, responsibility and commitment to my turning my situation round, and what unfolds is always amazing. Similar with Nature I have tended to go wanting something – often for relaxation and leaving the world behind – and of course I always have felt better, because just the choice of being in nature has meant the self-loving choice to stop the exhausting incessant run around, reacting to things and protecting myself. Yet when I have already stopped to connect with myself first, when I am already in appreciation of myself and life, then when I meet Nature – wow, this is when my relationship comes to its own. I can feel a deep connection and oneness – and what I feel and see in what is before me deeply touches an awareness and a knowing that bypasses my mind and is always immensely supportive.
I 100% agree Golnaz. The feeling of totally being held in love that is felt definitely bypasses the mind, for the words are not there to describe in absolute equalness the feeling of this connection with ourselves first and foremost and then equally so with nature.
I remember the exact moment I chose to harden up as a young man. I was ‘forced to play rugby union while at boarding school because I could run fast, but for the first year of playing I was constantly getting hurt. This was because I didn’t want to harden up and go hard as the expression goes. I avoided tackling and passed the ball on as quickly as I could. One day in came the choice: you either stop being hurt or start pushing back. So the guy with the ball got a fright of his life when I took him down and it didn’t hurt me, how awful. That was the moment I put my tenderness in my back pocket. Thanks to Universal Medicine, it’s now back in all my pockets and overflowing wherever I go.
Dear Matthew,
This is a beautiful sharing. Your tenderness is felt and is a huge marker for every man.
“That was the moment I put my tenderness in my back pocket. Thanks to Universal Medicine, it’s now back in all my pockets and overflowing wherever I go.” I love this expression, very vivid and clear, no way that anybody can miss what it means.
Walking in nature is a divine experience that is steady consistent flowing and forever changing yet also the same all the time.It bursts forth a connection with the all and this is so solid and real and the joy and harmony and reality it reflects is life on earth and how it can be in harmony ,stillness and motion forever flowing and grounding with an appreciation and knowing it is of God. What a gift Nature is in the world for humanity.
“Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I. In feeling this, it is clear to me that some of the behaviours that I have chosen are not actually coming from the true nature of who I am. These behaviours are not solid and steady and often they are fickle and picky and are ways of being that are niggling, reinforcing the lie that I am not enough.” I love this awesome reminder thank you Leigh.
Wow Leigh, your story could be my story. I also used nature to escape life, I also used it to somehow be able to cope with all the sadness around me. Today I still love walking , but my purpose is not to escape but to enjoy the connection with myself and with nature.
Yes, Kerstin, me too. Nature was my ‘go-to’ place, my saviour from the ugliness of what was happening in my family home. But it also reminded me and kept me connected to my inner knowing and faith that there is beauty and God in everything.
It is amazing the nooks and crannies that our vices can hide in.
To find a vice in nature is very sneaky as nature is very beautiful naturally 😉
Great point Luke – using something so beautiful as nature for a check out – compared to Pokies and Foxtel it doesn’t compare – but it is all still an escape from something we don’t want to feel.
And to the untrained eye it could be left undiscovered for many many years.
But to the trained eye it is simple… you feel the person no longer connecting with you.
I have become aware that I am truly connected and appreciative of nature and that has always been there, however I used to go into a ‘bliss state’ around it and lose myself and so not stay present, it was like I let go and did not take responsibility, it wasn’t ‘just being’ it was in a way ‘giving up’. I was on the beach this summer on a hot sunny day and I looked out to the horizon and I felt it come over me, that ‘nice’ feeling, but it felt yucky, I had a moment where I thought where were you, you drifted off somewhere else. I can still appreciate nature but being in ‘conscious presence’ for me deepens my appreciation of it and my relationship with it.
There is a real honesty and reminder of something when we walk in nature. Its like when walking, all around you are being presented and shown what feels true, and when you correspond this to your body you can feel a difference and an opportunity to adjust and let go of any internal disharmony. Equally, when you walk in nature and are already feeling harmonious, this is beautifully confirmed and expands how you are feeling.
