According to Carl Jung (1875-1961) the most influential psychotherapist the world has ever known, symbols are universal elements that cross the boundaries of time and culture. They may even be part of the inherited memory Jung thought we all shared.

Jung believed that people are drawn towards certain symbols at given points in time.  The magnetic pull for me at this point in time is the symbol of a labyrinth.  From the first inception of the imagery in my head a few weeks back I have turned on the radio to a discussion on labyrinths, dreamed about them, visited a remote location to see one carved on a wall, had friends randomly mention them,  and finally on my weekly jaunt to Southampton Hospital came across the labyrinth the Chaplaincy use there.

Labyrinths (not to be confused with mazes) date back over 4,000 years to the first recorded one in Egypt.  It was alleged to have eclipsed the pyramids in its magnitude and beauty as it stood over 240 feet high with subterranean lakes.  Since that first known recording they have been found right around the world crossing diverse cultures and religions.  They can also be found in mythological tales such as that of the Minotaur, half man and half bull,  kept in a labyrinth in ancient Greece and fed juicy young sacrifices every seven years to keep him appeased.

The original purpose of the labyrinth has been lost in the clouds of time but my interest in terms of nature therapy lies in their ability to act as a catalyst for Mindfulness which is a fundamental component of our work.  In this example a labyrinth can provide a structured process to promote mindful walking and reflection. 

Another aspect to my interest is related to nature therapy providing a mind-body-spirit connection.  We have a sound evidence base for the physical and mental outcomes of being amongst nature and we do know that individuals who hold some philosophy over the meaning of life often have better outcomes.  However spiritual links can be somewhat glossed over in the majority of therapeutic and therapeutic style activities because of the risk of being seen to promote one belief system over another. 

In nature therapy we do not promote any specific belief system, what we do promote is an individual finding their own path. Because they cross all religions and spiritual expressions,  labyrinths are an ideal tool to reconnect with our inner selves and find outward meaning to life to help you follow what path is right for you.

This blog is dedicated to the graffiti artist who inscribed the picture above on the wall of a house in Pompeii (A Minotaur lives here).  I love this particular labyrinth, not because of its complexity, meaning, or beauty, but because it shows that we are all human with all our human strengths and sensibilities.  I imagine a grumpy old man, seemingly just like a Minotaur, living in that house and raging at whoever carved it into the stone - whilst the artist and his friends were laughing at their gesture.

That image survived the devastation which subsequently hit Pompeii most likely killing the grumpy old man, artist and his friends in the process.  But just like humanity, the image survived the worst to bring a message of peace and hope down through countless generations. The humour inherent in the image could also be a message not to take ourselves too seriously.  

If you want to know more about this fascinating subject and how it links to nature therapy then go to our facebook page (Nature Therapy CIC) to see pictures of our Mindful Labyrinth as it evolves over the coming week.

I sat down to write this blog and was going to write something on the history and meaning of labyrinths but instead I thought I would share with you Bethan's blog which is based on the Forces of Nature programme we run. I love reading Bethan's writings which are always quite beautiful (much like Bethan). No wonder she is an acclaimed author.

We have been exploring joint ways of working to combine nature therapy with the amazing work Bethan does addressing women's self image through her Gorgeousness programme. I have blogged before on here about soundscapes and their relation to sensory experiences and Mindfulness, so it is heart warming to read Bethan's perspective and to see those sounds come to life through her amazing art work.

This is what Bethan wrote:

Autumn blew in yesterday.

Just for a moment … Then it was gone.

I was sitting on an earthwork, with some people from a Nature Therapy programme that I’ve been involved with this summer. Nestled on grass, amongst the dust and tea cups, we were quietly creating soundscapes on canvas.



They’re the loveliest thing to do!

To create one you simply absorb the acoustic patchwork of sound around you, then draw it. Its the sort of thing that ANYONE can do, even if you don’t feel confident at drawing. I mean, when drawing sounds there IS NO right way.

It’s all FREEEE FLOW.

I was completely absorbed. Was busy plucking the rain-stick trickle of leaves on a hawthorn to my left; the breeze strumming an oak; summer dancing and warm, soft swirls emerging. Further east, down the valley, triangle bird song rang out and chimed with little flicks of orange and apricot. I caught them with a butterfly net. I engraved them with coloured wax.



And that’s when it happened.

Autumn blew in.

From the west, a deep, throaty gust of wind elbowed through the soundscape. It rampaged across the treetops and shook the maracas grasses. All birdsong died. The sky shivered grey. For a moment this new wind dominated whilst other sounds brooded and hung.

Then, with a whip of its tail, Autumn sloped away.

Just like that.

And Summer returned.

But you know, even if I hadn’t been doing a soundscape, I think I’d still have felt it … the subtle change of a season overlap.

If you were there, I bet you’d have felt it too.

Our connection with the seasons is such a crazy quirk of us humans, don’t you think?

In our suits and cars and café culture and hours spent in hairdressers flicking through a dog eared OK magazine, we will staunchly deny our animal natures. We committedly (word?)  wax our legs, pluck our nostril hair, shave our (men’s)beards as all Well Groomed Primates in concrete jungles must.

Yet underneath the perfumed collar of the corporate alpha female, or the arm-pit exposing stretch of the yawning silver-back boss at his leadership meeting, our biology is frightening close to that of animals. Animals, that yes, once lived closely to nature. We may not be compelled to collect hazelnuts and hibernate as autumn and winter set in, but most of us will feel the urge to get home, be cosy, snuggle on the sofa, make tea (possibly a cake)and light the fire if we have one.

