Nature Is Our Biggest Teacher: What Plants Taught Me About Life

“Nature is pleased with simplicity.” – Isaac Newton

We are constantly trying to figure out how life works and it always seems so complicated to figure it all out. As infants and children, we learn everything we know about society, community and being human from our parents. The truth we discover later in life is that our parents – however hard they try – are not perfect and hardly know everything.

I made this discovery early on, 9 years of age when a teacher couldn’t accept this young child correcting their mistake. This is where my problem with authority started and it continued well into adolescence. I struggled with the question: “What is the meaning of life?” daily, lost a loved one and failed to be understood. This lead to some serious problems with my mental health.

As a young adult, I discovered that I have a green thumb and was fascinated by nature and plants. Throughout my journey, my best teachers have been plants, seeds, trees and nature and I’m thrilled to share these teachings with you.

Lesson 1: The Right Conditions For Growth

In order for a seed to germinate, it needs the right conditions; fertile soil, sunlight, water and the right balance of nutrients.

We are fortunate to be able to create these conditions – and our conditions are very similar to those of plants and trees. We can think of our state of being as the soil and the food we eat as our nutrients. Water is a no-brainer since most of our cells consist of water and our blood is the vehicle with which these nutrients get transported. Sunlight provides us with Vitamin D and there’s proof that this is essential for optimal mental health.

In essence, we can think of ourselves as sophisticated and complex plants and if we are starved of any element crucial to the growth process, we will suffer or stagnate.

You might be thinking that this is a very simple way to approach health and I’m here to tell you that the simplest of solutions are usually the ones that work best.

So how do you go about creating the right conditions for growth?

Action steps:

Drink plenty of water

This one seems like such an obvious thing and something we’re all aware of.

You’ll be amazed at the benefits of staying hydrated. Something as simple as hydrating your body daily will regulate blood pressure, assist in better digestion, control hunger signals, result in healthy skin, hair, nails and give you clarity of mind. Basically, your natural body processes will work better. Stock up on fresh, nutrient-rich foods

Again, this is something that’s been known for ages – nutrient-rich foods are beneficial to overall health and vitality. Fruits, vegetables and green herbs are essential for the maintenance of bones, muscles, digestion, mental vitality and overall health. Your body needs these nutrients to maintain and build on the natural healing mechanism.

Spend more time outside

Being out in nature and sunlight is beneficial in more than one way. If you can combine time spend outside with exercise, you’ll be well on your way to increased mental and physical vitality.

Breathe!

The beautiful interaction we have with nature is that it gives us our oxygen and we give them the CO2. Deep, mindful breathing can have such great benefits, not only for the body but also the mind. Inhale the good stuff, exhale the bad stuff and repeat. Breathing can be a great tool to control emotions and calm the nervous system.

These things are guaranteed to prepare your soil and soon you’ll find yourself to be a happy, healthy plant with a motivation to grow!

Lesson 2: The Struggle

What fascinates me most is the very beginning of a plants’ life. If the conditions for growth are favourable, the seed will burst open and the struggle to the top begins. The tiny plant has to break through the top layers of soil and fold open to reach the surface. This strikes me as very similar to how humans are born into the world.

As someone who is successfully managing a mental illness diagnosis, I can attest to how important my struggle was in the journey to recovery. Much like a seed has to go through this struggle and process in order to become a big, strong plant, we also struggle through certain things in life to get where we want to be.

These struggles could be losing a loved one, experiencing disappointment, going through hardships or life simply not going the way we want it.

I want you to think about past struggles in your life and how you are now a stronger person because of them.

We can see challenges from a mindset and a place of knowing that things will get better and ask; what can it teach us and how it can make us stronger.

Lesson 3: Flowering and Seeding

When the plant has grown for a while under the right conditions it turns into a strong healthy plant with the ability to flower and eventually spread seeds to reproduce.

When we are happy and healthy we can present our flowers to the world and plant seeds to teach others to do the same.

The fruits of your labour can effectively be passed on to others and the generations that will come after us.

The main objective is to reach the flowering and seeding stage of life.

The Root System

Although we can learn a lot from plants and how they grow, I’d say that we are more like trees. Our longevity and wisdom have the potential to last so much longer than a plant. We can go through winter times where our branches are bare and we are struggling, but our roots are deeply seated in the ground and we know we’ll be able to replenish our leaves in the next season.

This process takes longer but we can learn from a tree that patience and the fruits of our labour can pay off multiple times and last decades.

My wish for you is that you’re able to stand strong in your quest, even if the wind is shaking your foundations and the freezing snow is resting on your branches.

And after all the growth, struggles, flowering and seeding I wish you to be a happy little tree ;)