THE RAINS AND NATURE ENCHANT ME – WENT DOWN MEMORY LANE -

GOOD DAY TO YOU !!

THE DAY BEGAN WITH DRIZZLE AND RAINS –

THE RAINS AND NATURE ENCHANT ME –

WENT DOWN MEMORY LANE -

There are reminders of nature and the seasons at every turn. People don’t just look at nature, they live inside it, name themselves after it, feast on it, wear it and are guided through life by it.

The nature connection

A SOJOURN IN FORESTS OF BHUTAN AND JAPANESE BUDDHIST MONASTERY THERE LAST YEAR.

SOME PAGES FROM MY DIARY THEN

I’m shuffling along in my socks, trailing a Zen monk wearing samue (temple work clothes) and a small cloth cap. This monk from Temple is a man of deep wisdom and scrolls of stories. I think I’m asking too many questions for such a quiet place, but he’s so fascinating I can’t help myself. I have booked an appointment to sit inside Temple, a replica of Sen no Rikyū’s original tea house, built in honour of the four-hundredth anniversary of his death. We have paused for a moment to admire a simple sand garden from the wooden veranda, when the monk notices two other temple visitors just around the corner.

One is a manicured guy with sharp clothes but tired eyes, carrying a silver-studded tote bag. Transplanted from the bustle and bright lights of Tōkyō just in a few days to this quiet temple Paro Bhutan, he looks disoriented. The monk steps forward to talk to him.

‘O, have you come from Japan?’ he asks in a surprisingly familiar tone.

‘Yes very much,’ blurts the man with the bloodshot eyes, looking to his girlfriend, as if for confirmation. She looks exhausted too.

‘What’s your job?’ the monk wants to know.

‘I work in commercial communications,’ the visitor replies, clearly unsure as to why he is having a career conversation with a Zen monk in a sand garden.

‘Huh? What’s that? You mean ads? Selling stuff?’

‘Umm … yes,’ says the man from Tōkyō, looking down at his stockinged feet uncomfortably. It’s pretty obvious what the monk thinks of this career choice. It’s less a judgement than a show of pity for this guy, who clearly works late into the night, and probably survives on a diet of energy drinks and midnight rāmen.

‘I think spending time in a temple is going to do you good,’ says the monk. And then to me, ‘Do you mind?’

I had made a solo reservation to view the place, but this felt like a gathering of three weary travellers who could do with some tea-room serenity.

‘Of course not,’ I reply.

And so the monk takes us all under his wing and flies us into Taian, the smallest tea room I have ever seen. Made solely from individually selected pieces of wood, the tiny building is exquisite. Inside, hazy sunbeams filter through the paper-covered windows and hover in the air, searching in vain for dust motes. The corners are dark, yet the hanging scroll seems to glow in the tokonoma alcove.

In this intimate space, representing hundreds of years of culture and history, I break the silence to ask about wabi sabi, - A Japanese Concept.

The monk pauses for a moment, tilts his head and offers this: ‘Wabi sabi is naturalness; it’s about things in their natural, most authentic state. That’s all.’

The man from Tōkyō nods his head slowly, recognition dawning on his face. ‘Naruhodo,’ he says. ‘I see.’ And then, ‘How come I had to travel all this way, and wait all these years, and have a foreigner ask that question, before I could know the answer?’

The love of nature

The monk’s thoughts notwithstanding, it is unexpectedly challenging to explain the connection between wabi sabi and nature. It’s like trying to see something under a microscope, but getting up so close that it’s actually blurry. A wabi sabi world view is one predicated on the fundamental truths of nature and the cycle of life. Wabi sabi is borne of a people whose traditional view of nature is that they are part of, not separate from it. And yet because wabi sabi and nature are so closely related, we get this blurred view when trying to put words to that connection. To see it more clearly, we have to pull away a little, refocus our microscope and adjust our eyes.

According to the Cambridge English dictionary, nature is ‘all the animals, plants, rocks, etc. in the world and all the features, forces and processes that happen or exist independently of people, such as the weather, the sea, mountains, the production of young animals, or plants, and growth’ and ‘the force that is responsible for physical life and that is sometimes spoken of as a person’. The main definition given in Kōjien, the Japanese equivalent of this dictionary, simply states: ‘Things as they are.’

At its essence, the experience of wabi sabi is an intuitive response to beauty which reflects the true nature of things as they are. That is, a beauty which reminds us that everything is impermanent, imperfect and incomplete. This experience of wabi sabi is often felt in the presence of natural materials, which is why spending time in nature can be such a powerful experience. It reminds us that we are part of something miraculous. By momentarily lifting us out of the fog of to-do lists, chores and admin overwhelm, wabi sabi holds up a mirror to life’s magnificence – and in that mirror, we get a glimpse of ourselves.

The forest does not care what your hair looks like. The mountains don’t move for any job title. The rivers keep running, regardless of your social-media following, your salary or your popularity. The flowers keep on blooming, whether or not you make mistakes. Nature just is, and welcomes you, just as you are.

Our capacity to experience wabi sabi reconnects us to these truths, which allow us to feel, in the moment, unconditionally accepted.

The influence of nature on literature, art and culture

When I consulted with a Japanese professor friend in JNU on the translation of ‘living with nature’ he suggested shizen o mederu , which actually means ‘loving nature’.

This endemic love of nature, which has ancient roots in religion, has heavily influenced the arts and literature over the centuries. Still today, nature influences the rhythms and rituals of daily life, and particular attention is paid to the changing seasons in countries like Japan and Bhutan.

