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Connecting with nature where you are

January 15, 2023 by Matthew

Connecting with nature where you are

Nature is there to meet you exactly where you are on any given day, in any mood or state of mind. Let me show you how to connect with nature in ways that will increase your health and well-being.

We are interdependent with nature. But what does that mean to you? How can Mother Earth assist you?

My life calling to help others connect to the healing salve of nature comes from lived experience. When I deepened my connections to plants, trees, rocks, and water, I experienced profound transformations. Yet, when I share my passion with others, I’m often met with an intellectual understanding of the benefits but reluctance to engage.

For those not used to really looking at nature as a partner in life, it can seem silly to try to forge deeper connections. So what does meaningful work with natural elements mean?

We can see examples of what it is on social media. For instance, an image of a person meditating on the bald spot of a mountaintop might feel peaceful. But we are conditioned to take those cues and assume that’s what communing with nature looks like.

That may be, but there are countless other ways to get the exact benefit nature has in store for you — a customized medicine for your life.

Increasing your connection with nature doesn’t have to be complicated. As long as you are not hurting others (including plants and wildlife), there is no wrong way to do it.

Elevating your meaningful moments with nature doesn’t mean you are always happy or at peace.

Water drips from the waxy green leaves of a rhododendron in a garden. The veins of each leaf are yellow and provide an easy way to make connection with nature.

But my most profound moments in nature come from subtle interactions — often on my back patio staring at a favorite rhododendron.

This plant is ubiquitous in the Pacific Northwest and known for giant showy flowers in springtime. But year-round, it is a gem that provides soul for the forest, gardens, and humans.

Let me take you on a simple journey to align your current mental state with this beautiful evergreen shrub.

When I say connect with this plant, you might not know what that means. I could also say, “just stare at it for a while and see what changes with you.” This works — the concept of forest bathing and my Mystic Nature Experiences. Nature always connects with us in unseen ways, so spending quiet time looking at a rhododendron shrub is a valuable medicine.

I have some examples of how to engage nature that might help you gain confidence in meeting the organic world where you are.

Let’s assume you’re following my guidance in another article about “easy daily connections to nature,” where I suggest spending time with a local shrub. You might say, “things are already going well in my life,” or, “I feel like crap today.” In either case, nature is there to meet you exactly where you are on any given day, in any mood or state of mind.

Let’s use my friend, the rhododendron, visible a few feet from my patio table in a tiny yet soulful garden. This exercise would be a five-minute meditation.

Elongated rhododendron leaves show intricate designs in the veins that are a lighter green color.  They all lead up to a bud preparing for spring flowers.
Water drips from the waxy green leaves of a rhododendron in a garden. The veins of each leaf are yellow and provide an easy way to make connection with nature.

A linear type could begin the five minutes engaging with the multiple buds — the beginnings of prolific white flowers.

First, count all the buds on the rhododendron. Then, figure out a way to string them together with decorative garland. This activity strengthens the connection with the bush while aligning the experience with your personality.

Someone with a shorter attention span could touch each bud — literally or figuratively- in a whack-a-mole fashion.

A creative thinker might survey the oval shape of the leaves and delve into the richness of greens, paying attention to the lighter veins and brighter, almost yellow blooms. Pondering what in life mimics these blooms. They might imagine painting this experience on canvas.

People in the sea of profound sadness might watch raindrops dripping from the leaves, falling to the muddy ground.

Then, they could either imagine water dripping down the waxy green or spray the bush with a hose to replicate raindrops if there isn’t rain.

An observer in a state of peace may stay still and get lost in the collage of green tones, devoid of any particular engagement.

Water droplets cascade off rich green rhododendron leaves and there is a clump of three dead and brown leaves still hanging onto the shrub. Out of focus is the inner area of the plant which has brown sticks and dead leaves on the muddy garden floor.
The inside of a rhododendron has a criss cross of brown brittle sticks holding up all the green foliage.  Nature connection can also happen in this less beautiful zone of the plant.

Those having a “bad day” with pent-up energy could imagine taking a branch and snapping it in two (don’t actually do this).

Or, if there happens to be a stick on the ground, feeling it snap in hand is powerful — the strife can transfer from you to the branch and into nature. It’s therapeutic. But even imagining this helps because, in unseen ways, you’re giving this energy to the plant to realize healing medicine.

And yet, another person who feels futility in life can release the pessimism back to nature by focusing on the dead leaves on the bush — either still clinging or already fallen on the ground. Fall and winter are symbolic times of death because nature gives us many hints. This is an example of Mother Earth meeting us (or society) during a particular season.

A person feeling optimism and joy could imagine each future bloom as a bouquet.

At the same time, dreamers would picture themselves as a fairy jumping from bud to bud in a playful manner.

Water drips from the waxy green leaves of a rhododendron in a garden. The veins of each leaf are yellow and provide an easy way to make connection with nature.
This is a shot taken above a yellow-green bud on a rhododendron in a Pacific Northwest garden.  Rain drops are falling on the waxy leaves.

No matter the mood, the idea isn’t to change in nature but to meet nature head-on — as you are.

In this process, you can release emotions, thoughts, and the static of daily life to the natural world. And when these tensions are released, space becomes available for healing, inspiration, and growth.

The give and take described above is nature’s medicine. Even as little as five minutes begins to make a difference.

So next time you engage plants, trees, rocks, and water and want to embrace the healing salve of the natural world, allow yourself to begin where you are. From there, maintain an openness to the flow of energy, thoughts, and emotion and let the experience help you.

This willingness to let go and trust nature to see your life differently empowers transformation.

Engage nature’s medicine and transformation at the moment.

Filed Under: Blog, Mystic Nature Experience, Nature Connection, Pacific Northwest Tagged With: Mystic Nature Experience, Nature connection, Nature in travel, Rhododendron

I hope you’re enjoying Kessi World

Hi, I’m Matthew Kessi. Travel with me around the Pacific Northwest to inspire love and respect for nature and foster meaningful connections. My lifetime traveling the planet — over 60 countries — gives me a global awareness that offers a fresh look at Oregon and Washington.

If you have questions or feedback, please let me know and be sure to sign up for a biweekly email that invites you along my journey.

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I would like to acknowledge that much of my inspiration comes from living on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past and present and honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.

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