Therapy Through Nature

Before there was western medicine and conventional therapy, there was Nature.

Nature is the foundation of our very existence and it is from Nature that we come, and we return. We are in constant cycle and relationship with Nature. She is us, and we are her. How beautiful it is when we can deeply understand this relationship more viscerally in our own personal practices and lifestyle. The more consciousness and attention we bring to the Nature that is all around us, the more abundance and healing we begin to see and receive within.

I don't know about all of you, but for me, the past few months have been a huge upheaval of great change in my personal life.

There is so much happening on our planet right now that is difficult to ignore, and personally, it feels as though my life is a mirrored reality of this. I am currently in a time of great change in my life - I am in the process of a difficult divorce. I am uprooting one version of my life and replanting somewhere completely new. This process is essential for my growth and expansion, but it is also very disorienting. Life feels very upside down at the moment, and I know I'm not alone.

I've spoken with many friends, clients, and family members, and I am discovering a consistent theme -- life feels very intense, confusing, and overwhelming for many of us right now. There is great change happening on our planet.

Many of us feel it deep in our bones and our personal lives are reflecting this in a myriad of ways. People are divorcing, some are breaking ancestral cycles of abuse or addiction, others are quite literally moving across the country and starting an entirely new chapter of life. And for others, they are stepping into new roles of their soul's calling -- also entirely new terrain to navigate.

When our realities begin to dynamically shift and transform, the process is absolutely disorienting. And it should be!

I think for many of us who have grown up in a western society, we have been led to believe that we need to avoid, deflect, ignore the feelings of discomfort that come from disorientation, change, challenge. This happens in the most obvious and subtle of ways.

For some of us, we escape the discomfort through food, alcohol, streaming shows, endless scrolling... We feel a pressure to maintain status quo, to feel 'good' at all times. For others, we completely shut down, pull the covers over our heads and wish we could just hide from this whole experience altogether. These are just a few examples of how we avoid discomfort in the most obvious of ways.

It is the subtle aversions that are even trickier to notice and work with.

We find this in our posture, our muscle tension, and many other physical symptoms. When was the last time we checked to see if we are clenching our jaw or skull? Or when did we last scan our body to see if we are tightening our back muscles?

On the emotional level, we may feel numb, blocked, apathetic to what is happening in the world or even in our own lives. When was the last time we had a good laugh, or a good cry? We may question if we even know how to feel. Or we may wonder what is the point of any of this and feel so overwhelmed we find it easier to turn off these questions rather than sit with them and dig deep. We have avoided discomfort of change so much in our society, that many of us are floundering and we don't know how to help ourselves.

But Nature knows.

Nature has always known how to help us.

When we return to the simplicity of Nature herself, we begin to find answers.

So let us explore a few ways we can immerse in nature, connecting with the elements, even in our own backyards or public green spaces. And even if we cannot get out in nature due to limited health or poor weather, Nature is still here with us in our homes too. Nature is in the Air we breathe, the Waters that move through our bodies, the Fire of a candle, the Earth beneath our houses that holds us up. Nature is all around.

Connecting with Wind:

• The moment you wake, connect with your breath. Breathe in the life giving energy that is all around you, and exhale anything old and stale you wish to release. On challenging days, you can imagine exhaling the frustrations you feel, or your inner resistance or judgements. Do this with not set expectation or forced number of breaths. Just gently connect with the air that moves into and out of your body.

• Listen to the Air that speaks through the trees. Whether you find yourself in a forest, or simply on a city street with trees nearby. Listen to the Air that moves through the branches, the leaves. Not just with your ears, but with your whole body. How does your body feel receiving this communication? Just like Air moves through our vocal cords to make sound and words, so too does the Air move through the trees to speak.

Connecting with Fire:

• Sunbathing. This might sound taboo in our ultra conservative society, but spending time in the full sun without sunglasses or sunblock is actually good for us. Our sun is the most vital and ancient life giving fire for our planet. So many of us are substituting the natural wild sunlight with artificial light of our phones and computers -- and this is devasting to our health and well being. Of course you need to moderate how much time you spend in the full sun so as not to burn your skin or cause skin cancer, but please, go out in the sun and just bathe in it for even 5 minutes. Our bodies need these solar rays to absorb so many nutrients and minerals and help regulate our nervous system with vital hormone production.

  
  

• Light a candle with intention for a few moments every day. Before even lighting the candle, take a moment to reflect on the journey of how you are making the fire. Is it from a match stick? Imagine the wood of the tree, its origins, the chemicals that coat the top of the stick to allow it to ignite. Where did those elements come from? When we take the time to notice we will remember that all of these elements come from Mother Nature herself. Allow yourself to expand a sense of gratitude for all these little pieces of the universe that came together just to make the fire. Then after lighting your candle, you can follow my video here to create your own fire ceremony at home.

  
  

Connecting with Water

• Create a ritual or practice of drinking water consciously at least once a day. Hold a glass of water in your hands and begin to feel the exchange of energy from your palms to the water. Look directly into the water and begin to actually see it as a conscious being. Water moves through all of life on our planet. It is from the waters of the amniotic sac that we are born and it is water that moves through our body sustaining our life. Waters cycle through our planet in powerful ways from the vast and expansive ocean, to the lightness of mist in evaporation, to the downpour and fury of a storm, to the strength and rush of a river, all the way into the pipes that lead to our home, that lead to our cup. Go on a journey with your water and when you feel like you can finally "see" it -- thank the water for cleansing you, for hydrating you, for washing away the hardships and toxins of life and for replenishing you. And then drink this beautiful life giving gift of nature.

• Make time to sit by wild water. Go to a river, the ocean, a lake, and sit by the waters. The sounds alone have cymatic healing properties that provide almost immediate relief to our nervous system. And energetically and spiritually speaking, there is immense healing from simply standing in wild water, allowing nature to wash away the hardships, the heaviness, the sadness.

Connecting with Earth

• While this may be the most obvious of practices, it is often underrated -- standing barefoot on the Earth. This is an extremely powerful and potent way to release toxic energy, ground, and recharge your energetic body. And if you feel like taking it a step further, sitting directly on the Earth, or laying directly on the Earth is even better. The world we live in today has created such separation between Nature and ourselves. We feel strange to sit or lay on the Earth without a blanket or barrier. Something about it feels foreign and wrong. How very important then for us to begin cultivating this relationship with the Earth so that we can arrive at a place where we feel okay and safe to allow our bodies to directly touch the Earth.

• Connecting with your body. We often forget that we are made of the Earth too. In effort to bridge the divide we feel from nature and our bodies, spend time in a daily or weekly practice of simply connecting with the sacred Earth that is your body. Massage your feet, your hands, or perhaps even your whole body. Lovingly, tenderly, touch your skin, your hair, your face. Explore your body with sacred touch without any judgements of disappointment or what it "should" look or feel like.

These are just a few of the most simple and yet profound practices we can begin incorporating into our lives to deepen our relationship with the Nature that is all around, and all within. If you are curious about exploring nature therapy even further, you may be interested in Forest Therapy or Forest Bathing. This is an offering I hope to offer in the future and will keep you all posted when this become available. For now, you may be interested to look up other methods of forest bathing you can incorporate into your life, or even seek out a trained forest therapy guide in your area.

As we continue to find ourselves in a time of significant change in our lives and on our planet, let us not get lost in the chaos, but let us find ourselves back home in Nature.

Sending you all so much love and light,

Emily