The Forest Held My Grief: Nature Stories from the Shobukai

In this heartfelt follow-up to "The Well-Gardened Self," Mary reads and reflects on powerful listener stories about how nature has supported their personal transformations. From fire escape herb gardens to grief walks through the woods, these stories reveal nature as a quiet but potent ally in healing, connection, and growth.

Topics Covered:

🎯Nature and grief processing

🎯Everyday rituals of reconnection

🎯Community through gardening

🎯Intergenerational healing through outdoor time

🎯Why we’re not machines—we’re ecosystems

🎯Nature as metaphor for identity, care, and change

Key Takeaways:

💡Transformation is less about doing and more about becoming—like seasons, slowly and cyclically.

💡Engaging with nature can help us process grief.

💡Rituals in nature ground us and create stability.

💡Change is a natural part of life, as reflected in nature.

💡Caring for plants can awaken our desire to care for ourselves.

💡Nature fosters community and connection among people.

💡Silent companionship with nature can be deeply healing.

💡We are part of nature, not separate from it.

💡Nature invites us to return to our true selves.

💡Transformation often begins with small, intentional actions.

Compelling Quotes:

🎤“The forest held my grief in a way people couldn’t.”  

🎤“Nature doesn’t care about your resume. It cares about rhythm, effort, and patience.”  

🎤“You are not a machine. You are an ecosystem.” 

🎤“Nature doesn't care about your resume."

🎤"Nature is always inviting us to return."

Keywords: 

✅nature ✅healing stories ✅transformation and nature ✅grief and the outdoors, ✅mindfulness through gardening ✅ecosystem self-care ✅listener story episode ✅Shobukai Shift podcast ✅Mary Schaub ✅personal transformation stories ✅community gardens healing

#NatureHealing #TransformationJourney #GriefAndGrowth #MindfulGardening #ShobukaiShift #ListenerVoices #UrbanNature #EcosystemSelf #CommunityHealing #BeingBecoming

Disclaimer:

***The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.***

Credits: Written, produced and hosted by: Mary Schaub. Theme song written by: Mary Schaub. Mixing Engineer: Dylan Yauch

Contact: Tell us how your transformation is going. Email us at Shobukai_Shift@mschaubadvisory.com or leave us a voicemail at ‪(631) 371-3240‬ and we may play it on a future episode.

Website: M. Schaub Advisory (MSA)

** Shobukai Shift is a MSA Production **

Chapters

• 0:00 The Healing Power of Nature
• 1:16 Ava (Oakland) The Forest Held My Grief
• 2:22 Marion (Toronto) Fire Escape Basil & Mint
• 3:39 Nature as Teacher of Change and Belonging
• 4:36 Jasmine (St. Louis) & the Community Garden
• 5:37 Leo (Portland) & Walking with His Son
• 6:46 Embracing Our Connection to Nature
• 7:34 Update on Chubby Sauron (the Groundhog)

Transcript

Mary Schaub (00:39)

Greetings, Shobakai. Today is a follow-up to last week's episode, The Well-Gardened Self, where we explored the power of nature to support personal, organizational, and societal transformation. At the end of the episode, I invited you to share your stories about how nature has helped you. And boy, did you show up. First of all, thank you to everyone who responded. I'm so, so appreciative.

I've received stories from people navigating grief, burnout, and chronic illness. And in all of them, nature played a quiet but powerful role. Okay, first up.

Ava in Oakland, California. She writes, after losing my mom last fall, I started walking in the forest every morning. I don't know why. At first, it just helped me breathe. But over time, I started noticing tiny things, like how the trees changed or looked different at different times of day. It felt like the forest held my grief in a way people couldn't. Wow, Ava, thank you for your honesty.

I mean, that line, the forest held my grief in a way that people couldn't, is just so powerful. know, nature doesn't ask us to be okay. It simply holds space. And that kind of silent companionship can be deeply healing. It's also interesting how you mentioned how other people couldn't hold your grief the way you needed them to. One of the things I've come to realize over time is a lot of what we're seeking externally

can be found in ourselves. I think the forest held your grief for you until you were able to hold it by yourself.

