How Nature Brings Us Into The Present

I am on holiday with my family in Martha's Vineyard staying on a peaceful farm on a beautiful pond near the ocean. The pond is still yet full of life and our kids are learning the art of crabbing. In the morning as the sun rises, geese raise their voices in a synchronized song against a backdrop of cows mooing, ducks quacking, and birds chirping. The rain drips lightly on shallow leaf faces creating a soft yet consistent tapping. A whippoorwill breaks in to whistle like a solo part in a symphony.

The countryside, or any immersion in Nature, evokes a calm and connectedness with little effort. Green trees, flowers, shadows fill my eyes with a vivid still landscape. A kayaker glides by on the pond creating a ripple in the glass. A slight fog hovers over the dew-covered grass giving it a bluish sheen. Two sparrows flit by my head as I sit on the porch immersed in the scene as if I am in a Broadway production.

Suddenly I notice the hum of a plane, a sound that fails to blend in with the surrounding but feels like a chainsaw hacking through a redwood forest.

For those of us who live in cities connecting with Nature can be hard at times. A recent report in the Am J Child and Adolescent Psychiatry noted the reduced exposure children have with nature since most travel to and from schools today by car (or bus) and many after school activities are indoors. This loss of exposure to nature is thought to contribute to the rising rates of mental health problems in youth.

For those who say they can't 'meditate' (or don't want to) spending time outdoors, in nature, is a way to cultivate this sense of inward discovery with little effort. If you can be in nature, and particularly just 'being' a bit, such as lying in the grass, wandering on a trail, sitting and listening to the sounds, looking at the light of the sun cascading through tree branches and leaving patterns of light and dark images in the grass, or watching the cloud formations drift through the sky, Nature brings you fully into the present. Every sense becomes active yet none compete for attention.

A receptive awareness of an interconnection to life and the planet emerges as naturally as the morning dew. Repetitively present yet forgotten each day as activity distracts us. Nature's presence is available to foster insight if effort to override it can be relinquished.

"The most submissive thing in the world can ride roughshod over the most unyielding in the world - that which is without substance entering that which has no gap." (Lao-Tsu, Tao Te Ching, D.C. Lau translation, 1994).

Comments

[Dap]

Dear Dr. Smalley,

Your essay/post made me think of this from "Step to the music you hear vol. one" :

"Must we always teach our children with books?
Let them look at the mountians and the stars up above. Let them look at the beauty of the waters and the trees and flowers on earth.
They will then begin to think, and to think is the beginning of areal education. - David Polis, bluemountian press.

I enjoyed the essay, thanks. Agape.

[KillgoreTrout43]

I am always glad to see a little bit of wisdom from the Tao, posted here. Nature is everything. We are Nature. To think that we have somehow risen above it is a huge mistake. Nature has alot to teach us, if we only listen and pay attention.
I like the theme of this article. Nature does indeed bring us into the present. How can it not?

[intrstd]

While reading this blog, I noticed that my breathing slowed down and deepened, and I began to feel more peace, even though I'm in the midst of the city, hearing trains and traffic and neighbors honking. Thank you for bringing the peace of nature into my experience. I appreciate it -- especially today. And thanks for motivating me to plan a day trip with my family!

[lovingkindness]

Why make the split between you and Nature? It takes so much effort !
Human beings are a part of Nature, but the consequences of the opposite view are everywhere to see.

[ArthurTwoShedsJackson]

Great article. I'd like to recommend an excellent book which anyone who enjoyed this article will definitely enjoy reading:

The Mindful Hiker: On the Trail to FInd the Path
by Stephen Altschuler

www.mindfulhiker.com

[dissolvethecorporation]

Congrats on taking the first very small step of the journey. If you can bring the mindfulness and focus back to the city, with a developed compassion for all things suffering, you will surely make a positive difference.