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 
Leigh I agree with you, we spend time away to go away, whether it be nature retreats or pilgrimages to escape only to find that our issues/problems/thoughts are still there. They haven’t been healed.
When we seek outside of ourselves, do we give our power away? When everything is within us and all we need to do is to tap into it at some point. When we meet people like Serge Benhayon who simply presents the truth, something in us can be inspired in us but at the end of the day it is our choice in how and where we take this.
And this statement confirmed to me, “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”. Amen…
Any push or forcing to do an activity is one where we ignore the truth of how we are feeling and this can only be denied for so long until it comes back to be dealt with one day.
It is interesting how we can use all kinds of activities to distract ourselves from our essence and what we are actually feeling. Be this being in nature, walking or exercise – almost everything and anything can be used as a distraction.
Henrietta the list could be endless in what we use to distract ourselves, including what we eat, what we watch, our conversations with one another and so forth. Every detail matters. Our essences will always remain with us waiting for us to walk in this and reflect to others that they have theirs too…
Thank you Leigh, and yes there is a steadiness in nature that can and does support us to return to ourselves and our own steadiness within, though of course the key thing is that we have to be willing to come back to ourselves and connect to that deepest part of steadiness.
Nature is a great reflector, ‘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 it fascinating to read all the different blogs that have been written because there seems to me to be a theme running through them of wanting to escape from life so we use a myriad of ways to dull, numb, bludgeon ourselves so we do not have to feel what is truly going on and what we are being asked to do by our bodies. We think we think but it is our bodies that hold the true intelligence.
I can see what you’re sharing here, that we can use nature as a relief from what we need to heal, or take responsibility for those things and enjoy nature as we feel our true nature. I’ve noticed how nature comes along in signs and symbols to support me to return to my essence when I step away. It’s a completely different relationship now that I’ve reconnected to me, when in the past I needed the healing and space nature provided as I was unable to heal what was occurring in myself and my life. Nature at those times could restore me to some harmony, and I’m feeling more how that harmony is a natural part of my essence, and living from there.
Nature offers reflections in so many ways.
Connecting with nature and appreciating our grandness, ‘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.’
This article offers a perfect example of how we choose solutions in life, to feel temporary relief (eg. the perceived freedom of horse riding, despite having fears). But when we choose solutions that do not actually address the lack of true freedom or inner connection we feel, there is an ugly side effect. We have to push down our feelings and harden up to survive. Its really not worth it!
We all innately feel the purity and richness of nature. It’s flow, it’s order, it’s rhythm and it’s magic. We feel this is not in human life as many know it but fail to see that nature is simply offering us a reminder of what can be lived in life, not that we need to go to nature to seek it.
We use our lineal mindset to approach learning. So, we say, I learn this or that. Yet, we do not only learn something that is outside of us. There is a parallel unspoken learning that has to do with us as we align to our external learning.
I will be honest and say that I don’t think I have ever actually felt very connected with nature. I have wanted and tried getting close to it, spent time in it, then I would look at others who appear to be more in tune with it and think I would never be like them, like, I don’t have ‘it’. So, if nature is here to reflect and remind us who we truly are, this is revealing a rather uncomfortable aspect of my relationship with myself.
So true Leigh, many of our behaviours and distractions in life are to escape and bring a little excitement to our day. When we connect to our essence there is no emptiness anymore, nature is then is a beautiful confirmation of what we are feeling within.
I agree Leigh, there is something about walking in nature that once amongst all the trees you feel like you can breathe openly and clearly again.
“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; ” I loved walking in nature feeling the harmony and stillness as a confirmation of who I am, but this was not always the case so I would use nature as a relief from the troubles of the day, once I left nature all the problems and anxiety would be there, now I see nature that has so much to offer in the harmony and flow in obedience to the cycles of life.
“Obedience to the cycles of life.” It now is completely alien to me to consider that there is little to no appreciation or understanding of the cycles in which we live. Day and Night, the moon cycle, a woman’s menstral cycle, the cycle of a month, season, year. They are all around us and all intricately apart of our being, each one affects us, and it is to our great detriment if we ignore this unignorable reality.
The days of spring are approaching in England, the birds are singing and the buds are ripening reminding us of the cycles of life in nature and in everything.
