Rocks: Fluid Inspiration from a Fixed Solid - Written By: Marilyn Laughlin, LCSW, RYT-500, Certified Nature Therapy Guide

Maybe you know how it is.  On a walk somewhere, maybe a mountain trail, or maybe by a beach or when you turn the earth for a garden, you find a rock.  Something about that rock makes you want to touch it, to move it, to pick it up and take it with you.  That rock carries with it the nature of the space you found it.  Its colors, textures, and temperature provide sensory grounding every time you pick it up.  It also carries its own story or journey - how long it sat in that spot, dropped from the larger stones that make up the mountains?  How many tides has it endured drowning and sunning there by the beach?  Why didn’t it show up last year?

In therapy, collection and contemplation of natural objects like rocks can provide “(personal) various possibilities to gain a more expanded and interconnected perspective on life and self, leading to personal growth and change”.¹

Nature is considered a growth-oriented setting where humans can change internally (mood, perspective, well-being) by experiencing its healthy, external features.  A rock becomes a guide, bringing the body into the moment, engaging the senses in a discovery of unknown, unique features that relate to the relationship we have with ourselves during the change process.

A rock can be used many times for reflective practices.  Changing the light where the rock sits or  viewing it at different times of day, results in colors that change, and minerals that will shine.  Resting your palm on the rock, or holding it between your palms, feeling the textures of its surface(s) can redirect anxious thoughts to a more grounded perspective of a situation.   Holding a favored rock can evoke past pleasant memories that can activate our vagus nerve, calming our nervous system, body and mind.  

Rocks represent stability (they’re my rock), time (been there forever), constancy (don’t have to look, I know it’s there).  And, they absorb the energy of everything that touches them.  It is estimated that each human will use 3 million tons of rocks in various forms in their lifetime.²  They are used for shelter, tools, and weapons.  They are mined, cut, and crushed. But they are also an ally and a partner in the journey that begins when you first pick it up or take the first step to climb it.  

Pet your rock, paint a rock, or sit by a rock.  They have a story to tell and won’t mind if you pause to tell yours.  

References:

¹Michal Luria et al. ¹“Materialising mental health: design approaches for creative engagement with intangible experience” Creative Approaches to Health Education,  Eds.  Deborah Luptin and Deana Leahy, Routledge, 2022, pp 14-27.

²Museum of Natural and Cultural History 

https://mnch.uoregon.edu/rocks-and-minerals-everyday-uses

Halstead, Danielle Grace, "Pathway Through Nature: A Nature-Based Occupational Therapy Program To Support Adolescent Mental Health" (2022). Occupational Therapy Capstones. 504. 

Kathryn Weedman Arthur et al. “Ancestral Stones and Stone Stories: Reimagining Human Relationships with Stone from the Paleolithic to the Present” (2024) ARCHAEOLOGIES Volume 20 Number 1 April 2024.