Back to nature

I owe much to nature. It has been a great teacher to me, particularly during the quiet days of lockdown. As I took time to stop and look around on my daily walk, my body relaxed and I felt the stillness that is at the heart everything.

I sensed the innate rhythm that allows everything unfold at just the right time. I saw all things as one and my active mind was overwhelmed into silence. It felt like coming home. For many years I had lived a life devoid of nature. I was disconnected as I hurtled along pushing and struggling. It had been my modus operandi for many years. Ease and flow were foreign concepts to me. Despite slowing down in recent years, nature was showing me that I still had much to learn.

The blow of breast cancer in 2016 had definitely kick-started a process of inner transformation. It was a great relief to get off the hamster wheel and stop but I still had moments of anger and frustration as I tried to make sense of what had happened. I had been a “doer,” charging along at full speed with the best of them. Then bang. The identity that I had clung so tightly to was gone. Watching the world continue to belt along without my contribution was a sobering wake-up call. I realized that I had reached the limits of my old life and that even if I wanted to run back to it, I couldn’t. It was just too much. Still letting go wasn’t easy. Although “old” Celine no longer existed, the “new” version had yet to make herself known. I was back to square one with a blank page and I felt rudderless for quite some time.

“Our crisis is a birth” says Barbara Marx Hubbard in the book Conscious Evolution.

When I read those words it all started to made sense. I was meant to start again. Nothing else could have stopped me in my tracks so completely. I no longer wanted to live from my ego - always afraid, pushing for more and never satisfied. I was ready to live from a higher place and trust life to show me the way. I had no idea what lay ahead. I just knew that the power that had given me a second chance at life would do a better job of figuring it out than me. And every single day, as long as I stay out of the way, it does. 

 “Everything grows in its own right time. Don’t force or grasp.” Mother Nature whispered in my ear as I strolled along.

“You are unique and perfect like all of creation. Nothing is here by accident, including every single blade of grass. Trust this.” She reminded me.

“Every season of your life is necessary and brings its own gifts. Even in the quiet days of winter there is much going on under the surface in preparation for the next growth spurt. Don’t squander this time.” She urged me as I worried endlessly about my future.

“The planet is one breathing organism. Separation is an illusion. You must work to together to find balance. Then you will thrive.” The message was almost screaming in my ears.

“Embrace the stillness within and your powers of self-healing. Just look at how the earth around you is regenerating now that it has time and space to do so.” I determined to cherish this challenging, yet special time.

“Harmony and flow is your true nature. Surrender to it. This is how your life is meant to be.” I will do my best, I vowed, as I turned for home.

I remembered all that cancer had taught me. It was a clear sign that when we go against our body’s wisdom and ignore the natural rhythm of our lives, it puts our system under great stress and dis-ease. As in my case, illness is often the end result. Now here was nature reminding me of the secrets to healthy living. Embracing our true nature is the key.

I hope you feel the healing powers of nature in your own life. I hope you find balance and calm. I hope your body, mind and spirit align. That is the highest form of self-care. Only then will you move with life, not against it. You will know when to take action and when to rest. Once recharged, you will easily step back into the arena of life knowing what to do.

Thank you Mother Nature.

4th August 2020