I agree johannebrown17, as I walk there is a constant reminder that we are all connected to every tree, every blade of grass and that nature does not have an issue with ‘just being’, it knows it’s purpose and just gets on with it with no fanfare.
In the last few weeks I have been appreciating myself more and more, particuarly with what I bring to my job, and as a result appreciation for me has been shared in various ways. Yesterday as I was driving, the sun was on the rise, and the light that was emanating from behind the clouds was simply exquisite. There was a lightness and such a delicate quality to the clouds but also eternally present, and I could feel the beauty of the reflection that Nature was offering me. Your sentence Leigh, ‘Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I’ sums up what I was observing.
Nature is a great reflection and reminder of our inner qualities but by choosing to be connected and live in our natural rhythm, our stillness no reflections or reminders are needed.
What really struck me with reading your blog is it does not matter what we do, anything can be used as an escape no matter how “good” and beneficial it may seem. It comes back to feeling why we are doing something, whether this is to confirm or build our connection and beauty within or whether we are using it too let off steam and/or destress. When we are doing it to let off steam or destress we are using it as a bandaid to make us feel better, but we are not actuating looking at what led us to feel this way, hence that activity becomes an escape.
Well said Toni, the choices of what one uses to escape is very personal to each of us. I feel it is not the what we use that requires further investigation, but why. Why do we need for there to be an escape from the life we are living?
I love to be in nature, feeling nature’s beauty and rhythm supports me to reconnect to the stillness within me.
‘My walks in nature are now a part of my day, and if I am having a moment of trouble, simply walking in nature reminds me of who I truly am. As I watch the trees bend and move as the wind blows, going with the flow of the day, yet not changing what they are, I am reminded of the same for myself.’ Indeed Leigh, feeling the flow of nature is an amazing marker for me.
My life-long dream was to live in the countryside, preferably as far from civilisation as possible. 2 and a half years ago I did the previously thinkable and up sticks and came to London.I love it. No longer do I dream of escaping to the country – there is nature aplenty in the city which offers me it’s beautiful reflection which every day confirms my deepening commitment to life in full.
Yesterday in my break at work i went for a short walk in the forest. I could feel such a strong connection to nature and God. I saw a heart shape stain on the ground. Walking along a wind breeze came some leaves where blown in the air and above my head.
Good’s communication and confirmation beautiful…
Nature has a lovely way of supporting us to be in rhythm with it. I can very much appreciate what you are sharing here Leigh about your relationship with nature and it is beautiful to read how once you came to feel your own grandness the grandness of nature was there also in reflection confirming this.
Thanks Leigh for bringing up the topic of nature. Nature has always played such an important role in my life too. I can feel very clearly that I am in a two way relationship with nature. We have a dialogue and an understanding that is based on a very deep love of one another. When I am in nature I am enveloped in the arms of my lover.
I was having esoteric chakra puncture a while back and fell into a deep sleep. As I was ‘coming to’, I was dreaming of a trickling stream of fresh clear water over river rocks. I actually felt part of that picture, it was like I was that stream. It was a huge confirmation that yes, the particles that make up nature are what make up me too. It was humbling and magnificent at the same time, and so so joyful to understand.
Suzanne that is beautiful. The way you have described how the stream reflected who you are and yet at the same time how you/we share the same particles as those in nature highlights that we are part of something so grand.
Beautifully shared Suzanne and Vicky – the beauty and majesty of nature has always reminded me of the bigger picture.
Yes I recognize this very much. I too used nature to feel better, like a drug and not taking the responsibility to face what took me out in the first place. Now I also see that what I love so much in nature is what is in me as well. A very powerful reminder.