I used to see the natures cyclic seasons as reflecting our progression from birth, childhood, adulthood and elder years and the development of wisdom as we age. I now realise natures reflections are so much more. This has been because of my understanding that we are multidimensional beings and life’s purpose is to evolve back to our divine origins – this brings a depth and richness to the cycles nature presents when reflected upon for my life.
How many things do we say we do them because we enjoy doing them, when in fact we do them to distract, to escape from life?
Learning to ride… the fears. We all do.
Very true Gill, no matter the experiences of the day we can choose to stop and again return to the solid steadiness of our inner essence at any moment. This choice is always there, no matter what.
We are constantly being shown by nature by way of reflection, how to live in harmony with each other. But as yet the majority of us do not understand what nature is offering us in every moment or how to read the messages.
Walking in the snow just now, there was a beautiful stillness supporting me to deepen that same stillness in myself and to walk, as it were, hand in hand with Nature and with God.
How wonderful that by the very nature of our bodies, when we truly walk with ourselves and our hearts, we are always walking with God, wherever we are.
Being in nature and connecting with ourselves and nature is such an enjoyable and nurturing experience.
I agree, to allow the connection with nature is to choose to be still and present with ourselves. Much can be felt and with honesty accepted, the foundation of healing any behaviors that degrade our steadiness and grace.
If we make the choice to lose ourselves in nature, expecting it to be the panacea for our current ill state of being, we are probably not able to feel what nature is showing us at that time, only what we want to see. However, to walk in nature in total presence with ourselves, fully aware of each step and with our eyes open to receive nature’s beautiful images then the magic that is being reflected will bring us the clarity that we are needing at that moment in time. Nature is always talking to us we simply have to be ready and open to hear what is being shared.
It is one of the greatest disturbances in our world that we can be in nature and not feel it, instead stuck in our minds with thoughts of past or future taking is from the grace of the moment, ourselves and the equal beauty of nature.
Yes, our bodies are a part of nature and we are often very disconnected from them.
And when we are disconnected from ourselves, we tend to look outside of ourselves at nature to fill the emptiness the disconnection creates, instead of feeling nature as a part of us, and us as a part of it. We give all the praise as to how we are feeling to what we feel and see around us and not what we hold within us.
I love connecting with and walking in nature, what a great confirmation you came to, ‘Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I.’
Nature is always reflecting or teaching us some wisdom, ‘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.’
Leigh its interesting that we feel our lives are in different compartments. I used to think about work as being separate to the rest of what I did, but actually its a big part my life. I spend more time with my work colleagues than my family. It makes sense to see my life as a whole, and from there I have started to bring harmony into those areas that I have thought were separate before.
I love how nature reflects to us what you have shared Debra. Whilst it goes through many changes, storms, cyclones, fires, drought, ultimately it doesn’t change. It still holds its essence, its absoluteness. As natures ability to regenerate after such events clearly shows us.
So true – we often say we enjoy something when in fact we are needing it to escape from something.
Hardening up and putting our body on the line in the name of entertainment is our normal in society, and sport proves this point entirely. Imagine how the world would be if our normal was about self care and treating the body like the temple it is.
It has become such a ‘normal’ that many extremes are being choosen in today’s society. From obesity to excessive tattoos, alcohol, drugs, extreme sports, all of which have become more prevelant in society in the past 20 odd years. All of which in some way give us a buffer zone between our tenderness and the reality of our world. Learning to live the tenderness we are in the world is the antidote to hardening up, an antidote that will again restore harmony to our bodies and communities. A learning that is not perfect and that doesn’t happen overnight. But one that once begun constantly feeds back to us the joy of doing so, it is this joy that supports us to keep choosing the tenderness.
A very powerful point Rachael – we do have a norm of using a plethora of ways to harden the body in our current society, and yet our real norm is to care deeply and gently for the body though this is not our current reality. This would turn the world upside down in a good way if we all did the latter.
What a beautiful confirmation of the solidness of your inner foundation you have re-built within yourself Leigh. This blog is a joy to read.
“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”.
“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 love this Leigh. Observing nature with its beautiful flow is a great support to know this is how things can be – just allow, observe and feel. We can learn a lot from nature. .
