atreesvoice

Albert Einstein said “Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.” I bet that we can all agree that Albert Einstein was a smart man, so let us take his advice and look deeper into nature as away to better understand all else.

First let’s examine how nature can teach us through example by looking at the life cycle of an acorn. First it is born as a flower eventually becoming an acorn. When the time comes, it will fall from the tree in search of fertile ground. Some acorns may be picked up by critters or float down a body of water to find a home away from the parent tree. Once favorable soil conditions are found, and other damaging potentials are overcome—such as being eaten by an animal or insect, the acorn will send down it’s tap root while sending up its shoots to begin life as a seedling. This stage brings more potential dangers, such as being eaten by deer, burned in a fire or taken down by humans. However with steady commitment to it’s life impulse, the oak seedling will grow through the sapling stage to become a small tree and eventually begin flowering and producing acorns of its own. This story can teach us how to persevere through obstacles just as the acorn finds a home and pushes through the soil. We can also see by example the teaching to keep growing and stay on our own path in spite of dangerous possiblities. And another lesson to be seen is that everything has its own season, there is no need to force any other time schedule.

In addition to teaching us by example, spending more time in nature has health benefits. In a series of studies, scientists found that when people swap their concrete confines for a few hours in more natural surroundings — forests, parks and other places with plenty of trees — they experience increased immune function. Stress reduction is one factor for this. But scientists also chalk it up to phytoncides, the airborne chemicals that plants emit to protect themselves and which also seem to benefit humans. One study published in January included data on 280 healthy people in Japan, where visiting nature parks for therapeutic effect has become a popular practice called “Shinrin-yoku,” or “forest bathing.” On one day, some people were instructed to walk through a forest or wooded area for a few hours, while others walked through a city area. On the second day, they traded places. The scientists found that being among plants produced “lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, and lower blood pressure,” among other things. A number of other studies have shown that visiting parks and forests seems to raise levels of white blood cells, including one in 2007 in which men who took two-hour walks in a forest over two days had a 50-percent spike in levels of natural killer cells. And another found an increase in white blood cells that lasted a week in women exposed to phytoncides in forest air.

Spending time in nature also bring us into close proximity to a primal part of ourselves. Just as a domesticated horse or dog still carries an aspect of their wild ancestors, so too do humans as they all once lived out amongst the natural world before building permanent structures to live and work in. For me, this primal self can also be defined as soul. Being more in touch this part of ourselves allows us to drop preconceived notions about what we should be and often allows an experience of just being. This in turn gives us a sense of belonging in and unity with the world. A feeling that is often lacking in our current society.

Nature has many ways to become our teacher. For one it teaches by example, showing us qualities to emulate in order to have a truthful, authentic and enjoyable life. It also helps by healing and lowering our stress levels while increasing our immunity. This will allow us to engage more fully with ourselves and the world. It also gives us the opportunity to experience a depth of being that is often overlooked when we are only inside artificial environments.

My plea to you reading this and also to our greater society is to get outside, get out of doors and make friends with the natural world. See for yourself what opens up in such beauty and intelligence.