Hello Leigh Strack and I could relate to this part, “My walks in nature are now a part of my day, and if I am having a moment of trouble, simply walking in nature reminds me of who I truly am. As I watch the trees bend and move as the wind blows, going with the flow of the day, yet not changing what they are, I am reminded of the same for myself.” I find if I walk wherever I am and watch nature, I mean really watch not just look then I am drawn to notice how I am breathing and sometimes if I am breathing at all. At times in life we can hold our breath or breath sharply and not fully and gently. Nature allows me to breath, any part of nature no matter how small, even just the thought of the grandness of nature allows my breathing to deepen. Thank you Leigh.
Dear Raymond,
Your comment took me back to the simpleness and beauty of my breath, Thank You.
Leigh I love this sentence, ‘And when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me.’ The reflection of nature is very powerful, honest and true and can certainly teach us a thing or two about true rhythm.
Yesterday on my walk I was connecting with myself and appreciating me when I heard a bird singing from a bush as I walked past – it felt a real confirmation to continue to deepen my appreciation of myself.
Beautiful Sueq2012, feeling appreciation for ourselves I feel is a much deeper level of healing than knowing to appreciate ourselves.
This is beautiful Sueq and when we are open to seeing what nature presents and using the reflections from nature as a confirmation, and we approbate our role in what has just transpired, then through appreciation we deepen our connection.
Yes sueq2012 I love how the magic of God, through nature, is there to confirm and support us, deepening our understanding of ourselves, whether through deepening the joy we are feeling or showing us a way back to ourselves the signs are consistently there for us.
Leigh I was on a walk recently and noticed the birds perching in the bushes, as winter is on its way. Instantly I felt the magic of God – the day was very still and not many people were around yet life was in full bloom, the trees, sky, and animals all working together in what felt like a perfect harmony. As I continued walking that sense of magic melted away all the thoughts about needing to do this or do that. It showed me how nature is there to remind us of who we are naturally and can be this in life in full no matter what is going on around us.
Beautiful observation David, the more that I make the choice to live equal to nature, the more is being revealed to me in how I have lessened the true worth of who I am. This has been and continues to be very revealing, and through each understanding, returning to my body and feeling the inherent equalness of us all has been the hugest support.
Walking with nature is very inspiring and confirming of one who is wanting to connect with themselves and with god. I have found that honouring this connection and walking with it is a great support during the day, as I feel clear, open and intelligent. Nature is all around helping us to realise our innate natural way, and to carry that through the cycle of our day and to inspire those who are around.
Awesome writing, thank you Leigh. I really relate to your using nature to escape in the past. I know I have also done that a lot -I used to escape to the beach often. The last few times I have been to the beach I have noticed that I do not enjoy it as much, especially when I am on my own. At first I couldn’t understand this, as the beach is still as beautiful as ever and the light is much clearer, and the air cleaner, than in the city. It wasn’t until I read the other article on nature you mentioned that I realised that I was using nature to make me feel good about the world, and to escape to when life was challenging-instead of feeling, and knowing, that there was equal beauty within me. A game changer for me, as this beauty is something I carry with me always -and don’t have to drive 100 kms to find!
Love your comment Anne, made me giggle toward the end when I imagined all the time and money we would save if we stopped looking for ways to escape, or the beauty of places to “fill us up” and just realised the beauty and grandness is within us, we don’t have to go anywhere, we carry it within us always. We are the beauty and grandness!
Such wisdom in your words Anne, we really don’t have to travel to connect to the wealth of love, steadiness and presence that resides within us. All that is needed our own choice to surrender and allow it to be there, fully inside our body.
I’m still pondering on my relationship with nature as a child I spent a lot of time in and with nature and yes I guess it was an escape from my home life to somewhere safe, somewhere I could relax and let my guard down and be with myself and often somewhere I could escape from what I really felt going on in my body as a result of how I was living and just check out in a safer numbness than I felt at home.
Allowing ourselves to feel the truth Margaret is a vital step in claiming back more of our own innate beauty and love that we all have within.
I just love how nature constantly reflects all that support us in our lives, especially the way it flows in rhythms and cycles. I used to not be so ware of this but it is amazing how everything is under a cycle and/or a rhythm. In nature, in our body and in our energy.
I have found the same Carolien. It is breathtaking when I stop to look at nature and see how perfectly ordered it is, with an ebb and a flow. Yet we as human who go about extremely disorderly and unaware think we are the more intelligent species!
I agree james, it is amazing how we have mastered not being a part of that which we are undeniably a part of. No wonder there is so much disharmony in our bodies and in our societies.
I was the same Carolien although I saw cycles and rhythms in nature I never associated the same cycles and rhythms in myself. Now I am getting it, how everything is linked to the same flow.
Yes Rachel, I saw it all around me too but did nt see the fact that I was a part of this and , as I know now, and am in every way connected with. We are a part of nature, this world and the Universe, our bodies and our particles respond to it if left unimpeded upon by our way of being.
I’m finding the more I feel and live in rhythm with the natural cycles of my body, the more I can feel how this truly supports me and also gives me a greater understanding that we are a part of something much grander.
I always felt I had a connection to nature and my dream became fulfilled (I thought) when I lived out in the bush 30kms from the nearest small town. I loved the many different types of trees, the sound they made as they moved in the wind, the flowing crystal clear creek, the morning mist in the valley and the clear blue skies in the day and the velvety dark skies at night, and the many different birds and their song. But there was still always something missing and that something was me, because I used the beauty and wonder of nature to escape from me, whereas now I have come to be aware that I too have that Magic of God within me also and now when I walk I am with the magic of nature and not seeking or using it to give me something that in the past I never acknowledged, that same grandness I always had within myself. The magic of God truly is everywhere, in everything and everyone whether we want to feel and accept that or not is our choice, but it doesn’t alter the fact.
A beautiful comment Deidremedbury,
“The magic of God is in everything and everyone.” The depth of this truth is far reaching and it asks all of us to stop and look closely at our lives and at every person that is in our life and open to the magic they all bring.
This is very true that we are constantly receiving messages and support from nature and others, if only we stop and feel our innermost connection and our connection with the all.
A truly beautiful comment Deidre, the magic of God is everywhere, in everything and everyone whether we want to feel and accept that or not. I love that you came to know that grandness within yourself Deidre, a grandness that was always there.
Thank you Leigh, I can feel now the true importance of surrendering to nature, and that energy of feeling enough as you are, because in nature, all you need to be is yourself.
Yes, nature never asks us to be more. So one begins to wonder just where such thoughts come from?
Everything in nature has such a beautiful rhythm – what a perfect reflection for us to consider our own rhythm each day.
It’s humbling to know that I can use or abuse any God given medicine.
Nicely said Felixschumacher8, simple, succinct and a great analogy. We have the potential to not only use illicit drugs, but abuse legally-prescribed ones – medicine – and use this to further mask our true symptoms.
Reading this today deepens my understanding of responsibility.
I love how you share that we can use nature as an escape, because we do. For me it feels important that I can just be still and connected in the middle of a city and likewise in nature. Then I can go into nature not as an escape but as a moment to confirm that connection, knowing that nature is a reflection of my own grandness.
As I claim and accept fully that I am a son of God, the knowing that I am as grand as the nature that is around me becomes a feeling from every cell in my body, an openness and full acceptance of my grandness. As I arise to this just now, I can feel in replying to your comment Mariette that I have taken my own healing to a much deeper level, feeling just how hard I have worked at holding back my grandness.
Ooooh my legs are clearing and tingling as I read your comments here, Leigh and Mariette, reminding me of the grandness of me I can walk in today and every day. Thank you.
Wonderful to read Leigh, that you live now your grandness.
Well said Mariette. We can get so stuck in the idea that we need nature to come back to ourselves that we forget that we can use anything as a support to come back to ourselves if we first connect back to our bodies and allow our mind to be with whatever our body is doing. There is quite an ideal that nature is the answer but as you say Mariette, it is the willingness to connect to our stillness where ever we are and with what ever we may be doing, then the reflection of our grandness can come in many different forms and ways.