A beautiful sharing Leigh and one I can relate to very well, whenever my daughter is feeling out of sorts I take her out into nature and it is amazing how quickly she connects back to herself – the stillness and harmony of nature allows the space for us to deeply heal and regenerate ourselves.
Reading of the ‘hardening up’ in order to get something done, i.e. ride a horse, that you’ve described here Leigh, I can’t help but reflect on other areas and activities in life where we have all done the same… Where we’ve known something has to be ‘forced’ in order to be done, and/or that we resist doing something that needs to be done, being in touch with our bodies and the quality of our movements is key.
This is very beautiful to read Leigh, thank-you… I had a realisation several years back, that it is an abuse of nature to impose on it (her) in any way. We impose upon nature when we seek it to relieve us from our tensions and troubles. This is something also, that we all have to ‘arrive at’ – in acknowledgement of our own path of healing (return to ourselves), and deep appreciation of the sensitivity of those of us who have found great solace and support in being in nature, with all of her blessings…
To commune and be at one with nature… that’s a different thing, and can be felt innately within. In this we do not seek to offload our tensions and troubles, but rather to connect with the space around us and embrace the interconnectedness of which we are ever a part.
On reading your comment Victoria, you mention “communion with nature”. It is so very stilling when this is felt, all the beauty, delicateness and strength that nature is can be felt within. This makes the phrase “at one with nature” no longer just words, but something that is lived.
So beautifully said, Victoria and Leigh – for there is an imposition on nature the moment we have any expectation of anything such as escape or relief etc. And this too is something that then later needs to be ‘un-done’ or cleared in whatever way it can be cleared. To bring a relationship to nature (or anyone for that matter) that is un-imposing and not asking of anything is indeed beautiful and refreshing.
Reading your article made me remember how I used to ride horses without anybody ever showing me what to do; I simply did not ask any questions and jumped on, driven by a need to prove myself and not letting anybody know that there was something I could not so.
Reading your comment tonight Gabriele, I find myself reflecting on how I learnt to ride. Whilst I had been put on horses all my life, I had an incident where I fell of and was then quite scared to ride again. A very special friend then gave me a taste of the freedom felt whilst on a horse and this ignited my desire to learn again. This is when I really began to push down the fears I had, determined to learn to ride. My Grandfather (now deceased) suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis and was restricted to either a bed or a chair, yet he was instrumental in teaching me to ride. I would take my rather round very solid pony over the paddock where Grandad could see us and ride back to him, at a trot or canter and he would correct my skills. It really was a very enjoyable experience, especially on this particular horse as he was very quiet and gentle, and mostly obliging.
Leigh, i love when you state ‘I feel deeply that I am as equally grand as the trees, the earth, the rivers, the creeks, the oceans’ You are as grand as nature, and it is beautiful to share so that we can also be inspired by the reflection nature offers us as you have been.
How lost are we when we cannot connect to the grandness within ourselves? Most of the human race isn’t even able to feel and connect to it in nature.
I can relate to using riding as a teenager as a distraction but had never considered that walking could be used in the same way. I love to walk but my connection to myself can vary hugely, for example, I used to walk off feelings of anger and would feel better afterwards but nothing had really been resolved and the anger was always there waiting to return. Increasingly I can feel the reflections and support offered by nature and embrace my place within it.
I can remember walking where I was not in the slightest aware of what was around me. I was so deeply in my thoughts that I didn’t register not only the beauty around, but that I was moving a delicate body. I was not aware of how I moved my body, or the hardness I was walking with. This now seems light years in my past. On my walk today each step was done with respect for the body I live in, they felt tender, caressing and honoring. The beauty is l didn’t ‘make it that way’, it was that way because I now live with a deep love, care and understanding of and for my body.
“Increasingly I can feel the reflections and support offered by nature and embrace my place within it.”
It is beautiful to feel the ease in which you claim your place in our world. Such a choice brings us to a stop moment in our life. If we are as grand as nature, which we are, we then get to see and feel how we live way less than our grandness. A great gift that then opens us to choice, to continue to play small and ignore our grandness, or to live it in full.