I believe our relationship with the changing seasons is a whisper of this need to be connected to the natural world

What do you think?

In his book, Last Child In The Woods, author Richard Louv talks about “nature deficit disorder” and how as natural humans we NEED to connect with nature. He claims that our chronic disconnection with our true environment (caused by massive urbanisation, electronic media and media coverage of violent crimes that make people panicky about being outdoors) affects not only our health, but our ability to feel “ultimately alive.” He says that children who do not spend enough time outdoors are often prone to anxiety, depression and ADHD (symptoms of which are shown to be reduced by being in nature).

Louv isn’t alone in his thinking.

A University of Kansas study showed that people in hospital who can see a natural landscape get batter faster and youth who backpacked for three days showed higher creativity and cognitive abilities. One Norwegian study showed that subjects with moderate to severe depression who participated in a horticultural programme experienced reduced symptoms after 12 weeks. In 2011 a study published by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that people who walked on an outdoor track moved faster, perceived less exertion and experience a more positive internal state than those who walked on an indoor treadmill. According to Tokyo’s Nippon Medical School, women who spent 2-4 hours in the woods on two consecutive days experienced a nearly 50% increase in the activity of cancer-fighting white blood cells.

In a world where most kids, let alone adults, are exposed to more electronic media in a day than our grandparents were in a decade, we need to reconnect with nature to nourish our wellbeing.

Nature is our natural environment. And it shows.

“What is this you’ve been doing, Mum?” asked my son, Roo, as he climbed into the car once the Nature Therapy session was complete and I’d gone to collect him.

I glanced over my shoulder to see him holding my canvas. “It’s a soundscape,” I explained. “It’s a picture of all the sounds I heard today.”

Roo (who by fluke had ALL of his high-tech stuff confiscated off him his morning) stared at the canvas for some time. “Can I do one?” he asked eventually. “We could go to the woods? But we need to do it very soon.”

I looked at him in the rear view mirror. “Of course we can do one. But what’s the rush?”

Roo shrugged, put the canvas down and stared out at the blue sky.

“No rush I suppose,” he replied. There was a pause, then he added, “I just think I felt autumn coming today.”

That was yesterday and today, by the looks of the weather, our autumn instincts were right. There are going to be some crazy howling noises out there but me and my little tribe of soundscapers are going to snatch them if its the last thing we do!

Love Bethan x

If you want to read more of Bethan;s writings and see more of her art work, or even purchase one of her books then go to:

Welcome to Grow Your Own Gorgeousness - Art and Inspiration to transform women's paradigm of beauty. www.bethanchristopher.com http://bethanchristopher.com/

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to continually re-wire itself.  It used to be thought that once connections were made, our brains were  fixed to fire off in set patterns.  We now know that brains are far more plastic, so we can make new connections throughout our lives. We can in fact big up our brain.

Storytelling has been used for thousands of years, not only to entertain, but to help shape our thoughts, values and attitudes.  Think for a moment about the fairy stories you heard as a child and what you may have learned from them.  Did you learn that being good, brave and compassionate gets you your heart's desire and being kind to nice little froggies gets you to be in charge of a magic kingdom? Perhaps you learned that being unkind, cruel and self-centred means you will have to put on red hot shoes and dance until you die?

In other words these apparently innocuous tales helped shape what we value most in our society. This doesn't mean we will not still behave in ways that might result in our having to wear those red hot shoes.  What it does mean is our brains have been shaped to make certain connections between what is seen as wrong in our culture and what is perceived as right.

Stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage far more of the brain than those stories that simply do not light our candle.  According to Paul Zak,  who is a researcher into how stories shape our brains,  we need to be transported into the character’s world and to have the tension continually increased. In this way we emotionally resonate with what is happening to them in their world and that world briefly becomes our world too.

What has any of this to do with nature therapy I hear you ask? Well, we have a whole variety of therapeutic style tools in our toolbox at Nature Therapy CIC that are totally compatible with nature activities -  and storytelling is one of them. You do not have to be a child to listen to stories, to create them or to learn from them. After all what else are films, soaps and the news other than stories.

I never cease to be amazed at how ancient knowledge and modern scientific research are beginning to blend together. The ancient art of story telling and modern research into neuroplasticity and stories are just one example of this blending.

As this happens, so we are no longer dividing body and mind into two separate entities. We are creating whole people where mind, body and spirit all play equal parts in maintaining health and well-being.  Something the ancients knew only too well.

There are many different models of working alongside people using the infinite resources we have available through nature. Take for example horses and donkeys which we involve as much as possible in all our programmes.  Whilst many individuals  enjoy looking at equines, therapeutically there is a big difference between patting a horse or donkey over a fence on a nice day out, learning how to pick their feet out in an educational context or being able to freely interact with them in a herd with a skilled facilitator.

In all likelihood there will be a level of enjoyment or even fear in each case.  However, it is only with a skilled facilitator and the ability to interact fully and freely with these amazing animals that self insights can be gained. It is then up to the individual where they go with these insights and the facilitator role is to help them process their insights in an un-judgemental and safe way.  

Sadly, many organisations now believe that because they make available a few animals to pet occasionally they are providing some kind of animal therapy and can charge individuals accordingly or apply for funding on the back of this.  They even make claims about social and psychological outcomes without any real research evidence to back this up.

At this point in time there are no moves to regulate this growing industry, and whilst I am a great believer in freely interacting with nature to feel a sense of connection, I would urge caution in thinking that because you have a horse or donkey you can deliver this kind of work without the appropriate knowledge and skills.