After I was diagnosed with cancer in 1993, I started a macrobiotic diet and changed my lifestyle. I could feel that I was getting better, yet I was not happy inside. I was told I should not swim anymore at the health club, because of the chlorine. But I had to move my body and find balance with my body and mind. So, I went to the beach. Feeling the breath of the wind and smelling the ocean helped me so much, I knew I had to find balance with nature for my soul.
I started bicycling and hiking and discovered how beautiful it is here at Santa Monica Beach and in the Santa Monica Mountains.
After my car crash, when I was bedridden for a year and wheelchair-bound for three, it was the hardest time for me to be centered. I struggled so much and wanted to die many times. But I found myself captivated by my view of the sky and the changing leaves through the window. Nature was teaching me that everything changes. The sky was not always blue; some days it was pale white or very dark grey. The plum tree grew leaves in the spring and produced plums in the summer; the leaves changed to yellow in the autumn and dropped off in winter. I got it: I can change if I really want to, because I am a part of nature.
I hope you find your nature within to help heal yourself.
Love, Sanae