Sarah Spencer Says Think Like A Tree

Episode 12

Sarah Spencer lives in the National Forest in Derbyshire in the centre of the UK with her family, and loves growing vegetables, fruit and flowers. She manages a woodland that she designed and planted using permaculture design.

Sarah holds qualifications in permaculture and forest school.
Sarah is the author of Think Like A Tree: The Natural Principles Guide to Life. 

Would you please tell us why you wrote this book?

It came out of my work with permaculture, which looks at the principles that nature has for designing gardens and landscapes. When I got my chronic illness diagnosis I used those same principles for my own life. I was able to bring my way back to be able to function at a reasonable level. So when I did that people started asking me “What did you do? What is your secret?” That is when  I wrote the book  and started  the  courses. Basically my message is that nature’s principles are not only good  for us as individuals but good for the living world. That is kind of the root of the living world today – that we have become so disconnected from nature. 

May I ask you about  your chronic illness? 

Yes I was probably undiagnosed for about 30 years. It is called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. It is when part of your immune system is faulty. So instead of reacting to normal threats, my immune system reacts to almost everything. So I am basically allergic to everything: foods, smells, chemicals, things on my skin..all sorts of things. It is quite challenging to live with. I had a year 2015-2016 when I was basically in bed for a year with it. It has other systems associated with it: heart, skin, migraines … and everybody who has it is different. But what I realized was that when I was outside, I was an awful lot healthier.

I think you mention it in your book, Take Back Your Outside Mindset, when you are inside, you can feel particularly bad. And when you go outside you always feel better – so that is what I have tried to do. I also have thyroid condition  and  was tested for Lupus because there were so many overlapping symptoms with Lupus.

Fatigue is such a prominent feature of all these autoimmune diseases. I think that is one barrier that you have to get over.

In your book Think like a Tree you look at the underlying principles of nature’s secrets of success one by one, and show us how we can apply them to our own lives, in this practical personal development guide. Would you please tell us more about that Sarah? 

Yes, it takes as its starting point that Nature has been getting it right for 3.8 billion years. Nature has done a lot of research on what works and what doesn’t. Things that don’t work are extinct and those that do work are still alive.

For the complete interview transcript please see my website

For peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to my website https://treesmendus.com and check out my books Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space