Nature loves your children (and you)
We stopped by the lake and stepped out of the car. There were swans in the distance, two of them, one grownup with soft white feathers and one youngster, still a bit speckled with brown. As my feet touched the shore, the white swan slowly turned around and then glided towards me, fast and steady. As if he knew… as if he knew that a swan coming to greet me and meet me, as if to tell me... "Oh here you are, I have been waiting for you, I love you!" was exactly what my heart and my soul needed at that moment to heal.
One of many things I've learned from Nature is that it is not neutral: it is natural. And the most natural thing in this world is to be in the aware state of Love. I've guided silent hikes on forest trails for years now. These walks are not to go after the outer silence but to step into our inner stillness and start receiving communication from Nature. To me, this state of being has become an effortless natural part of my life.
I see the trees, and I feel their energy and hear them whispering, talking to me, supporting me, guiding me, telling me the secrets of life. The water, the air, the birds, the flowers, the patterns on the trail…everything is rushing towards me, taking me over, inviting me to play or offering me a safe space to simply be.
Sometimes, we do those silent hikes and walks together with children. The kids can play and laugh and speak, of course. But we as grownups learn how to communicate and interact via different levels, states, fields, ways… how to respond through love and spontaneous natural action and how to release tensions, judgements, and thoughts we carry around. It's a really powerful way to enter the nondual field of being and communicating.
And during those hikes with kids, I've learned something invaluable: Nature doesn't care if kids run around, beat the bushes, play gun fights with sticks, yank the branches or tear the leaves. These are all rough play activities that are also natural to small animals. My kids or young deers…there is no difference to the tree or the bush. Nature is very providing towards children. Of course, there are limits: we are not going to intentionally trash ant nests or step on bugs. After all, we are raising the race of caretakers, but! Nature allows itself to be the safe and loving environment for kids to mess around, test their limits, meet their shadow sides and fight out their anger. "It's part of Life", the tree says to me. "I'll grow new leaves", laughs the Jasmine bush.
And then, when the high energy starts to dissolve, they sit next to me, and we feel. We feel the tree before we touch it, the energy flowing through it. We get in touch with the wet moss with all of our senses. We taste the sorrels and feel the wind on our cheeks.
And so they learn, just like I did, that Nature LOVES them, unconditionally, and so they learn, just like I did, that they love Nature too. And just like that, they are surrounded by countless friends and supporters, advisers and caretakers wherever they go in life. Cause you can always find a piece of grass or a small pebble and have an energy-chat.
Hi! I’m IIDALA aka Iida-Leena Materasu ,and I’m a professional therapist, writer, spiritual mentor, mother, woman, and human being, who has walked the path of healing for more than 20 years. I facilitate breathwork and nondual healing groups, offer courses, subscription programs, and silent nature hikes as well as receive clients one-on-one live and via zoom. To book a session or get more info on NONDUAL courses or programs, feel free to explore the website or contact me directly.