Natural wellness

There is great value in the scientific evidence which reassures sceptics of the benefits of spending time in forests, and this has encouraged large numbers of people into the woods, which is to be celebrated.

However, we should not be mistaken in thinking that you have to be on an official trail, with an official guide, to enjoy the healing power of the trees. I think we have a huge opportunity to take the principles of evidence-based forest therapy and let them loose in wilder areas. Walking. Hiking. Doing yoga among the trees. Climbing the trees. Embracing them. Talking to them. Sitting with our backs to the trees writing in our diaries and journals.

There is a lovely phrase in Japanese, kachō fūgetsu . It literally means flower-bird-wind-moon. MY MOON !!! It refers to contemplating the beauty of nature. This kind of contemplation can prompt reflection on our own inner nature and remind us of our role as part of a magnificent whole, which puts everything in perspective.

My hope for forest bathing is that it becomes like yoga – a practice that is worth learning from a trained teacher, but can also be done alone or in a small group, away from too much structure and equipment and rules. Just you and the trees – or maybe you, the trees and your yoga mat – finding your own rhythm and deepening your connection with nature.

The forest invites us to open our hearts and listen.

The medicine of the forest is far more than a contemporary wellness trend. People have lived in forests since ancient times. Nature is in our blood. It’s in our bones. It’s in our very human spirit. It is the haunting call of the mountains and the swirling pull of the sea; the whispering of the wind and the secrets in the trees.

To me, forest bathing is not about doing something new; it’s about something we know deep down, but that many of us have forgotten. When you spend time in a gentle forest and experience moments of mindfulness among the trees, you feel held, supported, transported. It’s like coming back to an old friend, who will pull you in close and whisper secrets in your ear if only you’ll show up at their door.

In the modern world, we spend so much of our time shut up in sanitised boxes – in our homes, our cars, our offices. Taking time to step out of those boxes and get close to the wild outdoors sharpens our senses and reminds us of the preciousness of life. We sometimes need everything to be stripped away to reveal the true beauty. We need the simplicity to remind us that life isn’t all about accumulating stuff.

And we need the birdsong and big skies to remind us that we are part of nature. Wildness is a part of who we are.

I feel like writing some - Top tips - for forest bathing Here are some tips for forest bathing among trees near you. Why not take a copy of this list with you next time you go for a woodland adventure:

? Walk slowly. Now slow your pace by half. And by half again.

? Be present. Keep your phone in your pocket.

? Use all your senses to explore your environment. Notice the feel of the ground under your feet, the taste of the air, the wind in the trees, the light and the shadows. Look up, down and all around.

? Cup your hands behind your ears to capture more sounds of the forest. What can you hear? Where is the sound coming from? Is it low down or high up? Is it near or far?

? Touch things. Notice how different bark, branches and leaves feel.

? Notice where things are in their life cycle. What is emerging? What is growing? What is fading? ? Breathe deeply. What can you smell?

? Watch the sky. Look for movement. Count colours. How many shades of one colour can you see? Stay watching long enough to notice changes.

? If you can identify what is safe to eat, taste a berry or a leaf slowly, and with gratitude.

? Pick up a fallen gift of the forest and look at it closely. What can you see?

? Spend some time in silence, even if you are in a group. In fact, especially if you are in a group. Try meditating, stretching or just sitting with your back against a tree.

? Lie in a hammock between two trees. Ask the trees’ permission before you set up camp.

? Take off your shoes and feel the earth beneath your feet or dip your toes in a stream.

? Notice how you feel when you are held by the forest. Don’t rush. Linger as long as you can. ? Find a particular spot you are drawn to and spend time there. Name it. Make up a story about it. Come back on another day, in another season, and see what has changed.

While taking a moment in nature, ask yourself these questions:

? How do you feel when you are being held by the forest?

? What stories of the land rise up to greet you as you stretch

your arms wide and open your heart?

? What secrets might you want to share with the running river or the wise old tree?

? What wishes will you scatter in the woods like fallen leaves, to be carried on the wind to a place you cannot know?

? What promise do you make to yourself, on this day, in this place?

The impermanence of awe !!!!

It is a grey January morning, and I am en route to the Japanese Monastery of BHUTAN to do some research on Buddhism for my book when I look up to see not one, but two rainbows in the sky. I am rooted to the spot, gazing in awe at this gift, the like of which I have never seen. As I watch, I can see it changing, now stronger, now fading. A teenage boy walks in my direction with his head down and almost bumps into me, so invested is he in the phone in his hand. ‘Look,’ I say, tapping his arm and pointing to the sky, unable to contain myself. ‘Wow,’ he says, and turns to stand beside me, two strangers sharing the perfect moment of a double rainbow. Two minutes later it is gone. Nature is the home of miracles. Complex growth, stories of resilience, ephemeral beauty emerging and evaporating. When we take the time to stop and look, each one of these gifts reminds us to pay attention to the fleeting beauty of our own lives.

INSPIRED WISDOM FOR LIVING WITH NATURE OR FOREST THERAPY

? Nature reminds us of the transience of our own lives.

? Paying attention to the passing of the seasons is a way to stay present.

? The rhythms of nature remind us to tune into our own natural rhythms, so we know when to surge forth and when to relax.

TRY IT: PONDERING

Spend some time in nature contemplating:

? The transience of life

? The beauty in the light and the darkness

? The tiny details and the vast horizon

? The seasonal clues and gifts

? The sensual experience of the weather

What do you notice? When you really listen, what is it telling you?

This major challenge of our times requires us to get back to nature, not move further away from it.

MUCH LOVE

Sudhanshu