Words of Wisdom from a Pine cone

At a recent networking event, I was scheduled to give my signature presentation, “Nature as a Path for Knowing.” A teen whom I’d seen earlier in the day came up to me and said, “My father wanted me to attend your presentation.”  I told her we could have a “private class.”

I explained what forest therapy is. She told me she lives in a remote area and she spends a lot of time sitting in her favorite spot near a river. I told her she is practicing the “Sit Spot” invitation from Forest Therapy when she does this. She told me that it helps her feel calm.

I was trying to explain what the Forest Therapy practice called Pleasure of Presence (POP) is, then I decided to have her do the exercise I was going to have the audience do in my presentation, which was to do POP with a Pine Cone, including exploring it with all of her senses and turning the pine cone in different directions/holding it in different ways until it felt “right” for her.

After she explored the pine cone, I asked her what she was noticing. She said she had pictured what the pine cone looked like with her eyes closed, and when she opened them, it looked different. She said exploring it with her eyes closed helped her see it in a new way.

Then I started telling her about Nature Connected Coaching. I asked her how she knew which direction/way of holding the pine cone was right. She said, “I thought about the way it’s supposed to be. The way it should look if its right side up.”   I inquired if I could ask her a coaching question and she agreed. I asked her if she ever gets tired of doing things the way they’re supposed to be. She nodded. I then asked her what she wants more of in her life. “I want more 1:1 time with people,” she replied.

I then invited her to close her eyes and explore holding the pine cone again in a way that felt right, this time not worrying about the way it’s supposed to be or look (not worrying about right side up.) She explored different ways of holding the pine cone until she found what she wanted, and then described it as “cradling” the pine cone.   I asked her what connection there might be between the way she held the pine cone, cradling it, and what she wants more of in her life. She immediately sensed a connection, saying, “Yes. I cradle the people in my life I have relationships with.” 

My intuition nudged me to ask her about reciprocity, so I asked, “Do you allow them to cradle you back?” She said that was a harder thing for her to do.

I sensed learning how to allow others to cradle her might be important, so I invited her to go to her sit spot sometime soon and ask Nature to show and teach her what would make it easier for her to allow other people to cradle her. She seemed excited and moved by the entire process, and said she couldn’t wait to tell her father about what happened.

People like this give me hope! Firstly, that a 15-year-old young woman could be SO attuned to nature, so insightful, and so open to spiritual growth. And secondly, that her father is raising a daughter in such a loving, open, and supportive manner. Kudos to the both of you!!