Nature as Healer

By Catriona MacGregor

"When you walk across the fields with your mind pure and holy, then from all the stones, and all the growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you, and then they purified and become a holy fire in you." —Ancient Hasidic Prayer

Think of the exhilaration you experience watching the powerful and rhythmic flow of the sea. Recall the freedom you sense as a bird soars in flight. Remember the comfort and joy you feel when the first colorful flowers appear in your garden, after a long, hard winter. Simple pleasures, perhaps, and short lived? Not so. Nature can be a force for the good in our lives; and these simple pleasures can be expanded to transform your life into one of meaning and beauty. This truth is recognized by mystics, naturalists and healers from around the world and across the centuries.

Today, the vision of Earth from space, the beautiful blue and green orb beneath the swirls of clouds, is commonly seen around the world; yet, in this age of scientific triumph, our connection with the Earth has dimmed alarmingly. We are cut off from nature and our environment, strangers in our own home and estranged from kindred spirits and help mates, the animals and plants that surround us.

In the Western world we are addicted to things and doing versus simply being. We miss the most important things about life and ourselves. By tapping into the flow of nature or what the ancient Celts referred to as "Awen" we can lead happier more fulfilled and healthier lives.

Walking in nature, playing in nature and even simply viewing nature improve human health and well-being. For example, exposure to natural scenes reduces stress (Ulrich, et. al., 1991) and is likely to have long-term physiological health benefits (Parsons, 1991); views of nature from workplace windows buffer the negative effect of job stress; (Leather, et. al., 1998); views of natural scenes from hospital windows aided patients' recovery from surgery (Ulrich, 1994); and wilderness therapy can reduce behavioral and emotional symptoms in adolescents (Russell, 2003).

Thus when people live more fully integrated with nature, they suffer less stress and ill health, their culture is richer, their society is well balanced, and their appreciation and caretaking of the earth is stronger.

"Nature can and does provide a sense of harmony and peace."
—Dora van Gelder Kunz

Nature is a catalyst for transformative shifts in energy, understanding and spiritual access and healing. For example, everything and everyone participates in a universal field of energy that contains knowledge and emotion based awareness. The energies of the whole field constantly impact us, as do the emotional energies of others.

Nature can "balance" your emotional energetic field. Emotions are a way of knowing and being that we have long forgotten how to properly use in our society. Emotions are meant to flow and provide valuable information. It is only when they do not flow, are "congested" within us, and ignored that we develop stress, anxieties, unhealthy emotions and ill health.

The energy in the Earth and nature contains more than "fuel" for life and vitality, it contains "emotion-based awareness." Nature, in its pure unpolluted state, is totally without emotional conflict and the energetic and spiritual elements that sustain life are always present there. Being in touch with the land, mountains, sea and forest can enhance our ability to meet our personal storms, even meeting the hostility and violence of others with strength and steadiness. We can then, from this place of poise, calm and contentment, influence the energies of the world around us for the better.

Nature can be rejuvenating in a variety of key ways, there are places in nature and specific animals and trees that can enhance a positive energy flow. For example, where there is greater and lesser movement of energy or "chi" on the earth can be invigorating. Channels of Chi on the land can be narrow or broad depending upon landscape features. In the land, obvious influences such as underground water, ocean water, air quality, mountains and other features of the land can create a place where the energy is particularly renewing for people. Just being in these places can be like re-charging your battery, leaving fatigue behind and providing greater mental clarity and physical vigor. This is why often a simple walk in the woods can feel so energizing.

There are also places in the land where we can more readily access "healing" energy while other places are not as beneficial. It goes without saying that polluted, and damaged environments – in general tend not to have beneficial healing energy for people and in some cases can be harmful to human health.

There are places in the land where energy emanates that provides a powerful and positive influence on people and living things. Sometimes these places are "marked" in some way, for example, by animal tracks and other signs and sometimes these places appear to be "invisible" to the naked eye.

Nature can simply bring more joy and creativity into your life. On a daily basis our bodies contract and expand and move energy and emotions around the body and between the body and outside the body. Like witnessing a flower opening and closing in fast motion, our bodies have a vibrant aliveness and movement when we are healthy.

Our bodies interact with our environment and the energy around us. Our chakras resonate with the colors of the rainbow and reflect and absorb the color frequencies found around us in nature. Our joy in seeing a rainbow is felt throughout our being as each chakra and each cell receives the beneficial color frequencies from deep purples, to vivid blues and reds to the greens, yellow and oranges. No wonder rainbows are revered around the world.

People have gone into nature for thousands of years to gain greater clarity, knowledge and vision through vision quests, walkabouts, and pilgrimages. The famous Native American vision quest was one of the primary ways that indigenous peoples learned about their path in life and their reason for being.

Nature provides us with one of the best environments for "peak performance" so to speak in this arena.

For example, we now know that in a deep state of relaxation or meditation, the electromagnetic field surrounding the human head literally entrains and attunes to the basic electromagnetic field of the Earth itself. The Earths' harmonic resonance has been measured at approximately 8 cycles per second or 8 hertz (Hz). The frequency of the electrical activity of the brain is also around 8 hertz (Hz). This is not a coincidence but one of the many reasons why we feel so rejuvenated and healed in nature.1

Our westernized concept of "visioning" tends to emphasize the ability to see into the future and set a course or plan of action to move towards. Yet visioning is as much about "soul remembering" and regaining a sense of health and wholeness as it is about our future. Visioning helps us to go home to the basic kernel of our inner selves. Selves we may have ignored or dismissed in order to please others or society.

Through visioning with nature we can re-connect with our soul's purpose and find that wholeness within. By finding home we can then branch out to manifest a future that we are truly meant to live. Gaining a sense of purpose, we will awake each morning with joy, expectation and a commitment to a unique path.

Nature is our "partner' on this Earth in the fullest meaning of the term. When we open our hearts and minds, nature offers us alternative and often more comprehensive ways of knowing and being. It will come from these ways of knowing and being, as well as from our technological brilliance, that we will successfully progress in our evolution, live healthier, more fulfilled lives and be in harmony with the Earth.

Nature keeps us in connection with our timeless self. It is no accident that Buddha's enlightenment takes place under a Bodhi tree, or that God spoke to Moses through a "burning" bush. Nature acts as a daily reminder of the enduring bond between nature and humankind, body and spirit, free will and destiny. Ultimately, nature brings us face to face with the ultimate creative, compassionate and intelligent force in the universe.

Understanding the importance of nature for the health of humankind and about the intrinsic value of nature will ultimately lead to greater caretaking of nature, as well as greater human health and fulfillment. When people live more fully integrated with nature, they suffer less stress and ill health, their culture is richer, their society is well balanced, and their appreciation and caretaking of the earth is stronger.