In a previous article, I explored the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement developed by Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut. The model suggests that adapting to loss involves moving between two different forms of coping: loss orientation and restoration orientation.
Loss orientation involves engaging with the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural aspects of the loss itself. It may include remembering the person who died, reflecting on what has changed, experiencing grief-related emotions, and spending time focused on the reality and significance of the loss. While grief can emerge unexpectedly, there may also be value in intentionally creating space for loss-oriented coping, and for some people, nature can provide a supportive environment in which to do this.
Why Nature?
Natural environments often encourage us to slow down. Away from everyday responsibilities, notifications, and distractions, there may be a greater opportunity to notice thoughts, feelings, memories, and bodily sensations that are often pushed aside during busy daily life.
Nature does not take grief away. However, many people find that time outdoors creates opportunities to remember, reflect, and notice what is happening within them, while others find it easier to think, talk, or simply sit with their experience while walking than they do when sitting indoors. The changing seasons, movement of water, shifting light, sounds of birds, and rhythm of walking can also provide a gentle backdrop for reflection without demanding that anything be achieved or resolved.
Creating Space for Loss Orientation in Nature
There is no right way to engage with grief in nature, and different approaches will suit different people at different times depending on their circumstances, preferences, and relationship with the loss.
Taking a Grief Walk
Walking without a specific destination or goal can create space to notice thoughts, memories, emotions, and bodily sensations as they arise. The aim is not to reach a destination or achieve anything in particular. Instead, the walk becomes an opportunity to notice whatever is present in that moment, whether that involves sadness, longing, gratitude, anger, relief, or memories that emerge unexpectedly.
Sitting Quietly in Nature
Some people may prefer to carry a sit mat, find a comfortable place, and simply sit. Listening to the sounds of nature, noticing the movement of the wind through trees, observing clouds, water, birds, or changing light can offer an opportunity to slow down and connect with grief in a way that may feel less structured than sitting indoors.
Taking Photographs
Photography can encourage us to pay attention in a different way. Rather than photographing for artistic perfection, the intention may simply be to notice what captures our attention in that moment and to become curious about why.
Sometimes people are surprised by what draws their attention. A photograph of a path, a tree, a flower, a fallen branch, or a changing season may come to hold meaning that only becomes clear later. The image may evoke a memory, symbolise an aspect of the loss, or simply capture something that feels important at the time.
Writing a Letter
Nature can provide a setting for writing a letter to the person who died. Some people choose to express thoughts left unsaid, share updates about their lives, reflect on memories, or simply acknowledge the ongoing relationship they continue to carry.
Keeping a Remembering Journal
A journal can be used to record memories, observations, reflections, photographs, thoughts, or feelings that arise during time spent outdoors. Over time, these entries may become a record of both grief and adaptation, capturing not only what has been lost but also how the relationship with the loss continues to evolve.
Loss Orientation Is Not the Whole Story
The Dual Process Model reminds us that healthy adaptation to loss involves more than engaging with grief. Alongside loss orientation sits restoration orientation, which involves adapting to the practical, social, and personal changes that accompany loss.
Both forms of coping have an important role to play. Rather than remaining focused on grief all of the time, people naturally move between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented coping, a process that Stroebe and Schut referred to as oscillation. Nature-based activities may provide a way to intentionally create space for loss orientation within this broader process.
Final Thoughts
Grief is not something that needs to be fixed, solved, or completed. Sometimes it simply needs space for memories, emotions, thoughts, and reflections to emerge in their own time.
For some people, a walk through the bush, time beside a river, sitting quietly beneath a tree, taking photographs, writing, or journaling can provide an opportunity to remember, reflect, and acknowledge the significance of what has been lost. These moments do not remove grief, nor are they intended to. Rather, they can offer a way to gently turn towards loss and create space for the memories, emotions, and reflections that are part of adapting to life after loss.
Reference
Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (1999). The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement: Rationale and Description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224.
Related Reading
Why Grief Is Not a Straight Line: The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement
