Four important lessons from nature
We humans are complex organisms made of the same elements as the rest of nature: earth (our flesh and bones), water (our bloodstream), air (respiratory system) and fire (the heart beat that keeps us alive).
When we choose to accept, embrace and get consciously involved in our symbiotic relationship to nature, we can learn A LOT. Here are four of nature’s lessons that I continue to learn from:
Lesson One: water the Tree, not the branch
Imagine you are a tree and each of your branches represents an area of your life such as your relationships, your career, our financial situation, your health etc. One day you notice that one of the branches is drooping/dying (ie. you are questioning your relationship, bored in your career or struggling with health issues). A simple question: Would you water the branch, or do you water the tree?
If you guessed the latter then great, you’ll understand where I’m going with this.
This is one of my favourite lessons from nature because it is simple, yet really empowering. It reminds us that to have healthy limbs (of life), we must look after our roots. By nurturing ourselves from the inside out, from our core, we are in a healthier and happier position to support our “life limbs”; we are in a better position to flourish.
Too often we fall into the trap of the quick fix. We start the diet, we end a relationship, we quit out job, only to find that in time, the weight is back on and the next relationship (and job) has the same issues. This approach is as silly as watering the end of the branch. We start to feel like the world is against us, like we can’t get anything right, like we have “bad luck” but we don’t – the common denominator is us.
Just like with plants, there are so many ways that we can ‘water the tree’. Some like one big water once a week, others like to be watered a little every day. It’s trial and error until you find that your tree has found its groove, and this is what we must do too. Figure out our watering strategy – and stick to it!
for example: One day I was feeling really overwhelmed. My finances were stressing me out, my relationship was stressing me out, I had too many decisions to make at once and I felt like everything was caving in around me. I was stressed, anxious and over-thinking everything. I was stuck. The logical me would have dove into lists – pros, cons, priorities etc. but I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to do that rationally because I was so agitated. So instead, I ignored all my deadlines, all my decisions, I diverted my responsibilities and I went to the beach. I knew underneath everything else that a trip to the water’s edge, where I could put everything behind me and nothing but the horizon in front of me, would be what was needed to ‘water my tree’. And it was; after a couple of days at the beach, by myself, filling my days with swims and barefoot walks along the sand cleared my head and centered me again. From that place of alignment, all of the looming decisions I had to make suddenly seemed simple. In other words, by knowing my ‘watering strategy’, I was able to move towards solutions for all my problems at once.
Lesson Two: get beyond the mind
Did you know that we are made from the same chemical building blocks as plants?
There are very obvious differences between plants and animals but on a chemical level, everything is the same. Yup! Plants, animals and humans are all made up of chemical building blocks called nucleotides. The only difference is the way these chemicals are arranged in the DNA of an organism, which essentially determines whether it will grow a thin stalk with a white fluffy flower on top, or two legs and a human head.
For this reason, I find observing the behaviour of plants (especially trees!) in nature gives us an incredible example for how we should strive to behave as humans in our environment. Do you see trees comparing themselves to another? Crying if one of their leaves has a hole in it? Resisting rain and complaining that the sun’s not out? Nope - their presence is omnipresent - they just are as they are and there’s a beauty and a peace in that.
Obviously, as humans, we have a much higher consciousness than plants. We have an organ called a brain, we have an invisible force that we call the mind and we have a guide that observes the mind.
Whether you call that guide your 'higher self', 'higher consciousness', 'authentic self' your 'soul' or what - this is the guide who has the ability to control your mind and make sure it's working in your favour. The problem is that we seem to have lost connection with our guide, and our minds are running rampant!!
Why do we need to go beyond the mind? Because it is fear-based, and it can often hold us back.
The mind is a powerful tool, but it is wired for survival in a world that is (for most of our privileged selves) now very easy to survive in.
We have reached a time where, to literally survive as a species, we need to be more connected and more obedient to our higher selves. This is how we equip ourselves with the power to override our fear-based minds and start to explore our true potential. Nature is a gateway for this.
By observing plants - and I mean getting really weird and literally taking time to stare at them - we start to experience the bliss with which they exist in the absence of a mind and we can start to understand the difference of being stuck in the mind, and then going beyond it.
An affirmation to help you remember to connect with nature:
"THROUGH NATURE, I CAN CONNECT TO MY HIGHER SELF"
Lesson Three: how to find stillness
Inspired by Eckhart Tolle and The Power of Now, I set out to learn how to ‘hear silence’. I learnt to do this while being in nature and it has since been a tool that I use to find calm, even in the most busy situations.
In order to hear silence, we must be incredibly alert and dial our ears up for acute hearing. What you’re listening for, is the silence beyond or between the sounds. Once you find it, you realise the magnificence of it. There is a permanent blanket of stillness, an unwavering presence beyond everything and anything that is happening in this world. Not only that, but you can feel its vastness - where does this silence extend to? I can’t even fathom.
Listening out for this silence within nature helps us to connect to its stillness and when we do this, we invite the same stillness within ourselves.
Click here for a reading meditation that guides you to the sound of silence.
Lesson Four: consciously choose your reaction to an environment
When flora and fauna are exposed to new environments, for example different temperatures or threats, they change to adapt and survive. Literally, the DNA of plants changes so that future generations of that plant will have a better chance at survival.
In Joe Dispenza’s blog: The Nature of Nurture and the Nurture of Nature, he talks about scientific experiments that were done to mimic new environments to trigger genetic changes in animals (in these cases worms and rats).
Once the changes in their DNA could be measured, the animals were then taken back to the original environment yet the DNA remained the same - as if it were still the new environment - and it remained for 14 generations!
The point of his blog was to explain that the impact we let our environment have on us, can cause physical changes to our DNA that we pass on to our children, our children’s children etc. In turn, we are also carrying the physical imprint of generations before us. Adds a little more accountability doesn’t it!?
Another important way of looking at it, is that essentially we have the power to shape our DNA by consciously choosing how we respond to our environments. We therefore have a responsibility to a) learn how to go beyond our minds while we are in environments that test us and b) put ourselves in environments that we know will generate the feelings that we want to experience most. For me, these environments and the natural environments (beach and bush being my go-to’s) which help me to find clarity, calm, inspiration, freedom and empowerment - qualities I certainly wouldn’t mind passing on to my (incoming) child!
These found lessons have helped me to find a calm that I didn’t even know I was missing. They have helped me to access a deep knowing that I have everything I need within me, just as nature does. I have found them to be empowering, inspiring and, I would say transformative and I hope that there are the same for you!
Lastly…the above can also be a bit useless if it’s not put into practice so with that in mind, check out my short blog 8 easy ways to invite nature into your everyday life.
Love to hear your thoughts on these lessons (or any stories you have about your own lessons from nature!).
Please share in the comments below so that we can connect.