Learning to heal – nature

I am Gillian Straine, and welcome to the GoHealth Podcast.  

In this season, we are exploring the theme of learning to heal. Now, we all learn in all sorts of different ways every day. But in the GoHealth podcast we are learning to heal by listening to the stories and experiences of others. And in doing so, we might be learning to heal ourselves or learning to be a source of healing for others or both.  

If you haven’t done so already, please rate and subscribe the podcast. This helps others to find it. 

In GoHealth we take up the call of Jesus to help others to find healing. And we know that we all need healing all the time. So this podcast is, we hope, hitting the nail on the head in both ways. 

And in this episode released in September 2021 we are exploring the healing power of nature. Now September is a time when we see summer change to autumn here in the United Kingdom. And I’m recording this up on the northwest coast of Scotland. And the leaves of the trees are just beginning to get their autumnal colours. And there’s just a hint in the air that the season is changing.  

It’s also a time when Christians reflect on our relationship with nature, whether through celebrating Harvest Thanksgiving or marking Creation Tide. So in this episode, we are sharing some reflections from our team, from our members and from our trustees on how we are learning to heal and be healed by nature.  

We hope you find these five reflections nourishing and helpful as you consider your own healing and your relationship with creation. 

02:17 Hello. My name is Graham Fender-Alison, and I’m the online learning development partner for the Guild of Health and St. Raphael. When I think about nature, faith and mental health, I’m reminded of a story from last year at the beginning of lockdown. 

We’d just moved to a house which fortunately had a garden. But like many other people I was worried about all that lockdown would bring for us. I was afraid for family and loved ones. How could we keep everyone safe when we couldn’t see one another? 

I was afraid about all the panic buying that was happening round the shops. I wondered when churches or social clubs could open for those who were lonely and vulnerable. And I was worried about not being enough for my wee boy during this extended lockdown period. 

And in turn, that began to feed into bigger fears, such as would I even be a good enough dad for him for the rest of his life. Lockdown exacerbated many of my fears and played on some of the longer term difficulties I have with my own mental health. 

On one particular day, my wee boy was sitting in the garden on the grass, and he was being uncommonly quiet. He was looking at something in the palm of his hand. And when I went over to look, I saw that it was a tiny pink bud that had fallen from a tree. 

He sat there looking at it for what seemed like an hour, and then he eventually said to me, Daddy, look, it’s beautiful. And so I did. And the more he looked at it, the more I looked at it and the quieter he got, the quieter I got. 

And as I slowed down enough to really look at this thing, I gradually realised just how right he was. It really was beautiful. And in that moment, we weren’t trapped in a limited space, unable to leave its limits and boundaries. 

It was like everything in the universe was suddenly being held in the palm of his hand. This tiny wee pink bud from the tree didn’t just have the fingerprints of God, but the heart print of God. And we sat there and we looked at it together in wonder. 

For a moment, the fears of my family being safe. Of all the panic buying of not being enough for my son during lockdown and maybe not being enough for him during his whole life. It was like the volume was being turned down on these things. And I felt a great sense of peace and relief.  

It’s not that the struggles with my own mental health went away or that the worries and fears I have are totally unfounded. It’s just that there was something else there to. 

The sound of a wee boy saying “daddy, look, it’s beautiful”. 

05:52 My name is Rosemarie Davidson-Gotobed, I seem to be doing a lot of running around these days. I am founder of the annual Sam Sharp lectures. I am also the national minority ethnic vocations officer for the Church of England. And I’m also honored to be a trustee of the Guild of Health and St. Raphael. I encounter peace in nature through my small garden.  

Throughout my life I have always had the privilege of having a garden of some sort. In my adult years, having a garden has enabled me to decompress in smell, sound and vision. Of soil and grass, which I love the smell of. Insects, which I’m not too keen on. And the hope held in growing things, even when I’m not always sure what it is. 

I am very clear, however, that my faith journey and my peace of mind would not have survived this long without such spaces in my life. I can be present more intentionally, navigate the dramas that inevitably accompany my work and church roles, even with the support of family, friends and work colleagues. 

During this last year and a bit I’ve been increasingly aware of the importance of our local country park to those who do not have garden spaces. Even when things are not perfect. Peace of mind is everything. I am aware that I am very blessed. 

07:53 My name is Gillian Straine, and I’m the CEO of Guild of Health and St. Raphael. Last June, in the middle of the pandemic, I moved house from London up to the Midlands and inherited an old garden which was…had be left to rack and ruin. 
 

And over the last few months, I’ve been gradually turning into a gardener as I sought to make it a nice place for people to meet up in. I had to clear away loads of bushes and weeds, cut lots of things back, dig new beds and plant new seeds. And I won’t lie, it has been been a lot of work, a real time consuming occupation.  

