Nature is always there for you in grief...
Nature is one of my ‘go to's’ for helping people navigate grief. It heals parts of us as it speaks to us in a language deeper than the conscious level. ❤️
ways to allow nature to ground and support you:
Take a walk in nature away from traffic and noise and focus on your breath and your steps. Studies have shown that taking a walk in park - just walking in nature can help with ruminating thoughts.
Go outside and notice 5 things you can see in nature, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.
Play with a pet and be totally in the moment of love and connection.
Listen to the songs of birds to relax. Studies have shown that birdsongs dramatically lessen depression, stress, and anxiety. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-20841-0
Ground yourself by standing barefoot on the earth and feeling the connection and support.
Hug a tree. Really, hug a tree and feel the life force coursing through it. Trees roots run deep into the ground intertwining with other trees’ roots for support and nourishment.
Feel small. The largeness of nature reminds us that there are many forces in the universe bigger than we are and that life works in a circle and in a cycle. Spring always follows Winter.
Here are my favorite words from Black Elk the Oglala Sioux Holy Man, that remind us of how all of life is a circle:
“Everything the Power of the World does
Is done in a circle. The sky is round,
And I have heard that the earth is round
Like a ball, and so are all the stars.
The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nest in circles,
For theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again
In a circle. The moon does the same
And both are round. Even the seasons
Form a great circle in their changing,
And always come back again to where they were.
The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood,
And so it is in everything where The Power moves.”
— Black Elk, Medicine Man of the Oglala Sioux Nation.
Here is the complete version:
Black Elk Circle Poem
You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything and everything tries to be round.
In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop
of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace
and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.
Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon
does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great
circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.
The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is
in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the
nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop,
a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.
Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950