Grounding For Grief: How Being In Nature Can Help

Losing a loved one is often extremely overwhelming, shocking and difficult to manage, and how it affects different people can vary in very distinctive ways.

Whilst a Funeral Ceremony can help to celebrate a loved one’s life and ensure they will always be remembered, it also helps those who cared for them to find a sense of closure and begin to process their grief.

Part of how this can benefit comes from your loved one’s final resting place and being in a green burial park, amidst the first bloom of spring, can help a sense of hope begin to emerge through the grief.

Nature is healing in a lot of ways for people who are currently grieving or need to take time to process their emotions.

To understand why, it is important to explore how grounding works more broadly, and how these principles can be combined with the healing power of nature to help us work through loss.

What Is Grounding?

The concept of grounding is an active effort to recentre yourself in the moment following trauma or tragedy. When you experience loss, it can be so overwhelming that it becomes difficult to stay present, as intrusive thoughts and emotions take over.

It is a similar concept to mindfulness, and both work extremely well in nature due to the incredible sensory effect the natural world has on us. 

The Countdown Technique

Most people are aware of the countdown or 5-4-3-2-1 technique to ground themselves in the moment during a moment of emotional crisis, but it can help you reconnect to your senses, particularly if you feel like you are disassociating.

To ground yourself using the countdown technique, focus on:

• Five Sights – Name them, think about their colours, shapes and how the light reflects off them. Any visual details matter.
• Four Touches – Anything you can distinctly feel from your own skin, the fabric of your clothes, the touch of tree bark on your hands or grass on your feet all help you pay attention to your own body.
• Three Sounds – Nature makes us focus, so listen for any three sounds you can currently hear. Anything from birdsong, the crunch of leaves or even distant music can help you ground yourself in your environment.
• Two Smells – Because smell is such a powerful emotion, it can ground us more than most, as we can often go through our day not noticing the smells around us. In spring, the smell of dewy grass and blooming flowers is delightfully powerful.
• One Taste – If you have a taste on your tongue already, think about that, but if you do not, take this as an excuse to buy an ice cream or a sweet treat and think about the flavours.

How Can Nature Help Us Grieve?

There are a lot of reasons why nature has the power to help us process our loss, but one of the most significant is the sense of intention it encourages when we spend time in it.

Modern life can feel fast-paced and overwhelming, leaving little space to process how we feel but stepping into nature has the side-effect of grounding us and slowing down the pace. We move in harmony with the flutter of wings and the flow of a tranquil stream.

It allows us to reflect, to comfortably contemplate in solitude without feeling lonely and alone, whilst also providing a reminder of the natural cycles of life, particularly during a time of renewal as potent as spring.

Whilst loss can feel like an end, nature can provide us with the perspective of a new beginning, one that we can reach at our own pace and by following the natural pathways which connect us to nature. 

The 5 Pathways Of Nature

• Sensory Connection – Being aware of how the natural world awakens your senses, from the beautiful flutter of leaves in the wind, the touch of tree bark, the smell of flowers and the sound of animals rustling through nature.
• Emotional Bonding – Building a love for nature, whether it involves taking a moment to breathe in your surroundings, enjoying seeing animals flitter about or becoming captivated by the details of a leaf, a flower or a spider web.
• Actively Appreciating Natural Beauty – This could involve taking nature pictures, looking for beautiful views or creating art of your surroundings.
• Contemplating Natural Processes – From the symbols of nature that resonate with our everyday lives to exploring the signs of nature, there are ways to connect to nature and appreciate its cycles and movements.
• Expressing Compassion – From following the country code to rewilding grassy areas and supporting conservation efforts, compassion for nature helps to keep it alive.