A Message From a Monarch - Change Can Be Beautiful ~ Marilyn Laughlin, LCSW, RYT-500, Certified Nature Therapy Guide

Change and adapting to it is a common reason people seek mental health therapy.  Maybe resistance to change is the real issue.  We crave some changes - cooler weather, or warmer weather.  We look forward to the seasons changing and the activities that occupy each one.

Changes we resist may come in the loss of a long-term job, divorce, trusted friends moving away, or the inevitable challenges of aging.  Continued resistance can lead to isolation, pessimism, or depression.  Choosing to accept change rather than resist it offers a chance to immerse ourselves in the present circumstances, listen to others, and gather other sensory information provided in the environment. 

Nature-based therapy and mindfulness can be helpful partners in learning to accept change.  “The buffering effect of nature may serve as an external protective factor that helps people prevail in the face of adversity”²   We are always moving through change, and walks in nature can reinforce this mindset.  As we walk through a field or woods change is everywhere, from the different plants blooming and seeding, to changes in the water levels of creeks and rivers and other cyclical behaviors of the season.  In Colorado we may see the migrating tarantulas and monarch butterflies or the male mule deer with their new antler velvet.

Becoming aware that nature adapts to change and evolves to thrive can help improve our negative, self-limiting thoughts and imagine a more optimistic outcome about the changes that we may be resisting. Implementing small, subtle changes to our behavior, as well as small changes in perspective, results in an accumulation of change that begins to break down resistance.  Small, incremental changes over time retrain the brain to see change differently.  We can learn to appreciate the change, even enjoy the experience of learning to live in our new reality.

Manifest your own metamorphosis!

References:

¹European Journal of Ecopsychology 7: 19 - 40 (2021) Nature-based Regenerative Healing: A case-study of interpersonal ecotherapy Thomas Puk Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

²Nature-Based Recreational Therapy for Military Service Members A Strengths Approach Brent L. Hawkins Jasmine A. Townsend Barry A. Garst  Therapeutic Recreation Journal VOL. L, NO. 1 • pp. 55–74 • 2016