Like many people, I’ve had some really dark moments over the last 12 months as we’ve gone through this pandemic, and at times I have felt overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. 

But I notice that when I managed to get out into the garden, I felt better. Being in gardens and green spaces are good for our physical and mental health. There’s loads of science that tells us that. It helps us slow down the pace of life. It takes us away from some of the stresses and strains of our life and helps us connect into the earth, and find time for peace and reflection.  

But more than that, for a person of faith, we know that gardens are more than a place just to plant and grow or to escape to. They are like all places of nature, spaces to encounter God. Just as the garden had been my occupation, I found that I kept thinking about my garden, waking up with new ideas, going to bed dreaming of new beds to plant. 

And what happened slowly, this garden, which has been occupying my time, has begun to occupy me. And I think that’s because when I spend time there, what I’m really doing is spending time with God, the creator of the whole universe. 

And not only that, the garden reminds me of important eternal truths, because I’m never alone if I have faith in Jesus. And the garden helps to remind me that I have Jesus in my life. The garden shows me that it’s not just dependant on me. What grows depends on the weather, the past and the randomness. Sometimes a seed just won’t grow. The garden does not just depend on me. It helps me to remember that I’m not alone and I can depend on God for help and support, because God is ultimately the one in charge of the world. 

And that brings great peace and comfort, knowing that I’m loved and cared for. So why not try to find the little time to be in a green space? Or if you can get your hands dirty in the soil, connect in with the creation. 

It’s good for our minds, body and it’s good for our soul. Notice the green flourishing and remember that God wants us to flourish and grow where we are planted. He wants us to know that we are loved more than we can possibly imagine. 

11:10 Hello, I’m Gregory, and I’m a member of the Guild of Health. I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about nature and about my need for nature. I’ve grown up most of my life in urban settings, and yet I’ve always had a real thirst for the wild. I’ve loved going out for walks in the wild. We holidayed as a child lots in the countryside. And so it is, I’ve realised as I’ve got older that it really is a thirst and need to see and to be in nature. 

We’ve moved in the last year and we’ve moved to a city that is much closer to the countryside. At the same time, we’ve been locked down, only allowed one piece of exercise a day. I’ve tried to make sure that every day I’ve escaped just to the outskirts of the city to see a forest, to see a field. And in seeing the forests in the fields, to reconnect with the silent chatter of nature. To be part of the creation, not to be in charge of the creation. 

And in escaping the tarmac and the concrete and the streets of the urban world, and not only begun to understand nature better, to understand myself better. And in the process, to really understand that prayer is not limited to a place or a way of sitting or closing our eyes or bowing our heads or putting our hands together. So each time I’ve gone for a run or have gone for a walk, I found myself praying, reconnecting. And in so doing, I’ve always come back stilled. I’ve always come back with a greater sense of God being with me, his presence around me and within me. That God is not only in all things, but there at all times. 

So this week, why not go out? Why don’t reconnect with nature and in reconnect[ing] with nature you realise that we’re just part of nature and we reconnect with ourselves, united in nature through our God.  

13:31  My name’s Wendy Lloyd. I’m the resource development partner for the Guild of Health and St. Raphael, and I’m sharing my reflections on nature, faith and mental health from my garden on the Isle of Mull on the west coast of Scotland. I started my day to day with a swim in a nearby lochan. I swim with a few neighbours in either the lochan or the sea on a regular basis. We’ve been doing this for about a year now and we all agree it has been important and invaluable for our mental health in what has been such a challenging year. 

Cold water swimming has been known to be good for body, mind and soul for many reasons. I love swimming in both the lochan or the sea, because in both I’m out of my depth and yet I’m carried, I’m supported, buoyant and held with even just the gentlest of movements through the fresh or salty water. It has become an almost daily full immersion into the new beginning of the day.  

After my swim, I spent an hour in our Polytunnel transferring plants into bigger pots and planting out seedlings into raised beds, all to become food that will sustain and nourish 

our bodies through the months to come. The compost and soil made my fingers dirty in contrast to the cleansing water of the morning swim. But it too refreshes my body, mind and soul. It connects me deeply to nature. It helps me cultivate communion with my Creator. And it reminds me that I, too, am made from the stuff of earth, the adamah. And as I walked back down the lane, returning to my desk in my little shed, my mind is clearer. 

My wellbeing is healthier. Thanks be to God.  

15:44 Thank you for listening to this first episode of our second season, learning to heal. You can find more out about that GoHealth community @gohealth.ecom.isarriving.com and do join us to continue the conversation. 

Remembering to subscribe to the podcast and why not consider becoming a member? Members receive a monthly bundle of resources and multiple opportunities to connect with the ongoing conversation around learning to heal in the GoHealth community. And in addition, you get for free the ‘Learning to Heal online course, worth £50. 

Together we flourish.