Beautiful to feel the sense of equality you now have with nature and how it brings you back to yourself rather than being a distraction from the rest of your life.
I doubt there is a human being who is not inspired by the majesty of nature. What a pity we do not take enough heed of the lessons it constantly shows us.
Yes Adam, what a pity we don’t look to another human with the same awe and honor we do with nature. As there is nothing that holds us apart from such grace and beauty shared, except or veiled eyes that don’t see the same grandness we see and feel in nature.
‘Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I.’ Today I was walking along the beach, it was cold, windy and some rain. I haven’t been walking along the sea for a year or so. I felt how there was a sense of oneness, how each one of us became more still, walking there with the sound of the waves, the wind, the rain, just reminding us of the support that is always there to connect to our true nature.
As does nature hold us so too does our inner heart. Our walks in nature are simply reminders of the power, grace and beauty we hold within.
“As does nature hold us so too does our inner heart.” That is beautiful Leigh, I hadn’t quite looked at it this way. It is such a strong consciousness to look outside of ourselves for what we feel we need, when so much awaits to be reconnected to within us.
“Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I.” This is a beautiful claiming Leigh. Nature constantly gives us so many amazing reflections. I especially enjoy observing the seasonal and moon changes here in UK – and can relate them to my own cycles.
It is so very interesting to note that nature is full of cycles within cycles and that that is the way of it. An unchangeable truth. My body, too is a system of cycles within cycles, each day it goes through many cycles that I have not fully appreciated or have allowed myself to connect with in full. Much yet to connect with, appreciate and honour in how I live in it. This is another blog…
Leigh I enjoyed re-reading your blog today, and it reminded me how our body gives us signals all the time, and in this particular case it was the word fear that got my attention, and how often in my later childhood/adolescent years I too ignored and suppressed the feeling which was actually sending me a warning to be careful not carefree!
A very good point to make Sally, as being carefree and irresponsible is something that is essentially seen as a rite of passage for teenagers today. When instead it is actually the time in life where responsibility and self care need to be encouraged, with many ways being presented as to how the behaviour chosen impacts on everyone. Hense the responsibility to choose behaviour wisely and not use these years as an excuse for ill made choices.
I love what you present about support Leigh, the are many things which can support us but as you say ‘ it is then up to us to rise in equalness to the support that is present.’. This is huge and so very empowering, it asks us to claim the equalness we are and to meet everything in that including support, be it nature, walks, people or a healing session. It shows that when we step into being who we are the support is there ready and waiting and it shows how much we are held in love and our part in fully allowing this. Thank you for this blog – it’s given me an understanding of how support works and a wider context to how it’s there as I’ve noticed recently when I said I was ready.
On reading this comment tonight, I am deeply reminded that the choice is always mine to rise in full to the support that is around me. It is very humbling to realise that I at times forget and go into auto pilot, yet the moment I remember, the support can be felt, as it had not ever left, I have only chosen to wander away from it by holding myself lesser than who I naturally am.
When we ignore what we feel we set ourselves to simply numb out and disregard ourselves.
“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.” This is a deeply supportive aspect of nature’s presence in our every day. Nature reflects absolutely everything we need, it is simply a matter of opening up to observing rather than the using nature as an escape.
Without connection to our bodies we can easily be in nature as a relief to get rid off of the stresses of life, When we can be in nature with a true purpose to reconnect to our bodies we know that everything around us in nature reflects the essence of who we are.
It is interesting how at some point in our lives, we start using movement as a tool for disconnecting from life; to avoid feeling what we are feeling in the body.
Very pertinent point Eduardo, one that has given me a moment to ponder on. I have now a much deeper appreciation for choosing to adjust my movements to be in line with truly supporting my body and the essence I hold within. As the movements we learn to numb us from our lives have been the predominant choice for a very long time and it takes a deep dedication to our grace to make the switch to movements that support it.
“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” Walking in nature reminds me of my responsibility to be all the love that I am so that I too can reflect back to nature the love that we are all a part of.
Nature has a beautiful way of constantly reminding us who we are in essence, of the connection to the stillness that we naturally are within. Reminding us that we too are Divinely designed to live in accordance to the order of the universe, impulsed by the Light of our Soul.
As we connect more deeply with that innate knowingness inside of us, we can reconnect with what is there all around us, to support us, to nurture us, to hold us, and to guide us back even deeper to the connection that nurtures our true inner hearts
Yes, I agree, the moment we connect with nature we surrender to our stillness and begin to feel the solid steadiness in our body. Nature really does support us to be who we are, in full and the power of connecting with it cannot be underestimated.
And this extraordinary reflection of the magic of the universe is always there , reflecting back to us the innate harmony of everything.
‘And when I am still in nature I can feel me in it and it in me’. I totally understand what you are saying here Leigh. Nature has a harmony that is both deeply nurturing and renewing at the same time and once felt and appreciated, becomes a marker we can connect to at any time and build on from within.
A remarkable marker, as it continues to grow and deepen constantly, whilst I feel steady and connected, I can also feel the pull to deepen and expand my steadiness, it is like there is no end point, just constant invitations to deepen.
Nature so beautifully reminds us that life and the world around us is all about cycles.
So true, if we understood the science of cycles more, we would be more equipped to maintain our own rhythm with in them. I can feel that we already do live governed by cycles, however these cycles seem to be ones of disregard and self abuse. With such obedience already in place, is it not but a choice of what we are obedient to? The rhythm and cycles within the cycles of nature, or to everything that we let run our body that is not in the above obedience?
When we take the time to truly connect with nature it reflects so much back to us. I find a walk in nature, probably the combination of walk and nature, grounds me and supports me to reconnect with myself.
Nature’s miracles are amazing at reminding us who we are, and that the same miracles lie within us.
There is so much that is around us to inspire us, even in big cities there can be beauty and presence to be felt, and we can come to the point where we will always feel that support all around us.
Nature reflects to us that there is more in life then the lineair way of how we arranged it all, as humanity. You can not avoid feeling the universe, God or heaven when walking present outside. We can feel that there is so much more to the narrow life we as humanity live with acting in a way that it looks like it is all about keeping our family safe, making money and having fun. Nature shows us that we are not from here and by connecting to the nature it supports us to feel who we truly are.
Yes it does Sylvia, the stillness and steadiness is very present physically in my body when I connect with nature and the space that is around me. My body comes alive, feels whole and is forever ready to respond to what is there in front of me. There is less anxiety and more confidence, a confidence in myself that is actually in the innate knowing that God fills every space, and once I connect to this I feel at ease and totally trust my
self and I feel fully supported.
It’s so true Sylvia, nature has so many species yet they all fit together in interdependence and co-exist as one in harmony. Human life considers itself intelligent yet we re no where near that, we destroy ourselves, each other, and nature as one example. The interdependence in nature calls us back to a true way of living, one that begins with the responsibility of living our true place in the universe as souls, then we fit in with each other again more naturally. Human life can then be elevated back to the same intelligence nature comes from.
The amazing wonder and beauty of nature cannot help but bring us back to the truth of who we are, from the busyness of the bee, to the brotherhood of the ant, and the sweetness of a rose – it’s absolutely amazing.
It is truly a divine plan if we but let ourselves feel the absolute continuous reflection nature has to offer us. Nothing is less than another, every moment nature is ensuring that we have just what we need to evolve, right there with us. The only thing that requires sharpening is our awareness of that which nature brings.
What struck me about what you just said is that every part of nature is there for us to evolve – imagine if we all did this for other people, every part of us is there to help everyone evolve – that would be magic.
Nature always brings me back when I’m distracted with some quirky little message that makes me smile. When we’re paying attention life is full of sweet moments of support.
Thank you Leigh I just loved re-reading your story again can relate to needing nature to feel enough, but as Concetta puts it “nature is to confirm us not define us. “
Beautiful Leigh, I so loved reading your story. It felt like I was sharing your journey. Nature is to confirm us not define us.
Leigh you remind me of my horse riding days and how i invested so much time into having horses, looking after them – wanting to be at the stables all day just to help with mucking out, feeding, riding. But as you say I too can feel how I did this to be alone and with animals and not actually talk to my family about how I truly felt. I used to think my horse knew me better than anyone, and the weird thing is I always loved people. When I was little i used to climb out of my cot just to be with my family downstairs, and then it changed and i thought I wanted to be alone but really, I can see now how this was never true and I was just avoiding me! (and everyone else) It is very supportive to read your experience and keep deepening my understanding of how we can loose ourselves in our behaviours.
