For years I have been journeying with the natural world, learning different ways of communicating and Be-ing nature. I believe that there is a consciousness in all organisms which we can connect to through practise. I talk to plants and have received information that I could not possibly have known before. I have created this blog so I can share the techniques from my personal investigation evolved from training as an Arts and Nature Psychotherapist.

This blog will be a series of exercises that enable us to deepen our connection with ourselves and others by being in partnership with nature. On the first Monday of every month a new activity will be posted.

“We often forget that WE ARE NATURE. Nature is not something separate from us. So, when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.”

Andy Goldsworthy

SEPTEMBER 2024

TURKEY OAK Quercus cerris

Teaches us mindfulness

Imagine yourself standing on a breezy Cornish coastal path. You peer down from above through the evergreen leaves of turkey Oak to an idyllic sandy cove below. The branches form a diamond shaped window, the captured scene feels intimate. You can smell the sea-salt waves, feel their eternal motion, ebb and flow, ebb and flow, as if being rocked to sleep in a cradle-like boat. You awake from this reverie that felt physically real, and relook at the spectacular view, the whole scene, of sea, sand, blue sky and sun.

Turkey Oak teaches us that we can focus on small things and experience their intimate nature but also to hold that they are part of a bigger picture. It is healthy to practise mindfulness, a way of focusing on the here and now through all our senses. However one cannot be like this all the time, it would be too intense, we also need to just ‘do’, be in the whole world.

 

AUGUST 2024

ROWAN Releases worries

Walking in Blean woods, bright orange berries amidst bright green mountain ash leaves, silver bark emerging from dense undergrowth – this is summer in Kent. Standing under this mythological tree, also known as Rowan, you shut your eyes and imagine a pale pink sun rising. Maybe you have some re-occuring worries/thoughts, the pale rose solar sphere surrounds you, it feels as if it melts the negative energy. A new lighter way of being expands out from your head and dissipates out into the ether, dissolving and releasing.

JULY 2024

NASTURTIUM teaches us to calm and revitalize.

Imagine yourself sitting by a wall, bright orange and golden flowers spill over the stones; this is nasturtium. The sunlight streams through the petals lightning up a deep red throat with stamens full of yellow pollen. The leaves seem to be reaching out towards you, light green and fan shaped.

FACTS ABOUT NASTURTIUM

The name Nasturtium comes from the Latin nasus tortus, meaning "twisted nose", due to its strong peppery flavour when eaten.

This plant originally came from South America, and in Peru the ancient Incan culture believed that the sweet-smelling scent of this flower gave them energy and the strength to ward off invaders.

EXERCISE

The message Nasturtium gives us for July is calming to revitalise.

  • Visualise yourself sitting in the centre of this leaf

  • waves of calming energy wash over you, sit here awhile.

  • As you come back to earth maybe there is a sense of revitalised energy coursing through your veins.

 

JUNE 2024

FIG - Abundance & Joy

As I spoke with  Fig I heard the words, ‘enjoy the fruits of your labour’. Looking up on the internet I found the whole quote,

“You will enjoy the fruit of your labour. How joyful and prosperous you will be!” Psalm 128:2-4

This made complete sense to me as I had just had the opening for my art exhibition which had been quite a journey, and I was hoping for abundance in sales!

FACTS ABOUT FIG

The fig is one of the first plants that humans cultivated dating back to 9400 BC discovered in a Neolithic village of Jordan. It is mentioned in Christian, Judaism, Moslem,  Buddhist and Greek texts relating to spiritual enlightenment, wisdom, fertility, abundance and longevity.

EXERCISE

The message Fig gives us for June is enjoying abundance!

Is there something that you have been working hard at, even if it is still an ongoing journey, to celebrate:

·      bringing up children, your job, decorating your house, your own psychological/spiritual journey . . .?

·      Bring to mind what you have learnt, gained from this journey and express gratitude to any support you have been given, from the physical and spiritual worlds, including towards yourself.

·      Relish in your glory that you have created, enjoy the fruits of your labour, be joyful.