When I think of self-care I naturally turn to my love for nature and gardening. Unlike most newly birthed pandemic plantitos/titas, my love for plants didn’t happen during the pandemic but through my growing up years with my father who loved cultivating orchids and bonsai to my many years of exposure, experience and experimentation as a biology student.
But before we get started, what is self-care? And why is it so important?
What is self-care?
According to this source, “Self-care is not synonymous with self-indulgence or being selfish. Self-care means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care for others, and you can do all the things you need to and want to accomplish in a day.”
If the definition of self-care is taking care of myself so that I can function at my best then what I’ve found to be personally effective, sustainable and longlasting was simply found outside our window.
We live in a house that sits across some vacant lots, it has proven to be an ideal location to cultivate some herbs, vegetables and fruits that have given our family not just sustenance for our bodies (and engaging homeschool activities) but sustenance for our minds, souls and spirits as well.
Let me share what I’ve discovered about nature and the lessons it has taught me about self-care — all from tending to my garden.
It helps my body heal.
It’s common knowledge that fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits are best for our physical bodies especially since a healthy immune system during this time can mean the difference between life and death but did you know that digging in the soil is also good for your mental health?
“Digging in the soil stirs up microbes and inhaling these microbes can stimulate serotonin production, which can make you feel relaxed and happier,” states Forbes.
According to sources, a “friendly” bacteria commonly found in soil activates brain cells to produce the brain chemical seratonin which is the body’s natural antidepressant.
Nature literally brings life.
Oftentimes, we can care for our bodies with the simplest things to help them heal — enough sleep, fresh food, fresh air and fresh soil.
Nature gives the best medicine. And the best part is, usually, it can be found just outside our doors.
It helps my mind understand His design.
As an educator, I understand that nature points to a Creator. My default in teaching always goes back to where everything started – the story of Creation in the book of Genesis. It points us to God being the supreme Creator and us, human beings, as His co-creators, stewards, students, and as sons called to rule over His creation.
Surely, we will never run out of new things to discover and explore just by studying what’s all around us — how truly intricate, beautiful and functional His design is in nature.
How can there ever be a doubt that the same Creator who designed these wonderful lifegiving, fruit-bearing, oxygen-producing, sweet-smelling trees and plants around us is the same Creator who calls us His best work — His masterpieces; each precious, fearfully and wonderfully made and unique in calling, beauty, giftings and purpose.
It’s a beautiful reminder that like a garden there are no two exactly alike — so there is no need for competition, no need for comparison and no need to covet — each of us is loved, important, beautiful and special in His sight.
It reminds me that He is the lover of my soul.
What is the soul?
“The soul is basically our mind, our emotions, and our will. It is who we are as human beings,” says Christianity.com.
With all the things on my plate, I need time for solitude, alone time with the Lord. It has always been innate in me to connect with God through nature as a ‘naturalist’ — as I discovered while reading Gary Thomas’ Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God — it simply means each of us has a unique way we interact with God and mine is through nature.
Read more about pathways here.
Being a naturalist, I need to retreat from city life, by myself or with friends, and go on nature trips.
I’m glad that I share the same passion with my husband — aiming to hike up one mountain per year. The best and memorable ones have been our treks up Mt. Apo, Pulag, Ulap, Arayat, Pinatubo, Pico De Loro, Sagada, Batad, with some side trips to swim in nature’s hot springs and waterfalls.
I am able to care for my soul when I take the time to find out the unique way the lover of my soul connects with me.
It comforts my spirit.
If I can’t go out of town, I know I have a go-to-place just beside our house – my garden. Here in this spot, I have had good times conversing with Him. I begin mostly with, “Thank you, God, for such beautiful handiwork!”
He then usually impresses a song in my heart that makes me sing and worship. As I get my shovel and start to dig, God would whisper to me, what’s the condition of my heart, is it dry, rocky, full of weeds, or is it healthy soil?
As I cut out branches, I’m reminded of the pains, hurts, or troubles that I’ve been through, after which His comforting words whisper, “you are my child, this is my way of disciplining and pruning you, but know that I love you and I AM holding you”.
In the many times that I fear, many times, too, I am reminded of the verse, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!” Luke 12:27-28.
In this verse, I get fresh faith that I am more valuable than all the lilies and grass in the field combined. Surely, my God will provide!
Coming from a gardener’s point of view, I understand that there is a greater Gardener in me. One who nurtures, prunes, weeds out sin from my heart so the seed of His Word will grow and produce much fruit — for His honor and glory.
So in between times of being a wife, mom, doing chores, homeschooling, ministry time, I need to check my garden from time to time, literally and figuratively, so that I can welcome His care and refreshing for my body, mind, soul and spirit — a necessary practice for every wife and mom!
