Hi everyone.
Welcome back to Emotions Prescription to Feel series.
My name is Michal,
Deanne's mom,
And I'll be walking alongside you today as we focus on the power nature has to nourish and regenerate us.
The pandemic began not quite a year into my grief and one of the ways I coped was by walking around a reservoir near my home almost every day.
The same path was so different each day,
Changed by the weather,
Light,
Time of day,
The wind,
Smells,
Temperature,
Stillness,
Shadows,
The crunchiness of the leaves,
The sound that water made,
And the slipperiness of the rocks.
Being in nature opens me up even when I don't realize I'm closed down.
It reminds me that I am part of it and belong with it.
And while sometimes I feel like a stranger to myself and how much grief impacts me,
I am no stranger in nature.
So if you have access,
This session will be most meaningful outside in a natural quiet place.
You all know the deal,
So we'll get started with our grounding values.
Relax your gaze.
Keep your eyes open or gently close them.
Take a deep grounding breath,
Inhaling through your nose and a long exhale through your mouth,
Letting our breath float down to the ground,
Reminding us where our feet are.
Let's do that together three more times.
Now I invite you to tap your heart twice.
It's a reminder to honor all feelings that may come up as we move with nature here today.
And lastly,
Stretch your arm out wide,
Relaxing your gaze,
Reaching to connect with the natural world,
Reminding us to choose connection over comparison.
Okay,
We're going to get moving together.
Begin by finding a pace that feels right for you in this moment.
I'm going to pause for a few seconds as we find our stride.
As we get ourselves moving in nature,
We can start to open ourselves up to the power that the natural world has to nourish us.
In nature,
We find continuity,
But also impermanence,
Like flowers that bloom every spring.
In nature's vastness,
We find beauty,
But also messiness,
Like leaf piles in the fall or pollen circling in the air.
When we tune into the natural world that surrounds us,
It helps us to quiet our busy minds and expand our perspective.
The natural world reminds us how connected we are to the earth and to one another.
Remember the unity of opposites?
We see this in nature all the time.
It's there in light and dark,
Health and sickness,
Alive and dead,
Blooming and decaying.
All are natural,
Beautiful,
Evolving.
All are both nourishing and in need of nourishment.
All are moving in different directions and on different timelines.
These contrasts that we see deepen our appreciation for what we have and what we don't.
The changing of seasons,
The transforming of day to night,
The shifting from joy to pain and back again,
All serve as examples of how contrast is woven in to the natural world.
Nature shows us how we can hold these opposites in equal measure together.
It's too easy in our daily lives to lose this connection with nature,
To forget to notice a tree swaying in the wind.
Is it sturdy,
Flimsy,
Dancing?
We can build a nourishing relationship with nature by simply noticing.
What colors do you notice?
Does a particular color feel especially nourishing to you as you look around?
How about the sounds that you're hearing?
Does any sound feel especially soothing?
And how about smells?
Are they familiar to you?
As you look around,
Listen to the sounds and breathe in the smells.
Is there some way that you feel a part of all that you're noticing around you?
And now continue to move.
Notice nature moving with you.
Look at the shifting shapes of the clouds or the way the ripples move across the surface of the body of water.
Nature is in motion and so are we.
We are almost to our time for a quiet movement.
While we move in quiet,
Let's practice noticing nature around us.
Notice a new smell,
A tiny insect,
The way the light hits a pavement,
Or a deepening crack in the sidewalk.
Notice how the wind either propels you forward or holds you back.
And notice yourself noticing.
Our quiet time starts with a chime of the bell.
See you soon.
Nature holds so much more than we realize.
Let's reflect a bit on what we noticed.
What surprised you about what you saw,
Heard,
Or felt?
Which color were you drawn to today?
Or did any one thing engage you in particular?
How do you feel a part of nature at this moment?
And how does nature nourish you?
Let's move with these reflections as we continue going forward together,
Now even more connected to what's around us as we move.
And as we're nearing our time together for now and can start to slow our pace to one that feels most steady,
Find a pace where you feel most connected with the natural world around you.
And to close,
I want to share a poem with you by Mary Oliver called Wild Geese.
Our reflections today on nature nourishment made me think of this poem and its powerful images that are each meant to be noticed.
It moves with imagination and fluidity through love and despair,
Vastness and place,
Bringing us into its rhythm and offering a connecting to nature's nourishment.
And here it is,
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver.
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert,
Repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair,
Yours,
And I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile,
The world goes on.
Meanwhile,
The sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscape,
Over the prairies and the deep trees,
The mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile,
The wild geese,
High in the clear blue sky,
Are heading home again.
Whoever you are,
No matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination,
Calls to you like the wild geese,
Harsh and exciting,
Over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
Thank you for moving with me today and for being part of the emotion community.
My name is Michal,
Deanne's mom,
And we'll see you next time.
Prescription to Feel is a series created by Emotion,
An organization on a mission to change the way the world relates to grief and loss.
Learn more at emotion-mc.
Org or find emotion on Instagram at we are underscore emotion.
Thanks for moving with us.
Transcribed by https://otter.
Ai
