Nature Connecting
photograph by Maxwell T. Lyon
by Sarah Lyon
As a spiritual director I accompany others in writing short narratives of their ecological stories. I invite participants into a process of remembering their environments (throughout their lifetime) with imagination and curiosity. If you’d like to know more about writing your own ecological story, click here.
Here is part of my ecological story.
I grew up in a rural landscape in Nobleton, Ontario where my parents built a home on an acreage in the woods. While it's true that I tend to romanticize these free-ranging childhood memories of the 1960s, I also remember the summer months when my father would spray DDT throughout the woods to control the mosquito population. He carried the spraying apparatus on his back and the DDT would leak into his clothes. Considering that he died of a neurological disorder later in life, I wonder how this exposure carried long term consequences for his health, that of his family and the environment. Perhaps there is insufficient evidence to prove that my father’s illness was caused by exposure to these toxicities – yet I wonder if remembering these events led me on a path of study, in my mid-fifties, to write my masters dissertation (2016) on eco-psychotherapy/eco-spirituality. My studies explored the restorative relationship that happens between the human and more than human.
In the summer of 2016, I returned to my native Canada after living abroad for 35 years. As a newly qualified psychotherapist and as a follow-up to my master’s dissertation, I began the process of creating a deck of Nature Connecting Cards. Each card includes an image from nature with accompanying questions and an activity for connecting to nature. My intention was, in part, to encourage people to get moving and be outdoors. It is my belief that when we connect with nature images, we open ourselves to self-awareness, personal growth, and transformative experiences. Around this time, I was introduced to Gerald May’s bookThe Dark Night of the Soul. My reading revealed that a frustrated Gerald May left his practice of psychiatric medicine to dedicate himself to the emerging field of contemplative psychology and the art of spiritual direction. I immediately felt a kindred connection to May’s journey.
I discerned that the next step was to integrate the skills I had learned in my psychotherapy degree with the qualities of practicing spiritual direction – to include nature connecting activities. I began the SoulGuiding program with Pacific Jubilee which I completed in 2022. Now, as a spiritual director, in addition to accompanying people to write their ecological stories, I offer outdoor nature connecting activities either as part of a spiritual direction session or in a retreat setting.
My ecological story continues to evolve. I live in a ‘kinship context'. By this I mean that I share ‘home’ with my adult children and grandchildren. On our property I often notice a collective of deer in the early mornings. I see them rise from the warmth of the tall grasses, under the cathedral high canopy of aspen and pine trees that is their home. There’s a reciprocity shared between us humans and the more-than-human presence of the trees, the birds and the deer. These connections bring life full circle. They have brought me back to the familiarity of the woods of my free-ranging childhood.
Sarah Lyon
is a spiritual director, trained in the Pacific Jubilee SoulGuiding program, with a Master’s degree in Psychotherapy from the University of Cambridge, UK. Sarah lives in the foothills of Alberta where she integrates her love for story writing and inquiry with her love of food (nutrition), psychotherapy, spiritual direction, and nature connecting activities to guide others towards new levels of inner and outer awareness. Read about Sarah’s spiritual direction practice here. Visit Sarah’s website
