In a remarkable story, Emily’s journey from stress to serenity shows us how beneficial nature can be.
Emily, a marketing executive based in Seattle, faced the relentless pressures of her demanding job. Balancing tight deadlines, constant client meetings, and the ever-present push for innovation, Emily’s work life was a high-stress environment. Coupled with personal struggles, such as caring for an aging parent and dealing with a recent breakup, Emily often felt overwhelmed, battling ongoing anxiety and bouts of insomnia.
Emotionally intelligent and self-aware, Emily recognized her spiraling stress but found it challenging to navigate the multitude of pressures weighing on her. Following her therapist’s recommendation, she chose a particular way of discovering nature as a means of finding relief. This simple suggestion became a pivotal turning point in Emily’s life, transforming her journey into a testament of resilience and warmth.
In our previous blog post, we discussed how humans align with nature, highlighting significant research and breakthroughs in this field. Emily’s story reflects these findings and is a powerful example worth sharing.
Starting with Awareness
She took her new learnings on as she went about her day and found there were ample moments when the understandings easily found some space. Rather than being distracting or interrupting, they were just small reference points that helped bring a balance.
Emily felt that through recognising what she had learnt about how nature benefits flow, and then tuning in a little, it helped hold her in a good space. It wasn’t any effort to find the opportunities, and with her new awareness they began to naturally present at appropriate times.
She learned to observe the subtle details of her surroundings—the way sunlight filtered through the leaves, the interesting patterns in the bark of different trees, and the varied bird songs that filled the air. As they came up she discovered the subtle skill was around a small shift in mindset, and how she held things. Through some mindful observation and interaction with nature, Emily developed a deeper connection.
This practice of awareness with nature helped her feel more balanced and resilient. Emily also came to find the understandings were noticeable as a feeling in her body as much as they were something in her mind. The grounding effect of these experiences became an essential way for coping with life’s challenges.
After a while these practices became simple habits, blending naturally into her way of being, and progressively she felt a growing sense of peace.
In the past she had enjoyed occasional visits to Discovery Park, one of Seattle’s largest green spaces, where the vast landscapes and serene environment provided a stark contrast to her hectic urban life. Now when walking along the forest trails and sitting by the waterfront, she experienced things in a new found way. The shifts meant it was a deeper experience, but also had enduring quality. This was more what her true self was now, who she had become, and it was calmer and more resilient.
As Emily reflected, “Through nature’s subtle influence, I found a way to bring real change to my life and move forward.”
Your Journey From Here
These are the things that Emily took on board. She chose a path that offered structured guidance because she was genuinely eager to learn what to do. She didn’t want to have to figure it out herself or try to fit more things into her timetable. What was important to Emily was having a quick and easy way to learn what was required, so she could quickly shift toward a path of better well-being.