Living here in the Adirondacks, I enjoy the beauty surrounding me and the challenges brought forth by life itself.

I have found that when I encounter difficulties in my life — stresses and anxieties — I take it all to Mother Nature. I speak it all out loud to her. Whether I’m inside, looking out my window, or taking a walk in the forest, her healing energies engulf me.

If I am inside, I can focus on her colors, knowing the healing energies that exist there. I can wear a green scarf or shirt and eat leafy green vegetables, feeling the calm overcome my pent-up frustration. As I look around my living room, my attention is drawn to my green living houseplants that constantly cleanse the air of toxins. I can relax in my favorite chair and focus on water, be it a picture of a waterfall actually hanging on my wall or the image I’ve conjured up in my mind. If I close my eyes, I can even feel the misty spray alight on my face. I can listen to the music of her waves, crashing upon a distant shore. And I can watch it happen within my mind. For Mother Nature’s healing energies transcend walls. She lives within each breath I take.

If I am outside, I am surrounded by the calming green of the trees — pine, hemlock and spruce. In spring, I also see the green of birch, maple, beech and cherry budding forth. Nature envelops me with green. There are mosses and ferns and myriad wild plants and herbs that abound. A walk in the forest can calm my most intense anger. I come away feeling comforted and consoled with insight I did not previously have. But most of all, I come away knowing and feeling that I am not alone in this. I gain insight into my fear, where it comes from, and I know I have a choice. I can allow fear to overtake me and drive my actions, increasing my anxiety, or I can sit with that fear and widen my focus, taking in the whole picture, transcending me to seeing the positives in my life. I can welcome in the joy I had previously been allowing fear to block, for two thoughts cannot occupy the same space at the same time. I try not letting the fear affect me negatively but allowing those positive thoughts to gain impetus.

To be proactive, I realize that I do have some control. I am not a victim. This day and age, fear and repetitive negative news can overwhelm us if we allow it. It is my choice to listen to a morning report so that I am informed and aware of what’s happening in the world and then to silence the radio and go for a walk. I look around me and see and feel the beauty of Mother Nature. Every leaf bud and emerging sprout speaks to me of spring — new life and hope.

When we encounter a major stressor in our life, in this case COVID-19, we can view it as something outside of us, attacking us. We may also view it as something spurned from within us as well. We can see it as an opportunity — a conduit for healing our negativism, antagonism, prejudice and emotional rifts. Remember that the body always tries to heal itself. It’s counting on us to do our part through our intentions, our mental and emotional attitude. We ARE body, mind and spirit.

With spring around the corner and tree buds beginning to turn red, we find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic. With rising concerns comes rising anxieties and that can develop into fear. Fear is counterproductive. It depletes our immune system and makes us more vulnerable.

So how do we prevent ourselves from completing this concern-anxiety-fear cycle? We can remember our connection to Mother Nature and allow her to help heal those anxieties.

If we can go outside, we can spend time watching various bushes, budding for the first time this spring and listen to the melodic springtime bird song, possibly tracing its source. If we’re looking through a window, we can observe the ever-changing patterns of the clouds in the sky and notice the daily change of the trees as they, too, awaken. We can see the grass getting greener as each blade sprouts towards the sun.

We can recognize all the positives around us. And there are many if we stop and focus on that. Mother Nature sets the example for us to follow. She survives storms, hurricanes, tornadoes — and sprouts again. And we will, too.

We must remember that after the rain come the rainbows. We all need to be cognizant and diligent and project a loving attitude, maybe not through touching and hugging for now, but more through the tone of our voice, the words we choose when we speak and the resulting actions we take.

We are all connected, even in these times. Where attention goes, energy grows. We need to remember to be updated with world happenings but then spend the rest of our day focusing our attention on all the positives around us.

We have much to appreciate. We have much to be thankful for.

Our immune system will thank US.

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Debby Havas is a local author, living in Jay. Her writings express her experiences in the healing energies of Mother Nature.