Nature as Nurture

Though it comes in many forms, to nurture is simply to care for and help grow or develop (someone or something). Maybe it’s providing physical support (food, clothing, care) maybe it’s teaching, maybe it’s emotional support, sometimes it might even be a little tough love; pretty well anything goes here as long as it is aiding in growth of some sort. In the old argument nature vs nurture the “nature” we are referring to is our genetics, with “nurture” being the many other factors in our environment that can influence our development. We looked at this “nature” and the world of epigenetics in the post “written in our genes”, but in this post I am referring to nature as “the outdoors” - forests, mountains, oceans etc. Nature, in this context, is a source of nurture not something separate from it. 

Now, the outdoorsy types already know that nature is nurturing for the soul. Standing amongst majestic peaks or beside ocean waves that don’t care who we are, how much money we have, where we are from or what level of education we attained, is a humbling experience. Nature treats everyone the same and there are so many lessons it can teach us as we experience and explore its wonders. The post “Teachings From Nature” might be worth revisiting here. But maybe you’re one of them indoorsy types of creatures who cringe at the idea of spending hours outside and need a little convincing? Well my friends, evidence is everywhere that you too seek nature for nurture, even if you don’t step a toe outdoors. We humans..yes the outdoorsy annnd the indoorsy types, seek nature to help our nervous system shift gears and stimulate growth and development. 

Just a quick reminder that when our sympathetic nervous system is in charge (the fight or flight system), stress is running the show and survival becomes our body’s only goal. When our parasympathetic system is in charge, our body is able to focus on growth, repair, healing and thriving. Our senses can be used to help stimulate one part of the nervous system or the other. For example, if we were feeling stressed or anxious, would we be better off putting on a soundtrack of people yelling, cars honking and sirens blaring, or might it be “spa” music, infused with background sounds of rain or water bubbling in a stream? Even the “not so calm” sounds of nature, like crashing ocean waves or thunder storms, can still help trigger a sense of calm and peace. Our bodies just seem to respond well to the frequencies of nature. We may also explore our sense of smell. Candles are often made to smell like something from nature and though we all have different preferences within that category, there are usually at least a few that we’ll find pleasing. Scents of nature and/or essential oils, may help subconsciously convince our body that we’re out there in the fresh snow, crisp pine forests or standing at the beach in the salty air. If we close our eyes and take a big inhale, we just might be there. 

Being in nature is healing and we’ve known it for a long time. Science knows it too, it’s just hard to quantify in a peer reviewed study - so it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. But outward acknowledgement or not, there are clues that deep down we know it and more recently have tried to leverage it in healthcare. When possible, healthcare facilities now attempt to bring the outside inside in an effort to ease stress and anxiety for their patients. Wall colours are selected to have soft greenish or blueish tints…attempting to trigger a sense of calm in the body by mimicking the tones of forests and water. Clear fluorescent light covers are replaced with pictures of the sky - so that it looks like perhaps you’re outside, rather than on a hard table about to be slid into a diagnostic imaging machine. Murals, photographs and paintings that depict nature are often selected for the walls as they are much more likely to induce healing than a picture of a giant iphone, pizza or busy city street. 

So when we find ourselves a little bit lost or a little bit misguided and are seeking some teaching and wisdom to help us grow, we’d be doing ourselves a great favour to head outside and spend a bit of time in nature. When we find ourselves stressed and can acknowledge that our body is spending a bit too much energy on surviving rather than thriving, it’s the nurture of nature that we need. If for whatever reason you can’t get out, then I’d invite you to at least try to bring the outdoors in. Focus some of your senses on triggering your body to believe it might be in nature. No, it’s not as good as the real thing, but it is a whole heck of a lot better than scrolling on your phone searching for “ways to reduce stress” (but then really just getting wrapped up in the news or comparing your life to others online). So get off that thing and plop yourself down in front of a landscape picture, put on the nature spa music, light an outdoorsy inspired candle and pretend. Pretend that it’s you sitting at that lake, or perched on the mountain admiring the view. Pretend that you can feel the wind and hear the sounds. Until you can go, pretend that you’re already out there. There’s a reason we call her “mother” nature, after all.