The Power of Nature in Estrangement
- Jules Allan
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Photo credit: Jules Allen
"To be an Earth Pilgrim is to revere Nature as our sacred home, and see all our life as a sacred journey to become at one with ourselves, with others and with Nature." Satish Kumar
Rooted Wellbeing is a monthly series exploring everyday wellbeing practices for healing and growth in simple, inclusive and accessible ways to support ourselves through the challenges of estrangement. Offering gentle invitations to pause, reconnect and grow small roots of steadiness and care.
I’m Jules, an Integrative Counsellor, Coach, Wellbeing Facilitator and Trainee Somatic IFS Therapist. Through this series, I share practices that have supported me and the communities I work with, including my own lived experience of estrangement. My hope is that each piece offers something you may want to gently lean into a reminder that support can come in quiet, unexpected ways.
How can we connect with Nature?
We can sometimes think nature has to be forests, mountains, long walks, but it can be much smaller. It might be a tree on our street, a patch of sky through the window, the sound of rain, a bird that keeps coming back to the same place, a plant you’ve kept alive. I say this, but I honestly don’t think I’ve ever kept a plant alive; I can end up watering dry brown shoots into a flood, willing them to revive.
A Somatic Meeting Place
Something I’ve been noticing more and more is how nature meets the body, not in a big, dramatic way, but in small, quiet shifts. If your nervous system is used to being on alert scanning, bracing, holding then being with something steady can feel different. We may notice when we connect with nature our shoulders drop a little, our breath changes, our focus softens. Not always, not every time, but sometimes, and sometimes that can be enough.
Estrangement can create a particular kind of distance not just from people, but sometimes from places too, from a sense of belonging, that feeling of where do I fit in? Nature has a way of meeting us in that space, it doesn’t ask questions or expect anything back, it’s just… there.
When Nature Feels Far Away
There are also times when nature doesn’t feel accessible. If that’s where you are at, I offer the invitation to explore simple ways to connect with nature, small points of contact can create a sense of connection.
Sitting by a window and looking at the sky, listening to rain or birds on your phone, watching a nature programme, holding a natural object like a stone, a shell or a leaf.
Hugging Trees
I feel like this is the point where I want to share… I love hugging trees. Not always elegantly, sometimes quite awkwardly, occasionally with a quick glance around to check no one is watching (and if they are, just fully committing to it anyway).
But there’s something about it, leaning my body against something that has been rooted for years…
It doesn’t move away, it doesn’t need anything from us, it doesn’t ask us to explain ourselves, it just… stays.
Sometimes, that feeling of being held even in a very simple, physical way can land somewhere deep in the body.
Gentle Invitations
If this resonates, I offer the invitation to try something small this week, check in with yourself before and after, just noticing is enough.
A 3-Minute Window Pause
Sit or stand by a window. Notice three things you can see. Three sounds you can hear. One sensation in your body.
No need to change anything, just notice.
The “One Thing Alive” Practice
Find one living thing: a plant, a tree, a flower. Spend a few moments with it. Notice colour, shape, movement.
Nature Without Leaving Bed P
ut on some nature sounds like rain, oceans, forests. Close your eyes if that feels okay, let your body respond in whatever way it does.
A Small Step Outside
If it feels possible, step outside even for a minute or two, feel your feet on the ground, look up at the sky.
And I highly recommend a Tree Hug
A Gentle Journal Reflection
If you’d like to explore this a little more:
When I think of nature, what do I notice in my body?
What feels most accessible to me right now?
You might place a hand on your chest or rest your feet on the ground as you write.
Writing this article, I was reminded of when I went to hear Satish Kumar speak many years ago. Satish, an Indian British activist and speaker shared stories of his 8,000-mile peace pilgrimage, walking across countries with no money, guided by a deep trust in people and the natural world. There was something in the way he spoke about walking, not as exercise, but as a way of being in relationship with the earth, that stayed with me. He described how walking connects us back to the land, to ourselves, and to each other in a way that life can sometimes pull us away from.
For me, I crave time in nature and can feel bereft if I can’t access it in some way each day. I find it deeply nourishing. It’s not just calming, it's something quieter than that, a kind of remembering. A soft sense that I’m part of something larger, even when relationships in my life feel fractured or distant, when I’m with a tree, or watching the sky shift, or just noticing the rhythm of something natural, there can be a small moment of … I belong here too. Enough to feel connected again, even briefly, to something like a wider, shared human experience or what some might call a collective consciousness, or simply being held by the earth itself.
And I notice, in those moments, even the parts of me that feel separate, protective or alone can soften a little as if they don’t have to carry everything by themselves. As if, for a moment, they too can feel part of something wider. Maybe connection doesn’t always have to be found in people first, sometimes it begins with reminding myself we are all part of nature, and to quote one of my favourite people…
"Storms make trees take deeper roots." –Dolly Parton
Articles about Satish Kumar
Link -Satish Kumar articles
Serene Forest Bathing | 432Hz Calming Ambience for Relaxation & Mindfulness
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