“It can help us settle back into a wisdom that is older than language and written history, something foundational to who we are.”
As a child, I grew up spending a lot of time outdoors. My father was an army officer and most of the time we would have the luxury of living in leafy cantonments with great reserves and outdoor play areas. I feel very fortunate that I grew up close to the land, with the opportunity to plant our own vegetables in the large backyard we had and to watch them grow. I even remember the first harvest of pumpkins was proudly shared with all our neighbours!
The reality of this luxury, however, struck home when this was taken away from us – upon Dad’s retirement!
I call this a luxury as it was only after I moved to my new home country – Australia, when I was 35 that I had realised the need for me to rekindle my “love affair” with Nature. The abundance of natural wealth – clean air, amazing skies and the beautiful natural surrounds that simply reignited my spirits. Between work commitments and household chores, I would try and throw in a quick “power walk” – as I would like to call it.
But it was my Sunday morning ritual that has almost become sacrosanct – to a point where I look forward to it so eagerly. As you can tell in the photo, I am the happiest when I am just back from my walks – even our pet bunny knows that!
But what is really exciting about my nature time – is the amazing present moment awareness that it allows me to get into – creating a powerful communion between my “finite” intelligence with the Universal intelligence.
I have turned to nature during some of the most trying times – which all of us have a fair share of – and the right answers have always spontaneously emerged. (I acknowledge this may not be the case for everyone).
The case for Nurturing a connection with Mother Nature becomes even more compelling when we look at the statistics. With the average adult living in Western societies, now on a screen for 11 hours a day on average and spending 90 percent of their life indoors, disconnection from self, community, and nature is growing.
We see the effects in rising levels of depression, anxiety, and a host of other mental-health challenges, along with an accelerating crisis in our global environment, from climate change and species loss to plastic gyres in the world’s oceans and resource conflicts.
Nurturing the Nature connection can’t solve all these issues quickly, but I believe it can help to support a reconnection between humans and the living earth. Part of this reconnection is a remembering of what is important and essential: clean air and water, healthy ecosystems, food, water, shelter, good company…
Burying our heads in our screens and air conditioning will not help us adapt to the new world we are living in. But stepping outdoors, lifting our noses to the sky, smelling the wind, and becoming students of nature can.
If we are to adapt to the times we are living in, we need to respond with skill to the real-life conditions on our home planet. We need to be aware and alert, and we need to know basic skills to help us stay close to the wisdom of nature.
“what is really exciting about my nature time – is the amazing present moment awareness that it allows me to get into”
Nurturing our Nature connection can help us take a deep breath, walk with our feet on the ground, and sit by a fire, as we listen to the wind in the trees. It can help us settle back into a wisdom that is older than language and written history, something foundational to who we are.
It can help us to remember what we are, where we belong and how much we have to be grateful for on this precious planet. The seasons still turn and birds still sing in the trees. We can all take a few minutes to breathe, we can learn who we share this land with, and we can become a part of our forests and wild communities again.
We just need to slow down and open up our senses to the wonder that is all around us.
Helping You Discover, Empower & Prosper
Dr Arun Dhir | GI Surgeon, Health Reformist & Passionate Educator.
Let’s Connect!
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for weekly video content
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Linked In
Receive my news stories direct to your inbox! Sign up here.
About Dr Arun:
Besides having a busy private practice at Melbourne Gastro Surgery – Centre for Weight Loss, Dr Arun is an active member of the ANZ Association of Gastro-Oesophageal surgeons (ANZGOSA), ANZ Society of Metabolic and Obesity Surgery (OSSANZ) and Australian College of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM).
Dr Arun is also a senior lecturer (Monash University) and yoga and meditation teacher, with a strong interest in the mind-body-gut connection. He regularly writes and speaks about gut health, gut microbiome, obesity, gastrointestinal surgery and healing. Arun’s published works include Happy Gut Healthy Weight (Balboa Press 2018), Creating a New You – Health Journal (Metagenics 2019), and Your Mess Has a Message (2021).