What you share here Hvmorden is wisdom that our whole world needs to hear, how much of our lives are made to be a way to escape, dull, pretend and shirk the reality we find our life to be? Forever caught in a spiralling out of control experience, that simply requires us to step off the train. To stop and to re-evaluate our life, how we live and honestly look at the choices we make every day, that actually build the life we will have. This is where we can choose to allow the presence of nature to support us, until we come to the place where we too know ourselves to be of the same steadiness.
Yes, I used to ‘use’ nature to feel better about myself, much like a drug, I needed it as an escape. Nowadays I walk in connection with myself in Nature, it is a very different feeling as there is more of a natural exchange rather than a ‘taking from’. A feeling of equallness where I am in relationship with Nature rather than making a demand of it.
Allowing yourself to feel the grandness of you and having the grandness of nature confirmed is inspiring. I know I was inclined to think of nature as bigger and more wonderful than me but now I feel differently too. When we realise that each of us is equal and amazing we can really know our true selves.
Your blog had me reflecting on a phase I went through of learning to ride. I too found it exhilarating – an escape from life, enjoying the mastery, feeling powerful and yet also fearful, in constant awareness that at any moment I could fall off, be thrown, trampled – the consequence of an experience where this did happen in my teenage years. I recollect walking back to the car after lessons, my muscles tense and trembling, convincing myself that it was the elation of the moment, my body having had a ‘good workout’, whereas now I can appreciate that my body had tensed throughout the whole experience and was coming down off it. These days I prefer to aim for mastery of my own body and keep my two feet firmly connected to the ground.
It is not that going for activities such as horseriding, or fishing are “bad”. It is true – they are enjoyable. But the issue is that we learn to rely on them as a crutch to relieve ourselves of the tension from the rest of our life, and so never do we stop to question why our whole life is not lovely. For if it was TRULY lovely just to wake up in the morning, why would we need to go to the effort of finding enjoyment in extra-curricular activity. There would simply be no point. Over the years I have opened myself back up to the wonder I experienced as a child, to the Soul Inspired fire that resides within, and as I have done so, activities such as surfing have naturally had less pull, for by comparison they can no longer offer the beauty that I now find inside.
Living in Germany, we now have spring and all the trees and bushes are blossoming in the most beautiful colors. To see and feel the beauty nature is reflecting to us is such a heaven gift.
A lovely sharing Leigh of your connection to nature. Nature has always been one of my favourite places to be from an early age as I lived with my family on farms and my Grandparents were farmers. I often took my beautiful Cocker spaniel for walks with me and she absolutely had the most joyous time frolicking about like a puppy again each time we walked and it lifted my heart and took me to another level of joy.
Dear Roslyn,
I love that, my dog has taught me so much about letting go and enjoying the day, as he never starts the day with anything but full on enjoyment.
Changing the topic a bit but I cant help commenting on the fact that at two years of age you went and stroked the stomach of a horse you had felt would be gentle and would do you no harm. How awesome would it be to retain the awareness of a child
Dear Joe,
How awesome that we have always had this awareness. Through living our lives, we have dulled it, but we can never erase it. What we can do is to begin to be still and feel it again.
In my late teens, and for some years later, when I would feel down I would go to the sea, some how the crashing waves reflected the turmoil I was in at the time, but the longer I stayed there these feeling would subside and calm was restored. Now in nature I walk to feel the loveliness in my body in its movements while appreciating the wonders of nature and the magic moments that God presents.
I know the escape into nature very well, an escape into the reflection of who we are… But it is a choice to see it this way and feel what nature is reflecting to us.
It is a choice Benkt, but I do wonder how many even realise that there is a choice to be made here? I feel deeply that it is through us all speaking about our experiences as we do here in writing and commenting on what we have personally felt and connected with that opens the conversation for others to consider the impact of their own choices. In this I cannot express deeply enough the power of our voices, and just what discussions like this may open up for another.
The sea with its waves is reflecting to us how powerful we truly are.
