After looking at the photo on the right, tell me, where do you think it was taken?
Those magnificent trees outside the windows would certainly indicate a rural area.
Perhaps it's a cafe in the New Forest . . . ?
Or, as I'm about to reveal, perhaps not.
Will you believe me when I tell you that I took that photo way below ground level in the heart of London?
In fact, this is the Reception area for the Radiotherapy Department of the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea.
Deep down in the basement of the building, it's an area I visited this week.
The windows you can see are false, the view is an illusion.
What's more, it's a carefully created illusion aimed at offering a sense of peace and tranquillity to those waiting for appointments.
True, they could have hung pictures on the walls to raise the atmosphere. But how much more imaginative to install false windows, create a fake view, and enlist the support of nature to lift the anxieties of those waiting?Like everything else at the Royal Marsden, it's designed solely for the welfare of the patients.
You may remember that, in our last exchange of letters, we looked at the therapeutic benefits bestowed by animals. As the Royal Marsden clearly recognises, the natural world is equally capable of offering therapeutic benefits.
The wound from my mastectomy having healed, I was there to make plans for a course of radio-therapy. And, shortly after taking that photo, a helpful nurse escorted me to a clinic for a CT scan.
Here I was received another surprise . . . who would have thought that I'd have experienced the scan under the spreading branches of a flowering cherry tree!Look at this photo and you'll see what I mean.
There I was, lying on my back and gazing up at a beautiful, tranquil view . . . a vista guaranteed to soothe and heal the most anxious of patients.
Since first going to the Royal Marsden last August, I've had nothing but admiration for all I've experienced . . . this includes the wonderfully compassionate staff, and the hospital's cutting-edge scientific knowledge.
But to discover its recognition of the healing power of the natural world . . . that was something else.
How can I possibly anticipate radio-therapy with apprehension when I know that, each time I go, I'll be relaxing under a blue sky enhanced with spring blossom?
And, for those of you who are fortunate enough to have no hospital visits on your New Year agenda, but may well have other reasons to feel anxious or stressed, why not click here and absorb the therapeutic benefits of this video . . . enjoy!