Great sharing Mariette and I agree, nature is a reflection of everything we equally are in connection.
I agree Mariette, the stillness is within us and the choice is ours to connect or not regardless of whether we are in a city or surrounded by nature. We can find inspiration to be steady within in the smallest of things, in the midst of a city or the serenity of nature it makes little difference if we are but willing to look and feel.
Exactly Mariette! This is what nature is for me today a confirmation “of my own grandness”.
Nature reflects soooo much to us. From trees alone I learn about brotherhood, equality, consistency, joy, purpose, harmony, strength, stillness… it just goes on and all of this is there to support us to feel and appreciate these qualities within ourselves too.
I like rocks 🙂 I learn consistency, steadiness, stillness, absoluteness, simplicity and grandness from rocks. It’s more simply a reminder from the rock that I am all that, underneath all the moss or whatever it is that is burying me.
Rocks rock! I’ve always loved rocks too, and for the same reasons. I particularly like round, smooth rocks you can hold in the palm of your hand. Portable rocks.
I love rocks too. I have a collection I play with, stacking them, making patterns with them, finding ones that fit together. It’s fun!
I find if I am connected to myself, I am naturally in tune with nature and the flow and can feel how much support there really is.
You’re absolutely right Abby, nature holds amazing reflection. Everything around us is reflection and so we can choose to draw from these reflections the conclusion that it reflects our own true beauty, power etc or an inspiration to build a reconnection with our own true beauty in the case where the reflection is not offering that. Either way the reflection allows us to know more of ourselves.
That is so true Abby, that is why I used to feel so good in nature, because I am the same qualities within myself and the connection made me feel my own joy, harmony, stillness and love
I love flowers, the beauty, delicateness, sweetness, strength, stillness etc in all their magnificence confirming all that I am.
I love flowers too Caroline. The other day working in the clinic i could see the beautiful colors and shapes of the flowers standing in the corridor and this was a moment to reconnect to myself and my own beauty.
I did. I did withdraw from life by indulging into my hobby. And I had the thought that I love it – but in fact I did like to not feel how I live and how this feels for me. I was lonely and sad, not committed into life, work or people. With my hobby I did immerse into the whole framework and consciousness of it and so separate even more from what I really am. Now I am always asking myself, ‘will this be done for me, to not feel something, to withdraw, or is it done to confirm what I am and in service for all?’
This something is then abused to fill our hole and so it can never be in service for all. In fact it is harming all.
It’s really interesting to read through the comments on this blog. I can feel in many there is still a great defence of nature even though it has been exposed as something we in truth do not need: nature is but one way by which we can confirm the quality within. It would be a bit like continuing to invest in the ideal of the food industry even once we have been shown food is not as helpful as we think it is, at least in terms of how we currently use it. In truth I could equally turn to look at a chair or a door to connect with stillness… but at the end of the day it’s me that’s either still or not. The chair can only offer me a reminder of steadiness. The chair is also no less nor more than nature and neither the chair nor nature are more than me.
Victoria, I feel you are speaking Truth; as I read your comment a warmth spread all through my body. For a long time I used to go to nature seeking something from it, that was when I had a great hole of longing inside me and wanted everything to fill it. Lately I look out and seek nothing, rather observe and enjoy. In this I have a knowing that I am a part of nature and it is not there for me, and that we are equal in that we are contained within a whole.
Yes Joan I too see how I’ve used nature in seeking something from it, as a place where I could go to be recharged and also to seek solace. Now that I realise that my true connection comes from within, i’m seeing nature as a reflection and confirmation and find that I am more able to observe and appreciate nature for what it is.
I understand what you mean Victoria with your comment; many people are ‘getting something’ from nature which they are finding comforting but I would think this is because there is the sense that nature is grander and or more perfect than themselves. To use nature as a reminder or confirmation or even a stepping stone to come to that realisation for themselves of their own divinity or grandness still would be a great support.
