Nature is the tonic

Here is an article I came across recently, it supports a lot of what I believe about the power of nature and it’s ability to heal and energise us. Enjoy

Is it time for your doctor to give you a ‘nature prescription’?

 People who spend more time in nature, be it parks, gardens, mountains, lakes or beaches, tend to have better mental and physical health.

But few of us spend much time there. During the pandemic, Professor Xiaoqi Feng, from the School of Population Health at the University of New South Wales, conducted a survey of more than 3000 Australian adults.

 She assumed, given that many gyms and workplaces were closed, that people would have more time to be in nature. Yet, one-third of people spent less than two hours a week outside.

Nature prescriptions have become increasingly popular as an adjunctive therapy to traditional treatments in adults with cardiovascular diseases, psychological distress or those who are physically inactive, sedentary, lonely or burnt-out.

They are not just a walk in the park. Nature prescriptions involve doctors or psychologists who understand the capacity of their patients and can design an activity to suit them. This could be as straightforward as a directive to sit in a park each day, listen to the birds and breathe in the fresh air; it could involve walking in nature; a gardening program; ocean swimming; choosing your own adventure; or more formal outdoor exercise classes.

Though many of the respondents to Feng’s survey were interested in being prescribed nature, she was unsure whether it would lead to the same positive health outcomes as experienced by people who get out there of their own accord.

So, for the new review, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, Feng and her team analysed 28 studies testing different nature prescriptions on people with health issues ranging from stress to cardiovascular disease, substance abuse to obesity, mental ill health to dementia.

They found there were significant benefits for physical health including blood pressure and step count as well as for mental health, including depression and anxiety.

Professor Thomas Astell-Burt, an ARC Future Fellow at the University of Wollongong, says the findings align with decades of research.

In fact, Professor Delene Weber, a social scientist at the University of South Australia, says the benefits have been known for close to 200 years.

“Long before Melbourne’s innovative children’s hospital used aquariums in the waiting room to calm children and views of green space to help recovery, health professionals have been aware of this inherent link. South Australia’s St Andrews Hospital was located overlooking Adelaide’s southern parklands because they knew from the experience of nurses in the Crimean War in the 1850s that recovery was better when patients had access to green space.”

Why is nature so potent for our health?

Natural sunlight in the morning, for example, sets our circadian clock, which has knock-on effects on our immune system, mood and metabolic function. Vitamin D, which is best sourced from the sun, is also essential for bone health as well as our overall health.

Trees, of course, do not only support other forms of life, like birds, but help clean the air and provide oxygen, while sea mists and sprays may help reduce breathing difficulties, including among children with asthma, in part through reduced inflammation and improved lung function.

 In one of Feng’s previous studies, she found that children living close to heavy traffic are more likely to have asthma. But, if the children who live in those areas also have green space around them – 40 per cent or more – they reduce their risk of developing asthma compared to other children who live in high traffic-polluted areas without the green space.

These are not the only pathways to better health. Astell-Burt explains: “Contact with nature provides stress relief, renews cognitive capacities depleted through adaptation to challenging circumstances, provides attractive venues for physical and social activities that not only keep us active, but also improves our sleep and reduces loneliness.”

We have, what Feng refers to as a “lonely-genic environment”: “How we have designed our environment today is not supportive of meaningful connections. It’s a car-oriented environment. There are not a lot of common areas people don’t have to pay to go to.“

Weber adds that, in Australia today, particularly post covid, we have “very significant challenges” with mental health, obesity and social isolation.

 Nature prescriptions, Weber says, are a “natural health service” that ought to be part of the solution to these issues and cost little to nothing. “We have nothing to lose, and a huge amount to win.”

Feng likens nature prescriptions to the knowledge that we ought to eat more healthy foods and move more but the struggle to do so, and engaging dietitians or exercise physiologists to help.

“Customised nature prescription helps people to connect or reconnect,” she says. “If we give a little guidance, it might help people get healthier.”

Weber reminds people we don’t need a doctor’s prescription to get out and enjoy the benefits of nature: “But for many people the validation that a green prescription brings could be a catalyst to get them out enjoying the benefits of nature.”

I saw a grown man cry in public...

A few days ago, I attended a community gathering in support of raising awareness of drilling permits being allowed for oil and gas drilling off the coast of Sydney. The speakers were full of passion and purpose and dedicated to giving back and protecting our natural environment, particularly the ocean. The main organiser had spent the last month holding these protests up the east coast of Australia and his commitment to the cause was palpable. After each speaker he would thank them and literally cry from the emotion felt through this shared cause and beautiful expressions of humanity. This show of emotion was raw and powerful and engaged every single person that was present that day and the authenticity and vulnerability that was so clear inspired all of us to aim for something higher in our lives.

The event culminated in everybody paddling out into the ocean and forming a circle, chanting and splashing to raise the energy levels and awareness even further. On the way to the beach, I overheard a young woman in answer to a question from her friend about if she was going to paddle out, she replied, “Are you kidding, I just saw a grown man cry, it was awesome, I’m out there”

And at that moment I thought, we need more of this, more of people deeply connected to their purpose and passion in life, willing to stand up for what they believe in and willing to show every aspect of themselves along the way. It was interesting also to note that each time the organiser became emotional he apologised for it, because it’s what we shouldn’t do in public right. Wrong! We need to do this more, no matter what the circumstances, especially men. Not the BS fake crocodile tears of some of our public servants and leaders of late, pretending to be authentic, staged in front of the press conference or social media platforms but the real everyday expression of each of us when we are so moved.

This can come in so many moments, I find myself catching myself and trying to control myself so that I am not seen to be crying, to be emotional or perceived as soft. I even did it on the day when I was so moved by the presenters, I automatically turned my face or wiped the tears from being so affected by the presenters but as the organiser allowed himself to express his emotions, I felt compelled to express mine and in doing so I connected with many people on that day, I showed a part of myself that I hide and it felt incredibly freeing.

Resistance

The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it. – Steve Pressfield – The War of Art

It has been a long time between putting my thoughts down on paper the last time and now, in the context of expressing what I am observing within myself and how that relates to my life. Nothing like a major change in one’s life to promote action, the shift beyond the comforts of the known, the security of the expected into the realm of the unknown and unexpected.

What this change has given me is time, time to step back and notice what has been happening in my life, where my focus has been, what I have been making important and how I am feeling about that. It has been a harsh reality check for me.

The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day

The warrior in me has been silent, the part of me that fights for living my truth with purpose and courage, I have been successful at creating other focuses in my life that have kept me distracted and determined to follow through, to achieve results, to make things happen so then I can do what is important for me to do, to feel that sense of purpose and satisfaction.

I could look back and say in some ways I have achieved those results, in that now I am putting time and energy into the very things that I cleverly avoided for so long, but I didn’t get to this point from a carefully laid out plan where it was going to happen at a specific time when all the specific conditions had been met. What happened was a rather drastic shift in circumstances, which initially seemed like a backward step in my plan, but it has become the catalyst for the change that was never going to happen whilst I was plugging away at that strategy. Really all it was about was building resistance to me making the changes and following the decisions that were going to lead me to my truth.

I was busy keeping busy, however I know that at any time throughout this period in my life I could have chosen to write more, express more, follow my true path but I had other things that I gave more importance, legitimately so, as I kept telling myself, I had a business to develop, I had a relationship to nurture, places to go, things to see and do, but it was all coming unstuck and harder to maintain even though I believed that it was the direction I needed to go in and also wanted to be in, to create the circumstances for that next stage of my life. What an awesome strategy of resistance, quite creative when I look at it but ultimately taking me further off the road to a life full of purpose.

I am at the point now, having broken away from that trajectory, where I am opening to hearing these calls to take up arms, become the warrior, fight for what is really going to lift my spirits, not the easy path, one filled with fear and challenges, I notice it when I start talking to others about it now, voicing my intentions or desires, the inner critic comes out, I get nervous but at least I am expressing it, I do want to share my experiences with others, to support others to come to their own true path, take steps towards living that.

