Growing up on a farm, I remember Mum calling me in for dinner and me having to drag myself away from whatever adventure I was conjuring up, or whatever tree I happened to be sitting in the top of.
I always felt so free and at peace out in nature. It was a place to escape to when things became too much. It still is.
Nature has always helped me in my life. More recently during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when I along with many others, I had to find new ways to just get through.
Some sought out nature to spend their one-hour escape from home confinement, while others looked there for stimulation amid the ground-hog day feeling.
For some, the sudden halt in busyness led them to truly notice nature properly for the first time.
The pandemic brought to the fore thoughts of ‘life is too short’, leading my partner and I to take the plunge and purchase the bush block I’d long dreamt about.
Working from home for me was a joy as I explored this newfound haven daily, at a pace guided by nature’s rhythms and my own.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t the lockdowns that affected me adversely — it was my return to the traditional workplace that proved overwhelming.
Let’s face it, humans aren’t built to spend all our time indoors where there is limited natural light and fresh air, in crowded spaces, with electronics of all kinds taking all of our senses hostage.
Working from home had given me respite from all of these things that I didn’t realise affected me so much until I returned to them.
Basically, my existing levels of anxiety went through the roof and I ended up in sensory burnout. I sought assistance from a wonderful therapist referred to me by a friend, and took some time off work.
Nature emerged as my go to for relief during this time. I escaped outside to spend time within and with nature, to allow it to play a part in my recovery, and my therapist incorporated nature into our sessions.
During some dark days when it felt like nothing would lift the cloak of anxiety, depression and uncertainty, the key thing nature did was to remain.
Remain present, holding me within the landscape.
Remain in flux so I could experience shift and change and growth and senescence.
Remain solid underfoot when my footing felt unsteady.
Remain new, emerging, adventurous, loud, quiet, full of song and silence. A mentor of resilience.
Nature nudged me forward, presenting lessons and questions that mirrored its own ebb and flow.
Out here, nature is rarely completely quiet and peaceful.
It is full of the song of hundreds of frogs at our wetland dam, the cerclucks of red wattlebirds, warbles and cackles of magpies and grey butcherbirds, the hum of insects and wind rustling through the trees.
Negative thoughts are drowned out by the sounds of nature.
When I’m suffering anxiety and my body feels like it has a swarm of angry bees inside of it, I head outside and slowly and deeply breathe in the fresh air produced for us by the wondrous stands of eucalypt trees nearby.
The reciprocal relationship between me and the trees continues its flow of ‘I breathe in what you breathe out, you breathe in what I breathe out’.
Together we change the molecular structure of the air for each other’s benefit.
We cannot survive without each other. What a beautiful relationship to have.
Nature is the truest form of kin, family we cannot survive without.
The trees actually release compounds that help our nervous systems to regulate. There is science that tells us this, and every time I’m within a forest I feel it.
My mental health struggles are far from over, but each time I’m challenged, I venture out into nature for respite.
This, along with loving support from my partner and family, and the guidance of a fantastic therapist, have brought me to a better place mentally.
If you are struggling, please seek some professional support to help you get back on track, and find yourself a little piece of nature to dwell in and recover for a while.
– Allison Trethowan
11°C