A little while back I had an uncharacteristically difficult morning getting my kids to school. It was all going well at first but kids arn't on the same agenda as adults and on this particular morning, our conflicting desires clashed terribly. I exploded in anger at them. I was exceptionally angry.

Once they were at school and I was home again, I stopped off at the front garden and stood very still and just stared, I stared at each little plant, examined each one for buds that might be budding, I watered, I sat on the rock, I stared and thought about nothing much. After quite a bit of time, I walked through the house, made a coffee, went into my back garden and just stared at all the plants back there. I sat on the rock in the back garden. I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Why am I just sitting here and staring at plants when there are a million other things to do? All up I think I spent almost 2 hours staring at my garden that morning.

Much later that day, after the children had been home from school a while I was standing in the park while the kids played and our puppy ran. I told a fellow dog walker about my morning staring at the garden. Is that normal? I asked her. Absolutely she said, with wisdom and kindness befitting of her grandmotherly age, 'you can almost see the flowers budding, it's perfect for nervous system regulation'.

Yes exactly, the stillness and the presence of nature was soothing my nervous system, healing from my angry outburst, reminding me of calm and now. Stare at your garden.

Libby is a naturopath, herbalist and Shiatsu massage therapist based in South Fremantle.