I suppose we’re always looking for something to measure ourselves against, because energetically there is always a relationship between our energy and the energy of all we are surrounded by. There is something within measuring this relationship and we decide whether the energy is more than us or not depending on how we perceive it and what we believe about ourselves. So it’s easy to see and feel nature as grand or not even notice it, a chair as ‘just a chair’ or a beautiful chair made by loving hands to sit and support us, ourselves as ‘not enough’ or claiming ourselves more. Stillness is stillness and present in all and it is up to us to know it is there and choose to be it or not and as you say Victoria, “at the end of the day it’s me that’s either still or not.”
Dear Elizabeth, learning to not compare and measure what I feel, to instead accept it and allow it to be is a constant for me. Accepting my stillness and knowing that I am that, allows for many comparisons that have been chosen in the past to be shown. Feeling them as they arise and choosing to remain still with myself as they pass, is the trick, one that I can not always catch as it happens, but one that I am committed to, because the beauty of living my stillness is something that I am unable to be ignore now.
Interesting observation Victoria. Doesn’t nature have stillness in it? Being in nature feels for me different than being with a chair. Not in defense of nature, but that is the way is it seems.
The stillness and beauty offered by nature is truly exquisite and can be one of the greatest teachers of life. It is interesting that whether we choose to cherish it, admire it, appreciate what it teaches us or ignore it depending on where we are, it does not change for us – this in itself is a great lesson for me, reminding me to always just be myself no matter how I am perceived or whatever is going on around me.
Great points Sam. Nature is indeed always itself.
I think this is why I love nature so much too – it asks nothing from anybody, knowing nature itself is perfect the way it is, take it or leave it. Its sense comes not with ‘an attitude’, but a deep knowing of its place in life, which I find very comforting and divinely beautiful.
Yes Nature is simply beautiful and a reflection of divine order.
Thats true, the consistency of nature is such an amazing reflection for us all the time.
I agree Steffi, nature is a great reminder for us to live equally consistent and to offer our amazing reflection to others.
I agree Samantha, nature does not try to be anything other than itself – what a wonderful, consistent reflection to us to simply be ourselves.
Samantha, it is this simple truth that nature doesn’t ever change what it is that I find so supportive. Even though I may have stepped away, it is with the absoluteness that nature is, that I am again with the absoluteness of me.
To be in nature beyond, say, working in it because it is your job, or taking a connecting walk, or tending to what is necessary in the garden feels like an indulgence. Perhaps the litmus test is to ask ourselves ‘what is my purpose and how does it serve humanity?’.
A good question to ask. I know I used to live to escape my life, nature was one way, TV another. My whole day would revolve around what time I needed to be infront of the TV. Now I don’t have time to even consider watching TV let alone doing it. There is so much to do in life, to be a part of, to live with the knowing that how I live, what I do, is in support of others. Service to others one day will be our motivation to work. Not as things are now where predominantly our reason to work is to earn money so that we can spend it checking out of our life on movies, alcohol, drugs, smokes, indulgent holidays to name a few of the ‘reasons’ we go to work.
Leigh you have presented here a really important understanding. How many of us medicated, or continue to medicate, ourselves with the drug of nature? Nature is full of the magic of God, yes; and confirming in its support, absolutely; but it is no more so than say reading this blog site, writing a document or speaking to a group of people. To use any of these things or nature to escape or avoid is not a great choice.
As a child I also adored horses and would push down my fears to ride and push the limits.
It’s only now that I recognise how much I was overriding what I was actually feeling and feel grateful to Universal Medicine for all the support I have received in listening to my body and choosing not to override my feelings.
Thank you Leigh,
I also find nature deeply supportive, I love how you describe feeling equally as grand as the trees. Nature is like a friend who supports me to remember who I am, and reflects love in moments when I have forgot.