This morning i was sitting at the beach simly enjoying to just feeling my body and to be, feeling the warmth of the sun, the warm sand underneath my body and listening to the waves. Nature supports us to be who we truly are.
Dear Janina,
So much so, that I find it truly sad that we are not taught about ourselves being an equal part of nature, holding within the same grandness. To know deeply that if we have moments where life and our circumstances have found ourselves feeling lost or despondent, that nature is there, always present, always reflecting our grandness and all it takes is for us to be in absolute honor of this very real support to feel again our own.
Dear Leigh, i agree and look at our children and teenager who so busy with technology that they might not spend much time in nature and miss out on the reflection and reminder nature hold for us.
Dear Janina, yes look at our children, but is it possible to look a little deeper at their role models in life? Is it not through watching adults choose, TV, computer games, Facebook etc to take up time, rather than seeing them supporting the body, family and friends with preparing nutritious meals, exercising, walking, or even picnicking in nature?
Dear Leigh, yes your are right children mostly copy what they see in their families. Perhaps they use technology to check out because they feel their parents life in the same way.
This morning I was sitting at the beach. It was beautiful to allow myself to enjoy just being and feeling my body and my tenderness and delicateness feeling the warmth of the sun and the warm sand underneath my body, listening the sound of the waves.
Leigh, ever since I was young I too had a deep connection with nature. Around the time I became a teenager when I felt things weren’t going so well i would retreat to nature to hide because there it felt safe and I felt I could be me away from the difficulties of living with other people.
Christopher, your sharing holds with in a great understanding. This being that we be a different person for example, when with others, to how we be when we are taking a walk in nature. For me, this is something that I still feel today, and is something that I am choosing to cut any time I sense myself being different to how I feel when I am still, present and open in nature. This is taking a dedicated commitment to being present in my body, and an ownership of the still, deeply joyous nature that lies within.
Just after skyping with you Leigh. First I wanted to snack something but I did not and went for a walk with my dog. On the way back a hawk flew just in front of me very low above the ground and landed on a tree. Than 3 little birds followed landing an the same tree. The qualities of power and playfulness and lightness and that they belong together were reflected from the birds to me. To be powerful doesn’t mean we have to be serious.
I continued walking and a few step further layed a white feather in the middle of the way. I felt very much confirmed and deeply touched by the heavens messages and symbols once we stay and choose to feel and heal our hurts we are can be with God and to feel his support.
Dear Janina, thank you for sharing, your understanding of Gods messages that you were gifted today is for all. “To be powerful doesn’t mean we have to be serious.” This is a message that needs to be delivered over and over again, as it holds with in it the power to lighten our hearts enjoy our lives as the powerful women we are. Thank you.
This morning coming back from my morning walk with my dog. Two little birds jumped around on the roof above my house door. I stopped and watched them playful, light jumping up and down and making noises joyfully. This was a reflection for me that I can live with my partner together in our home in this way. Nature is a great teacher it does not have any problems.
Dear Janina,
I love the joy and playfulness that you felt and the offering to live more this way. I feel the sense of simply allowing myself to be a part of the world as I am is the way to bring more of the joy out into my day, thank you for the little nudge.
Thank you Leigh what an awesome sharing. I love how nature reflects back to us who we truly are and your analogy of how when the trees bend and move in the wind, allowing themselves to go with the flow of the day, but always staying true to who they are, priceless!
Dear Michaelpearson101,
This simple understanding has been a huge support to me. No matter what happens in my day, at its end I am me. Knowing this and treating myself and my body with the utmost love and understanding is now my natural way of living, no matter what. I so love the solid & strong, yet delicate & tender reflection that nature offers us.
I remember taking my children walking when they were young, I loved being out doors in nature, I felt much closer to God there. I have only just come to realise that I have used nature to escape what I was feeling, being in it to fill a need in me. When I walk in nature now I am much more aware of the beauty of me, how my body is feeling, letting go of the tension, and feeling the flow as I move my body with presence. ” 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. ” Beautiful to read Leigh, thank you for sharing.
Dear Jill,
Feeling the flow of my body is becoming one of my greatest joys. Enjoy you.