So here I am, on an island in North Sumatra, a few degrees off the Equator, contemplating my direction, breaking open the rusty box of thoughts and ideas which I have kept closed in the attic of my mind and heart, tucked away. I am brushing off the dust, shaking down the pages of these privately held expressions, willing to take the first step, transferring them to form that is legible and relatable.

I am here also because it has been a dream of mine to create a place where I can come and surf beautiful waves, slow down and converse with nature, spend a few months each year re-energizing and now is the time to take action on that as well. This year I have created one month, and I will build this up year upon year. And as I make decisions to create this opportunity, I also create the time and space and desire to take action in other areas of my life in line with my true nature and purpose. I like how that happens!!

Taking responsibility personally to shift the collective consciousness

I feel the call to address the issue at the moment of Toxic Masculinity in the wake of a number of instances of violence and assault against women, perpetrated by men in positions of power. These are the reflection of the prevailing relationship in our culture and society that exists between men and women and which has existed for a long, long time. We are having a good hard look in the mirror. Apart from the violation of rights, what saddens me are the responses of the people in a position to address the issues and push for change, to be leading champions for implementing action that can address these issues.

They actually seem clueless as to how to respond, there does not seem to be any empathy or understanding of the massive injustice going on here, this is as obvious as it gets that the problem is woven deep into our prevailing modus operandum, they are incapable of leading the change that needs to happen. Expecting anything more is wishful thinking at best, so the change comes from within every person moved by these issues, each of us taking responsibility for our attitudes and conversations, our actions and behaviours, we see it and know when it is wrong, but a lot of the time the response is to ignore and stay quiet. I know I have been a contributor to this culture because I have witnessed situations where disrespect and harm has been caused by one person to another and I have said or done nothing to address this.

In this, we are all complicit unless we take action and call out the issue. This starts in the home and work place, every son and daughter are watching their parents, every niece and nephew watching their relatives, every young boy and girl is watching the friends of their parents and relatives, to understand how it is in our culture, what are the norms of communication and relating. This is the first point of reference for behaviours and actions so every action we take is relevant no matter how small it may seem, the offhand comment, the playful attitude that isn’t so playful to someone but which is passed off as OK.

Yes, it is a culture that is ingrained and will take some shifting, it can happen more quickly if we take responsibility for our own happiness and self-love. By this I mean, it is important to have a relationship with yourself that is about self-respect and love, what person other than someone that doesn’t have a good relationship with themselves would think it is Ok to treat someone else with such disrespect and carry out violent acts that have a devasting and lasting impact on the victim.

From the start of our lives and throughout, there are many reasons and experiences that contribute to how we see ourselves, what sort of relationship we have with ourselves, what the inner dialogue is that runs both consciously and unconsciously forever setting the platform for how we project this into the community, into our relationships with loved ones, our work colleagues and anyone we come in contact with.

If we want the outer experiences and ways of inter-relating to change, we need to change the inner dialogue. You are creating a constitutional dialogue from which all your experiences are based. A set of values, a code of conduct of how you want to be treated and you start with treating yourself this way first and then treating others the same way.

Sounds all wonderful and idealistic in words, the challenge is implementing this in our society and culture, but if we look at it as a culture affecting one, we can start there. Every action imbeds the story, there have been many actions of disrespect in our culture over the years that have imbedded the current situation, now the actions need to change, with the change of actions will come the change of attitudes and behaviours. It is happening, as more and more of these violations are called out the focus builds, the spotlight is on the behaviours, they are exposed which is painful to accept at first however it is a step in the direction to affecting the change.

Shining the light on the darkness anywhere, creates the opportunity to see what is there and change it. Shine the light on your own darkness see what is there and change it, what is the blackness that keeps you from expressing yourself with self-love. This takes a level of awareness and commitment to come to these realisations and to want to change them, as a society we are being numbed through many different avenues making this more difficult to cut through the thick layers of fog to get to the truth. Are you willing to change, are you willing to make a commitment for yourself and in doing this, for everyone else?