Burglars prey on sick war hero, 100
How often do you think about what’s under your feet? If the answer is never, you’re not alone. However, the latest wellbeing trend says connecting with the earth can help boost mood and health – and it doesn’t cost a penny
RUTHLESS burglars ransacked the home of a 100-year-old war veteran, stealing his safe holding £4,000 while he recovered in hospital from a skin cancer operation.
Former RAF pilot Len Parry, who escaped after being taken prisoner in Singapore during the Second World War, went to Bradford Royal Infirmary on February 4, to have a melanoma removed from his head.
But he had to stay overnight following a fall – which is when police believe the thieves struck.
It wasn’t until after Len returned home and went to get some money on February 12 that he realised it had been stolen.
Shock
There was no damage to any doors or windows and no sign of a break-in to arouse suspicion.
He said: “It was a bit of a shock when I discovered the safe and money had been taken. It upsets me to think someone could do something like this. I was in hospital at the time.”
Len was going to use the cash to pay for a new roof at the home he has lived in for 50 years. The thieves also took his cheque book, driving licence and passport from the safe.
His family said the burglary hit him hard and made him question whether he should live in a nursing home, despite still driving and doing his own shopping. But widower Len insists he has to show “fighting spirit”.
He added: “I’ve got to get over this. It has been a bit of a shock at my age but you have to get on with things.”
Len was born in Burnley, Lancs, and left school at 14 to work as an apprentice gas fitter.
He joined the RAF in 1940 where he trained as ground crew, initially to specialise on the Short Singapore Mk 1 – a flying boat.
He was posted to the 58S Squadron and later sent to Seletar in Singapore where he was captured while serving with the 205 Maritime Squadron.
But two days later on February 15, 1942, Len and his fellow prisoners managed a daring escape after his Japanese captors got “very drunk” celebrating Singapore’s surrender.
After killing two guards with selfmade garrottes they fled the island using two Chinese sailing junks.
He met wife Muriel in 1948, they moved to Skipton, North Yorks, and had three children, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Aconnection with nature is vital for wellbeing, says Ruth Allen, a counsellor and psychotherapist, who specialises in outdoor practice.
“Not everyone can access therapy, but we can all benefit from the natural world.
“Wellbeing is experienced from the inside out and nature can provide us with a means of connecting with our inner landscape, re-energising us when so much has become rational, formulated and sterilised,” she says.
“You don’t have to be wealthy, athletic or outdoorsy when it comes to being grounded – you can start exactly where we are.”
Here, Ruth explains how you can use the great outdoors to boost your mental and physical health.
WHAT IS GROUNDING?
A grounding activity is one that invites you to notice what is happening around you and inside you, and that brings you into contact with the present through your senses and your breath.
To be grounded also means being in contact with the ground, and connecting in the present moment to what is beneath your feet.
GET GROUNDED
You can do this simple activity barefoot on compacted ground or grass if it is warm enough outside. You may prefer sand, mud or even shallow water. Try experimenting and see what you like best. You can keep your shoes on or sit down too – all methods are effective.
1 Stand with feet hip-width apart. Close your eyes if this feels appropriate and safe, and allow your breath to become deeper and slower.
2 Turn your attention inwards away from the noise around you and notice any sensations within.
3 Spread your toes and notice the sensations in your feet and lower legs.
4 Now spend some time inviting a feeling of solidity and strength into your body and sending that energy downwards as you breathe in and out. Pull the in-breath up through your feet to the top of your head, and then send it back down again.
5 Imagine the weight of the earth coming up to meet your feet.
6 Visualise yourself as a tree grounded in the earth.
GROUNDED BREATHING
It is vital to engage your body in the pursuit of wellbeing, not just for physical health but because your body regulates your emotions.
It is through your body that you sense the world. If you want to become grounded, you have to involve your body. Thinking only gets you so far.
Try this exercise to connect with your breath. You will notice the soothing vibrations in your nose, face and elsewhere in your body.
1 Sit comfortably with a straight back and a relaxed face.
2 Place your index fingers on the cartilage that is on the edge of your ear, between your ears and cheeks.
3 Take a deep breath and as you exhale press the cartilage and make a humming sound like a bee. Repeat for a few minutes.
4 Sit quietly and notice any changes in your mood.
WALK IT OFF
As humans, we like to make things complicated and we can be sceptical about simple things having any benefit. However, walking is one of the easiest ways you can move that will give your physical and mental health an immediate boost.
The holistic benefits of walking, even for 15 minutes a day, have been well documented in recent years.
Walking outside in good daylight boosts levels of vitamin D in the body, which has a natural antidepressant effect. Walking also lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body and calms the parts of the brain associated with sadness and over-thinking.
Walking also helps you feel grounded and provides a means of gaining inner stillness as its rhythmic movements have meditative benefits.
GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY
One of the easiest and most accessible ways in which to explore the earth in a more sensory way is to put your hands into it. Not only will the texture feel soothing but microbes found in soil are thought to have an antidepressant effect.
SEEK STILLNESS
Nature can provide us with opportunities for grounding that differ from those given by movement. Being still invites us to turn our attention to what is on the inside too.
Observing the peacefulness of nature encourages us to replicate this quality in ourselves. It tells us something about simplicity, harmony and the balance of noise and sound.
It is hard to be peaceful when we feel agitated or stressed. By tapping into nature’s inherent peacefulness, we can become quiet and still enough to truly find where our own contentment lies.
Try this simple exercise to connect with nature.
1 Find somewhere quiet to sit. Gently focus your eyes on a chosen feature near to you, such as a tree, rock or hillside.
2 Now float your eyes across the landscape, gently moving from place to place and not settling to focus on anything in particular.
3 As you do this, allow your mind to drift into a state of reflection and introspection.
GO IT ALONE
If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy your own company, practising solitude can help you find value in being alone, making it restful, creative, stabilising and reparative.
Take a walk alone and take your time, stopping whenever you please.
Look more closely at what’s around you, pick things up and smell things. Listen to nature in a way you couldn’t if you were talking to someone else.
Spend a few hours outside making a photo catalogue of something you are attracted to, or do some drawing or painting of natural things.
● Extracted by Debbi Marco from Grounded by Ruth Allen (£16.99, Welwwbeck publishing), which is out on March 4
● Follow Ruth on twitter @whitepeakwell
Walking is one of the simplest ways to give you a physical and mental boost