Being in Nature can teach us valuable lessons about life...
One of the lessons nature shows us is that there are seasons in life.
Seasons are about change. From spring, to summer… autumn to winter.
Although change can be exciting, positive and an opportunity for growth like in seasons of spring and summer, it is also important to recognise that change can involve endings, loss and letting go. Autumn can represent seasons in our life where we need to let go.
Currently we are in the season of autumn.
Autumn is my favourite season and I would like to share some things about Autumn that I feel can offer some advice to where some of us might be at.
Autumn is a season for many plants and trees to shed their leaves allowing the branches to become exposed. We can go through seasons in life where we can feel things are being taken away or certain changes can leave us feeling vulnerable – exposed.
Change by its nature can lead to heightened levels of anxiety
Because for many of us we like what we know as it brings a sense of security and control.
In and of themselves our need for a sense of security and control are not bad, they are important for our basic human survival. But consequently these primal needs can have primal defensive reactions or fight flight. Signals that increase our anxiety levels when we feel a lack of security or control.
This is why it is important to pay attention to the emotions we might be feeling when we are going through or facing changes. The way forward is not to judge our emotions or try and shove them away because they are uncomfortable or seem like an over reaction, but to have compassion for ourselves and maybe try and understand them.
Part of understanding our own reactions and resistance to change is that it helps us to connect to other people’s vulnerability – if we let it.
Our resistance to change is often fear based as we don’t want to experience anxiety. The anxiety and fear is about not being in control, because not being in control can lead to failure and that dreaded feeling of shame – not enoughness.
For some of us and for many of the people we work with their resistance to change and not being in control is this unconscious avoidance to feeling shame, not enough or worse rejection.
Part of leading in the outdoors is building a safe container for people to experience the unknown and whatever level of anxiety with a sense of safety which helps them gain awareness.
Bad leadership would tell people; ‘don’t worry it’s all going to be fine’ or ‘you’re over reacting’… The opportunity for learning in the outdoors is in the journey of going through with their anxious feelings which takes courage, and learning that when they are journeying with others things are not as scary.
Lastly, nature teaches us that spring always follows winter – life follows loss. We don’t stay stuck in a particular season. So I encourage you to take a leaf out of nature and see that life has seasons and to notice our resistance to change and maybe try and be a bit kinder to ourselves and others, especially as we don’t experience the same season at the same time.
About the author:
Christina is one of our wonderful volunteer walk leaders and gave this fantastic talk as part of her final assessment – we liked it so much we wanted to share it, thank you.