- Series of articles about healing through connection with nature.
- My “ecotherapy healing project”
Healing Process
A couple of days ago I talked to my friend about the importance of regular contact with nature. We are both very passionate about this topic, which I believe is seriously underestimated these days. Despite the many obvious advantages of living in the highly civilized world, there are also some serious disadvantages we cannot ignore. One of them is definitely the fact that, our industrial civilization affects Earth in a horrific way. The destruction of the natural environment is real and we all know this, but in many cases, we just choose to ignore this fact for our convenience. I mean just look at the tones of plastic everywhere, take a deep breath in the big city, look at your car after rain… acid rain… and read about endangered species… Oh my gosh, it makes me cry… I myself try to do everything I can to minimize my own ability to destruct Mother Earth, but it becomes harder and harder every day with all of this garbage everywhere. Many people just don’t care about
We live in the incredibly enlightened era but our civilization is purely materialistic. Of course, there is a great and inspiring solution to this issue - mindful living. Undoubtedly, this way of living requires really hard work and conscious choices made on a daily basis which apparently is too much for many of us. I have no words for those who don’t give a damn about the destruction of our natural environment and continue to contribute to this poisonous landscape. I really don’t want to sound pessimistic but I just cannot find other words to describe how I feel about this topic.
However, this assumption leads me to another serious disadvantage of living in extremely civilized world which is that our modern civilization takes us further away from nature. By this I mean, that our relationship with the natural environment is in a real danger and sometimes we don’t even realize that. Honestly, I believe that a fundamental misconception of a modern, civilized world is that people can live separated from nature, which is an obvious lie. Many of us still believe that concrete jungle can efficiently replace a natural landscape. We do not even realize how addicted to the technology we really are. I myself didn’t even notice that whole my life is organized around the computer, smartphone and of course uninterrupted internet connection until I spend a whole week working at home. And I mean 7 days straight in front of the computer without going outside. Obviously, I didn’t even sleep or eat enough I just worked, like a maniac though. I know, it sounds pathetic, but it’s true.
The Importance Of Connecting With Nature
A moment when I figured out how long I’ve stayed inside without going out (being on the balcony for several minutes per day doesn’t count!) was when my boyfriend came home from his 8 days business trip and didn’t find his favorite coconut milk in the fridge. Of course, I didn’t do the grocery shopping because I spend 7 days straight working on my computer. Fortunately for me, I have always a lot of my favorite food stored out… except for coconut milk because I prefer the almond one 🙂 That bizarre situation made me realize that I was having two serious problems. The first, more obvious one was the fact that I unconsciously become a workaholic and the second one was that I have completely disconnected myself from nature. Honestly, I knew that I was missing something but I just continued to stay in front of the computer for entire week hiding from the sun because we can always take Vitamin D3 supplement… Oh, how ridiculous is that?! I can even say…
However, there is a positive side to this, let’s call this “staying closed at home - social project”.
It made me realize how easy is to forget that we are just as other species created by nature. It is still obvious even nowadays (without going into details) with all of our modern technology.
Of course, being creatures of habit we can adapt ourselves to many different environments, but it doesn’t mean that we can live a healthy and fulfilling life being closed in a concrete jungle 24/7. It is just impossible because it contradicts all natural laws.
A Purifying Experience
What is even more interesting is, that contact with nature is therapeutic and transitional in many different dimensions. I, myself, have experienced the healing force of nature at the beginning of my cognitive behavioral therapy when the first thing I did with my therapist was going outside the clinic and sit in the park. When I felt the warmth of the sun on my face I just knew that nature was and still is the best medicine for me. For me, contact with nature has more than a simple therapeutic effect. For the first time in my life, I felt that through the pain I felt inside came catharsis and spiritual rebirth.
With the last sentence, I invite you to the series of posts about restoring contact with nature in various and simple ways. We will go on this journey together. I will show you my idea of healing your mind, body, and spirit through contact with nature. Stay tuned!
A little preview: (some photos I took on my lasts journeys):
xx Kate
Read other articles from this series:
