Skimming through one of my workshop manuals from years ago, I come across this passage:
I recently spent some time at a northern lake with my daughters and grandchildren. Our cottage was close to the lake and I could hear the waves and the loons, smell the moisture in the air and the smoke from the open fires. I realized when I awoke in the morning that my breath was unbelievably deep. It felt like it filled my body and sank into the bed. We know that being in nature is good for our breath.
In recent years when I have longed for some time in nature, for those deeper breaths, I have taken myself to an airbnb in the woods. The setting is close to where I lived as a kid, and I can still see myself biking the grid road that passes the property.
When I am there, I picture my dad, who spent so much time on the nearby rivers and lakes and in the woods. He was wise about nature, and the trees, animals and sounds were weather-and-life messengers for him. Being there grounds me AND soothes my soul as I walk the paths to the river, listen to the birds and the aspen leaves singing in the breeze. Just being there.
So how delightful, that yesterday I picked up the book, The Nature Fix: why nature makes us happier, healthier and more creative, to further feed my soul and my ever-curious mind. This is the telling of how journalist, Florence Williams, set out to investigate nature’s restorative benefits and to demonstrate that even small amounts of exposure to nature can improve our mood and our creativity.
If you are finding yourself, as many are, heavy with pandemic fatigue and overwhelm, try leaning against a tree, walking a trail, or going outside and taking that conscious breath. Gather up some nature neurones. Read the Nature Fix.
We’ve written more on the gifts of nature:
- My Go-to Morning Treasures
- Dwell on beauty
- Beauty Under the Saskatchewan Sky…sunsets and lilacs
- 50 Shades of Blue
- ABC: Abundance, Beauty and Community!
- Oops! I Forgot to Look After Myself!!
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