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The Nature Connection

A Technique for Pondering Life's Mysteries, Working Through Conundrums, Solving Problems and Deepening Spirituality

By Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT

Page One of Three Pages

PLEASE NOTE: This and the following two pages present information about several ways Learning Place Online uses photographs to help you get in touch with the power of nature, even if you've run out of vacation time, your in-basket is over-flowing, and you can't drive out to a wilderness area. The first group of pictures is "A Walk in the Woods" and you can access that from this page or wait until the end of the article before beginning.

However, I recommend you read this material first, but if you can't wait, go ahead and begin your walk by entering a meadow, which will automatically open another, smaller window. As you move from scene to scene, please take your time and, if at any point to want to stop your walk before the last picture, just close the window as you would any browser window and you'll return here.

Incidentally, except for the yellow tear-drop shaped flower, which is a royalty-free picture, all the photos were taken by Art Fabian or by me. To view the photos by Art, see Photos by Art Fabian Appearing on Learning Place Online and write for permission to use them or, even better, check out Photos by Fabian and buy his cards with actual photos (not prints). I would also appreciate having you ask me for permission of the photos that I've taken.

"We need the tonic of wilderness—we can never have enough of nature. . . . In wilderness is the preservation of the world."

—Henry David Thoreau

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole,

Whose body Nature is, and God the soul."

—Alexander Pope

Our Intrinsic Relationship With Nature

The admonition to "stop and smell the roses" is more than a simple phrase. It is a reminder that we are connected to nature and need to experience that connection from time to time. Yet the request is increasingly ignored. We dash from place to place in our cars and are too rushed to even come to a full stop at the stop sign. We simply slow down so we can speed up again.

Unfortunately, we often don't realize our need for peace and quiet contemplation (and for sweet-smelling roses) until after our bodies have gotten our attention through illness and our minds have reacted to pressure with emotional distress. In working for many years with cancer patients, I have learned that many of them actually are glad they have been given a diagnosis that has finally caused them to slow down and take one day at a time, even though they may need to also spend those days actively fighting for recovery.

Fortunately, reconnecting with nature allows us to use the qualities of nature to heal the alienation we often experience from their bodies, our minds, and our fellow men. However, we do not need the luxury of living or vacationing in the wilderness to know there is gentle strength in the foothills, power in the crashing of waves upon the beach, renewal in the buds on the dogwood, and harmony in the lilies floating on a pond deep in the woods. We can feel these qualities as we remember the numerous scenes we have experienced in real life.

For example, my husband and I have frequently driven up the central valley of California on our way to camp or backpack in The Sierra. Looking at the mountains rising majestically out of the desert, I was strengthened and challenged merely by looking at the mountains—even before we turned off the highway and reached the trailhead. Yet a glance at a similar scene on a calendar elicits the same response, that is, if I choose to stop and pay attention to what I am seeing.

Now, many years later, I have drawn on my experience in the wilderness of places like the Sierra to create The Nature Connection, an online program using pictures of nature to help you get in touch with the quiet and peace which is intrinsic in experiencing the natural world and in viewing photographs of that world.

Here are some of the features that use photos of nature. Except for the set of pictures from the woods, they were created for a specific purpose, but can also be used with the techniques set out in this article.

A Walk in the Woods

Why Do I Believe I Am Connected With God or Spirit?

Questions to Begin or Expand Your Spiritual Journey

When I am Gone . . . (in Stages of Life section)

I Still Remember Them (in Stages of Life section)

Explaining a Spiritual Experience

As noted above, we recommend you first read this piece before trying to use them as a Nature Connection technique.

The Use of Nature in Imagery Techniques

It is interesting that the technique of imagery is increasingly used with patients suffering from a wide variety of illnesses. (See Imagery for Transformation, Healing and Peace of Mind.) And I believe it is not a coincidence that the most effective imagery often contains many elements of nature—quiet meadows, a trail up the mountain, a still lake, a deep cave, etc.

This is probably because our response to scenes of nature is basically right brained and preliterate, bypassing layers of logic and taking us back to a time when human beings were instinctively connected with nature. Consequently, despite the layers of culture and sophistication which have caused humans to grow awesomely distant from nature, all scenes of nature, from stark and desolate deserts to delicate and cultivated gardens, have the potential of reminding us of mankind's early bond with nature, allowing the psyche to tap into and respond to the qualities which each scene elicits. There are no "inadequate" nature scenes. Each has potential in its own way.

Sid Jordan, Ph.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina, has conducted studies which seem to imply that images of nature have a positive effect on the mind. Working with both demented and non-demented elderly patients, his studies have indicated that the EEG of those who chose nature scenes for imagery showed increase in normal alpha waves.

Another important reason photos of nature can be helpful when used consciously is because they can help you change negative beliefs with a method called "thought stopping." This is based on the idea that no two thoughts can be held at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to diminish the image of a negative thought (in other words, the image your mind uses to repeat, over and over, an idea you want to get ride of) by substituting a different or positive one. It is particularly helpful to make the substitution one of a tranquil scene of nature or an image which contains within it a quality which you wish to experience in your life.

I believe a photograph can put us in touch with nature because we may have forgotten what we experience on scouting trips and vacations many years ago. Also, a picture can provide new details, concepts and vistas we never noticed or had the opportunity to experience.

CONTINUED on Page Two

© Copyright 2003, Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT