Most people are so busy they become unaware of the beneficial things all around them.
Traffic jams, cell phones, deadlines, unexpected problems, caring for others, social media. These are some of the things that consume our lives and generate a myriad of thoughts that grab our attention from the time we awaken to the time we crash back into bed at night.
Caught up in this complex world? Everyone wants a prescription. Here is a one word prescription: NATURE. Yes, spending time in nature has many benefits and this has been known since ancient times. It is interesting that recently doctors in Scotland have been authorized to prescribe nature as a therapy for their patients.
This is an ancient practice forgotten over time. Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching: “Nature does not hurry but everything is accomplished.” It’s all there, around us all the time.
We forget that we ARE nature. Our bodies consist of the fluids found in the oceans. Trillions of beneficial bacteria have taken up residence in our bodies. Our cells feed on the phytochemicals found in plants and amino acids found in animals and plants. Our biorythmns are tuned to the moon and the tides and the sun rise and sun set. We are connected to everything.
Yet when we get busy in this complex world we forget this and this contributes to a sense of isolation or separateness. It makes us less resilient and less peaceful.
I recently moved to a small town on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. My intent was to spend more time in nature. Although I have been here for a few months, the prescription I wrote for myself is working.
I sat on a rock watching a robin hunt for worms, I stared skyward watching a bald eagle circle over my roof top deck, I watched a hummingbird take a birdbath in rainwater captured by the leaves of a large bush in the back yard and I have taken evening walks along the bay to watch fish break the surface of the water as the sun sets over the distant mountains.
All these experiences, each just minutes long, served as mini-meditations that stopped my thoughts and let me just be and to connect with the awareness inside me. It’s so simple. So easy and so calming.
You do not need to live on an island to experience such things. Nature is all around. All it takes is a desire to connect and there you go, with no copay.
So when life seems to be too complex, Go Simple. Just be who you truly are- part of Nature.
Stop and be aware.
