The 5 Healing Powers of Nature

 Look deep, deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better…..Albert Einstein

I love walking near the ocean or in the bush. Such a ritual has so often brightened my day and restored my very being during times of immense sorrow and grief.   Whilst studies have demonstrated the restorative and healing potential of nature, especially during difficulties in life, my own personal experience has enabled me to capture my experiences and wrap them into The 5 Healing Powers of Nature.

1. The Healing Power of the Senses – When we are in nature, all our senses are immediately heightened.  By taking time to evoke all the wonder that is there, we can renew ourselves in the beauty surrounding us. The sensation of a grain of sand stuck between our toes or the flash of a darting minow in the shallows. Enjoy gulping in the heady fragrance of wild freesias or hear the sweet call of birdsong from afar.  The colours of a feather splayed out in its glory, its smoothness gently stroked.  These simple experiences allow us to escape from the ordinary into the sublime world that nature is. Our sensations come alive enabling us to feel invigorated, to feel better, and to enjoy a stolen moment of pleasure in the midst of our grieving world.

2.     The Healing Power of A Special Place - Nature has so many places we can escape to: it can be the beach far away or lying on our lawn looking up at the moon singing its song through the stars.  We will each of us find our own special place where we feel connected to nature, where we can shout and cry in our aloneness, where we can escape from our lives for just a second or two. Here we can inhale all it offers to us freely.  It can be our quiet place, our safe place, our healing place, our forgetting place, our special place.

 3.     The Healing Power of Quietness -  A peaceful environment can help us to clear the mismash of random thoughts and images that constantly pour through our head.  We can breathe in the fresh, clean air and as our minds gently clear, stop the chaos for a while, instead allowing contemplation, reflection and inspiration to flow in their place.

 4.     The Healing Power of Getting On - Nature and movement are happy partners. The benefits of activity are well known, affecting us postively on an emotional and physical level. Opposingly, inertia and immobility depletes our energy and restrains us in a fog of stuckness. Nature provides us with a beautiful environment to walk, swim, jog, or cycle giving us a surge of feel good chemicals throughout our body, as well as many more benefits.

 5.     The Healing Power of Regeneration – Nature goes on no matter what; the sun rises every day, spring follows winter, bare trees form buds. When the bush is damaged by fire, we soon can see signs of new growth, as saplings sprout and form out of the blackened earth. It reminds us that as nature renews itself continually, as we too can on our journey through grief.

♥  Share your thoughts and comments about your experiences of nature and healing below  ♥

Tagged as: Grief Healing, Nature, Rituals, Sacred space