I enjoyed very much rereading your blog Leigh and the beautiful reminder “Nature is solid, full and steady, as am I”. We are beautiful and powerful and nature is offering us this reflection and it is for us to get our issues out of the way and start living our divine potential on a daily basis. To develop a steadiness of a rock which is not pretending any longer to be a small stone.
I realized how important it is to go regular for a walk. Sometimes when i do a seminar at week-end i hardly go for a walk and it is actually an important part especially when i walk with full appreciation of myself. Nature is such a powerful reflection to remind us of our divine origin.
Dear Janina,
I have come to the same understanding myself to the importance of walking regularly and also exercising regularly. I exercised this morning for the first time this week and my body adored it. This alone tells me it is important to make it a daily part of my routine.
I too find walking in nature a very supportive modality that I’ve included in my every day rhythm. Through the movement of walking and the reflection and confirmation of nature makes for a beautiful part of the day.
Thank you for the lovely reminder Janina that when we walk, to do so in full appreciation of ourselves.
This is a beautiful comment Janina. Your joy and beauty is felt, along with the rock solid foundation you have.
I loved your honesty Leigh this part particularly resonated with me ‘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.’ I can very much relate to using something as a means of escaping, and walking through the fields or laying down just watching the clouds always made me feel better.
In all the times that I chose to escape to feel better, never did it dawn on me to ‘take that feeling with me’ when I returned to life. How we think about ourselves really does need to be explored, my feeling is we don’t hold the beauty we connect with in nature making it our way of being, as we have forgotten our value. It is only when reminded of this by Serge Benhayon that I began to explore the possibility of making life about my connection, to myself, others and nature equally.
‘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.’ When we are fearful of something and we go ahead and still do it we are acting against what our body is naturally telling us.
That we can simply walk outside and feel the wind and see the sunlight and, possibly even see plants and trees depending upon where we are, and that we can feel the grace, the harmony, the symphony of life playing gently within and around us… Connection with nature and the grace of God hand-in-hand.
Thank you Leigh for sharing with us the power of connecting with nature. I know whenever I feel out of sorts to walk in nature is a beautiful way to bring me back and to truly connect to me.
When do we disconnect?… Because let’s face it most of us are, but again most of us would deny it… Because if we accept that we are disconnected, then we have to reckon with the consequences of this disconnection, and that would be so confronting that most people will do anything to avoid this recognition.
Yes Cjames2012,
Many do run a mile when they stop and connect with their bodies, but what they run from is not the feeling of stillness and beauty they initially feel, but from feeling they way of life they have built without this connection. Without support it can be very difficult to find our way through.
Well put Chris
At times I go for small walk in my breaks at work. I look at the sky see the birds flying in groups, moving in harmony, synchrony and beauty, this reconnects be straight away back that life is about brotherhood.
Dear Janina,
I had not ever connected a flock of birds flying in synchronicity with Brotherhood, but this is exactly what they are demonstrating. Even in the fact that the lead bird changes as needed. They can teach us a lot about working together.
Hi Leigh, yes birds remind us that living in harmony and equalness ( lightness and joyfulness) is possible with everyone at home or at work. What also stands our for me is the absolute beauty we get reflected through nature. That we can equally live and therefore reflect our divine beauty.
Dear Janina,
I have just arrived home from work and read your comment above. Then as I was sitting for a moment a honey eater flew into my house and flew around a bit and then flew out the way it came in. Harmony in reflection, and deep appreciation of the syncrocity of us all.
Our natural connection with nature reflects so much back to us, and is there to support us too, Through nature there is much we can learn about ourselves purely by understanding its reflection.
Sometimes Sally the understanding is not fully present in what Nature is offering us. What is though is the absoluteness of nature, and feeling this in ourselves is at times all that is needed.
This is beautiful Sally that nature is there to reflect to us, and there is much we can read and then understand on a deeper level when we choose to look at nature in this way.
What I love about nature is the truly gorgeous reflections and learning it can offer us in every moment. When we are willing to look at life with a deeper awareness for what’s going on all around us, nature can truly be a wondrous teacher for us all.
Dear Kelly,
Nature is the most wonderous teacher, it holds and supports us as we learn. As I write this I realise how poignant a reflection this is for all of us, something that we can all do for each other.