Have you experienced the healing power of Nature?
27 years ago, recovering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, I was on a healing journey of discovering medicine of mind, body, spirit …and nature.
One of my great allies in healing was my connection with nature. Even when I felt so awful I could barely move, a powerful remedy was to go outside. Simply sitting in my backyard oasis and breathing in the healing energy of the trees, animals, sky and soil, I felt soothed, healed, nourished and rejuvenated.
Connection with nature was free, simple, pleasurable, powerful medicine.
A few years later, facilitating patient groups for people with chronic pain and illness I often asked them where and when they felt best. Almost all of them reported that in favorite places in nature- the beach, the forest, the desert or gardens they felt more peaceful, relaxed and energized and experienced fewer symptoms and less pain.
Most people feel this and yet we often downplay or discount the immense healing medicine available to us in nature.
You are nature. You body, your brain, your heart and your soul are deeply tuned to the rhythms and vibrations of nature.
For most of our time on earth, we humans lived in close connection with the natural world. Yet in the modern world we are mostly separated from it.
Disconnection with nature is a disconnection with your cellular and your soulular needs.
Richard Louv coined the perfect term for this disconnection: Nature Deficit Disorder. Separation from the natural world has been proven to cause or worsen many physical, mental and emotional problems. Time in nature offers numerous healing and curative benefits. (*Note re Louv’s books below)
Simple Ways to Reclaim Your Nature Medicine
• Remember connection with nature is medicine. Nature is not just “nice” or an indulgence; the air, the light, the energy of the natural world is potent medicine your body, mind and soul need.
• Be outside as much as possible
• Do whatever you love outdoors: garden, hike, meander, nap, run, laugh and catch up with friends, play catch or checkers, dine, meditate. Honor your time outdoors as medicine; soak it up deeply.
• Bathe your eyes and skin in natural light. Your eyes and skin are photo-receptive and need natural light daily for optimal health and well-being.
• “Earth” yourself by connecting your skin- bare feet on grass, hands on tree, skin in natural waters of ocean, stream or lake- to the earth’s electromagnetic field.
“ Earthing restores and maintains the human body's most natural electrical state, which in turn promotes optimal health and functionality in daily life.The primordial natural energy emanating from the earth is the ultimate anti- inflammatory and the ultimate anti- aging medicine.” James Oschman, author of Energy Medicine, the Scientific Basis in the introduction to Earthing: the most important health discovery ever? by Clinton Ober, Stephen Sinatra and Martin Zucker)
I’d love to hear from you:
What do you love doing in Nature?
Have you ever felt healed or transformed by the healing power of Nature?
How do you want to bring more Nature Medicine into your life?
(*Richard Louv’s wonderful books include: Vitamin N, Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Principle)