Next up, Marion from Toronto. writes, I started growing herbs on my fire escape in 2022, just basil and mint. Watching them sprout from nothing, especially when I was unemployed and felt like I was starting over, gave me a weird sense of dignity. Wow, thank you, Marion. know, nature doesn't care about your resume. It cares about rhythm, effort, and patience. Growth, even in a tiny pot, can be very affirming.

I love a good mint plant too. You gotta keep them in a pot, otherwise they'll just spread all over the place. But anyway, what you're doing with the mint and the basil, it's what we as humans have been doing for what, 350,000 generations. Harvesting and hunting used to be our primary jobs. We've evolved into a much more complex state, all self-created. And now we end up valuing ourselves by

our job, our title, or how many followers or likes we get. It feels appealing to imagine a time when growing basil and mint was enough. And you know what? It is. mean, right now, Marion, it's enough. You're enough. Thank you for your note. Across so many of your messages, I noticed four recurring themes. The first is nature creates ritual, whether it's a walk or watering plants or...

just watching the sky shift, routine contact with nature grounds us. Second, nature reflects change, seasons, weather, decay. They all normalize the idea that change isn't failure, it's natural. And third, nature reminds us we belong. When we engage with other living things, we remember we're not alone. And finally,

Nature activates care. Several of you shared how caring for something, plants, birds, whatever, reawakened your desire to care for yourselves. Let's go deeper with a few more stories. Next, Jasmine in St. Louis writes, I live in a dense part of the city and the only place I see green is a community garden I joined last year. At first, I just wanted fresh tomatoes.

Unfortunately, last year I messed up somehow and nothing grew. But I ended up meeting an older man, a widow, who told me what I was doing wrong. He's been teaching me how to prune. He's also introduced me to some of the other long timers, including a woman who brings tea to share. It's become a really special part of my life. Jasmine, that's beautiful. That's community. That's transformation. It's subtle, but it matters.

Nature gives us more than vegetables. It gives us each other.

By the way, I need to learn how to prune too. I think there's some really good YouTube videos out there on that. That's where I went wrong with my tomatoes the first couple of seasons too. Good luck with that garden. Next up, Leo from Portland. Leo writes, my teenage son and I were in a rough place. We started doing weekend hikes, mostly because my wife insisted we try something. I didn't expect much, but those silent tracks turned into conversations.

I'm not saying we're best friends, but the animosity is somehow gone. I love this. Nature seems to lower our defenses sometimes, kind of softens the edges. You sometimes it's not about saying the right thing. It's just about being together, you know, walking side by side long enough for the love to surface again. By the way, I'm a huge animal lover, as you probably could tell if you've heard my podcast before.

And I do count animals in that nature bucket. And I think there's a reason why we love our pets so much and why many of them can be trained as companions and emotional support therapy animals. Maybe pine trees and bees can't cuddle next to us when we feel down, but I believe their power provides emotional support in another way.

You know, in preparing for this episode, I kept returning to this thought. We are not separate from nature. We are part of it. But so often, and maybe most of the time, we live like we're above it or beyond it. You are not a machine. You are an ecosystem. And ecosystems thrive when nurtured. This is why nature is such a powerful teacher in transformation work.

not because it changes us from the outside, but because it reminds us who we really are and helps us to make the most important shifts inside. Whether it's a basil plant or a quiet walk in the woods, nature is always inviting us to return. Okay, update on my baby groundhog, Chubby Sauron. So unfortunately, he is trying to burrow under the foundation of my house.

So I am now working with a humane trapper to relocate him to a nature reserve. We can both coexist, but maybe not on the same property. Okay, everyone, thanks so much for being here. I really do appreciate it. And if today's episode moved you, please share it with someone who needs it. And if you didn't get to send your story in, there's still time. DM me on Instagram, email me, or leave me a voice message.

I'd love to read more of your reflections in a future show. Contact details are in the show notes. Until next time, remember you are the change you in the world are waiting for.