4 minute read
YEAR OF THE INNER CHILD: NATURE
By Rachel Grant
The summer sun warms the grass while birds dart and soar overhead. Wrapped in a light blanket, a baby absorbs the sun’s rays with the hint of a grin on his face. The rays caress and soothe like a mother’s gentle hand. The sun nurtures him.
When I was a baby my parents had little time or energy to nurture me. I instinctively felt the void of something special and essential.
Instead of focusing on what my parents did not or could not do, I can heal those empty places myself by nurturing the needy infant within me.
The sun can nurture me today if I set aside some time to be outdoors. Any activity will do; working in the garden, taking a long walk, laying still on a blanket, riding a bike, playing golf. I’ll take notice of the sun’s warmth against my skin. My body relaxes as the rays melt away tension. With little effort, I can allow nature to fill me. The infant inside me feels cared for, as I open myself to warmth and joy.
Oh, I love the invitation for this week to get out into nature. There’s so much to gain from putting our feet into the earth. We come back to this theme again and again. And, I think that’s a nice surprise when we’re thinking about re-parenting and nurturing our inner child. You know children love to be out in the earth, digging in the mud, playing. They aren’t concerned about getting their clothes dirty or getting wet. They stomp happily in that puddle. They bounce into the pile of leaves. They dig their hands into the earth. I remember growing up, being in nature was such a huge part of my experience. I was blessed to have nature very close growing up in Oklahoma. I could walk across the street into the park, and there was a creek there. I could go down the block and there was what we called the ‘Pathfinder,’ which was just this path that wound through the woods, then there were trails that kicked off that. You could really go explore or lay on a blanket in the backyard soaking in the sun watching the clouds.
Now, today, in my adult life, I again have the blessing of being near nature. I have the ocean right out my door. I have the beautiful golden gate park up the block for myself. The other day I was out at the beach and did just that—laid back, watched the sky, watched the clouds—wasn’t busy, wasn’t hurried. Just soaking in the sun, letting my eyes gaze and drift and feeling the ease of that warmth, joy, relaxation. I love this sentence.
My body relaxes as the rays melt away tension.
We talk a lot in Beyond Surviving about how to use cognitive skills and how to use somatic skills. But, using nature skills, I think, is actually super important.
It takes me back a little bit to my days teaching at a private school in St. Louis, where we used Howard Gardner’s “The Eight Intelligences for Learning and Education.“ Meaning that we would think about:
• How do we teach this lesson with language?
• How do we teach this lesson through music?
• How do we teach this lesson through visuals?
• How do we teach this lesson being in nature and use nature as the teacher?
So I’ve really loved this way of accessing knowledge, of accessing comfort.
You know, I love that sentence “To write like the needy infant within me.” So think about that when you’re feeling tantrums, when you’re feeling bored, when you’re feeling overwhelmed. I think about it through the lens of that child’s mind and accessing nature as a place to nurture and love yourself.
As always, if there’s anything I can do to be a support to you in your journey from wounded to empowered, don’t hesitate to reach out!
About The Author
Rachel is the owner and founder of Rachel Grant Coaching and is a Sexual Abuse Recovery Coach. Rachel holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and is the author of Beyond Surviving: The Final Stage in Recovery from Sexual Abuse and Overcome the Fear of Abandonment. You can download both free on her website.
She works with survivors of childhood sexual abuse to help them let go of the pain of abuse and finally feel normal.
Her program, Beyond Surviving, is specifically designed to change the way we think about and heal from abuse. She has successfully used this program to help her clients break free from the past and move on with their lives.
Reach Rachel here or on Facebook
