By Angela Dunning
As we continue to stay locked-down in our homes all around the world, many are finding that some form of access to the natural world is a vital lifeline and stress reliever in these chaotic and turbulent times.
The painful lessons being brought home to us right now are clearly emphasizing just how out of balance we have become as species with the rest of the natural world, of which we are but one part.
Yet, it is also true that for many people, nature and especially animals have always been a vital lifeline, sometimes literally helping them survive difficult childhoods or later traumas and losses in adult life. For me, personally, this is most definitely the case. Animals were my primary caregivers and sources of love, stability, and non-conditional acceptance growing up. Whereas adults consistently let me down, particularly my mother, who couldn’t give me the attention, love, and support, I needed to grow adequately and strongly.
The pets we had in the house growing up were my sources of love, joy, and much-needed comfort. In particular, one small dog who came into our home when I was aged around 5 or 6 became almost like a surrogate mother to me. It was to her that I went for love and affection, to share my worries and troubles with and for warmth, comfort, and some sense of peace amidst the turbulence of our family life. Her small warm body helped me feel calm, safe, and comforted; she also helped me feel alive. She was ALWAYS happy to see me, welcoming me home, unlike anyone else in the house. I could rely on her 100% to be there and to always love me no matter how I was feeling or behaving.
One friend I told my story to said I should write a book titled: “My Mother Was A Dog”; this is no exaggeration. This little dog, who looked like a fox with her multi-colored brown, red, and white coat and her long thick bushy red and white tail, was quite simply my best friend and my comforter. She lived until she was 20 and even moved away with me when I left home to attend university. Now, she visits me regularly in my dreams, and she always brings that same warm, unconditional love with her in each dream situation, and always I wake feeling okay again, comforted and safe no matter what is going on in my life.
Almost 50 years on from these tender early beginnings, I still bear these deep wounds and scars from childhood, and just living each day is an almighty challenge some days. And to this day, it has been animals and the natural world around me, no matter where I have lived, in urban inner-cities or rural small towns, that provides me with my greatest source of well-being and safety. I only have to step outside and walk a short distance to a small woodland on my doorstep for all my cares and worries to fade into the background for a short time, leaving me reveling in the peace and sacredness of the trees, earth, birds, and animals who live there. For almost a full year now, during this pandemic, this small woodland has been my sanctuary and oasis. It has helped me maintain a sense of connection to Life, and it brings me back to a deep and abiding knowing within that I am okay, safe, and held once more by nature.
It is no surprise that given my innate connection to animals and nature, combined with my earliest life experiences, that I eventually made my professional career out of working alongside animals, in my case horses, through providing emotional support to people who need help healing from similar childhood wounds; building self-esteem and finding trust and love once again in the world. Through gentle interactions with horses in a peaceful and safe space, my clients learn once again how to simply be themselves, how to trust another who isn’t going to judge them, and how to experience love once more through the horses’ generous willingness to give to people needing help.
Many more people nowadays are turning to animal-assisted therapies and eco-therapy to bring a greater sense of balance and to heal mental health problems. This speaks volumes to the essentialness of being a part of nature; how vital it is for our well-
being and for our soul. In contrast to being split from the natural world in a top-down abuse-system, which has endured for hundreds of years, which has led to this very pandemic and the wider climate breakdown.
I know for many people during this pandemic that access to the natural world isn’t possible or is very limited. Yet, there are ways to bring the natural world inside to give yourself a daily dose of this vital medicine, which speaks to the heart and soul and which can bring a sense of both awe and comfort. This might be through following nature photographers or artists online; reading nature-based books and poetry; getting involved in online environmental campaigns; watching the birds out of your window; gardening if you are able to; drawing images of animals or flowers, and watching your dreams to appreciate your nightly visitors of animals or landscapes or oceans which call to your soul and uplift you, giving you the nourishment your soul needs to endure this unusual internal lifestyle we are all now required to adjust to. Companion animals are one wonderful way to bring nature indoors and can bring so much joy and love into a home, particularly if you live alone. Or, just looking into the beauty and wonder of a flower can
re-set your nervous system, as appreciation and wonder are great sources of soothing comfort.
In whatever way you can, find time to focus on nature each day to balance your anxieties and to return yourself to a place of inner peace where you just KNOW you ARE safe, supported, and going to be OKAY.
Nature’s innate wisdom and acceptance of the cycles of life can bring us to a calmer inner state and help us stay centered in the face of turbulence, rapid change, and chaos. Nature knows these processes intimately, and if we let her, she can take us by the hand and companion us through these rough stormy times.
