Mother Nature can be the best therapist of all. When Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, CBT, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis, Dyadic Behavioural Therapy, Transference Based Therapy or just long-term, garden-variety general supportive therapy finishes; whatever your choice of healing is – there needs to be something to take its place when it’s over. And what better way to stay in touch with your newly created, mindful and restful self than getting down to the beach. All that sand, sea and sky is most helpful and healing and above all – is free and available to everyone, not just ex-therapy clients. After 23 years of living five minutes from the coast of Western Australia, who arguably has the best beaches in the world, I’ve finally discovered the joys of getting up at 6am and taking whichever teenager (or husband) is out of bed and our dog down to Dog Beach for a walk and a swim.

Or sometimes I go without our canine buddy to a non-dog beach. This morning I sat on the creamy white sand of Mullaloo Beach with my fourteen year old son and meditated with the early morning sun on my back after doing a few laps up and down the beach. This has been my most recent pattern of adaptive behaviour. I feel connected to everything and everyone when I float in the still, endless, emerald green waters. There is nothing I cannot solve when I have Mother Nature on my side and the blue sky above me.

I’ve not always been a beach bunny; I’ve been more of a winter warthog, burrowing under the blankets, rolling and reveling in the rain, protected from the sleet, wind and occasional arctic conditions by my fire. This summer, for me, there appears to be far more of a contrast between the weather in the Northern hemisphere and the weather in the Southern where I live. My Facebook friends are envious of my beach explorations, in the same way I am envious of their snow-related activities. I was five when I threw my first and last snowball back in England, but it was only the other day I threw a playful ball of sand at my teenage son.

Dog Beach is next door to Horse Beach and that time of morning the beach is filled with people, dogs and horses. Last week I made the mistake of sitting down to take some photos and more than one dog thought I was a lamp-post. We’ve gone swimming many times before the sun rises over the dunes, braving the seaweed, the jellyfish and the sharks (only kidding!). Tipsy, our little Maltese/Lhasa Apso cross is so small the tiny waves break over her and unless we lift her up she just stands at the water’s edge barking.

There is a sense of communal spirit down on the sand walking along with the dogs careening all over the place chasing tennis balls with the waves lapping at our feet. It’s a gentle, spiritual way to wake up properly, feeling the sun on our shoulders and the warmth in our hearts as we say good morning to all and sundry and connect with the sea, the sand and the sky. It’s easy to walk and meditate along the coastline filling ourselves up with sunshine and happiness. It feels magical.

Dog Beach has become a very special place for me. It fills me up and gives me a certain type of strength to get through the rest of the day. We come home, bath the dog, make a coffee and sit in our garden which we have just spent ages tidying up and planting lots of flowering plants and roses. I spend a lot of time in our garden reading and listening to Classic FM and meditating on the purple and white agapanthus which are blooming splendidly at the moment. I work permanent afternoon shifts so this early morning business has become part of my ritual.

I feel as though I’ve entered a new phase in my life, one of peace, love, contentment and understanding.

Either that, or I’m just getting old.

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    Last reviewed: 22 Jan 2010