Our world sometimes feels like it’s spinning out of control. Yet when we spend time in nature, it offers peace and tranquility, if not outright joy. For a long time, doctors and scientists thought the health benefits we derive from exposure to the natural world were just figments of our imagination. But people who feel a personal connection to nature understand intimately what ecologists have shown in their research: Places do possess a restorative power. Nature fails us comparatively infrequently and, when it does, typically has some not-bad second-order effect.
The first time I remember really connecting with the outdoors was during a job that had stressed me to the max. A friend had suggested we find relief, in the form of the age-old remedy of hiking the Appalachian Trail. The moment we found ourselves in the woodsy, serene Calvert Cliffs State Park, everything just clicked. To this day, nature still makes the good parts of my brain feel like they’re firing on all cylinders. Those two times under the big green outdoor umbrella have shaped me in a long-lasting way.
Ecotherapy, sometimes referred to as nature therapy, assumes that human beings have an innate connection to the rest of the natural world. When that connection is fostered and deepened, it can have profound effects on a person’s mental and physical health. This is something many cultures have understood for a very long time. In recent years, mental health professionals have started to recognize the potential of natural spaces to help patients recover.
The most vivid encounter I had with the natural world occurred during a “forest bathing” session. I can still remember following a hiking guide and listening as he explained how all our senses could act as vehicles helping us tune back into an environmental awareness seeping directly down into our bodies and minds. As my sense of touch, smell, and even taste started to prickle and return to a more natural, intuitively heightened state, all my “civilized” stress seemed to dissolve.
The idea of using nature as a therapy or a therapeutic environment is an old one. Ecopsychology, however, is a still-emerging field that is just beginning to delineate the next therapeutic steps, such as paying greater attention not only to what clients are saying but also to what their environments are “saying”that might have an impact on the development of humans’ environmental identities and what the researchers within this new field are calling “natural humanity.”
An enthralling element of ecopsychology is the concept showing our way to feel as healthy and vibrant humans could be to support the natural world. This can again be the most simple of acts, like taking time each day to be in the outdoors with the natural world of trees, grasses, cloud forms, and so on. But it can also mean creating relationships with the natural world by moving back to an idea of stewardship, particularly by being involved in creating outdoor places for ourselves and others.
Once, I took part in an ecopsychology group’s local beach cleanup. The experience was very satisfying. It gave me a sense of accomplishment to help clean the shoreline, as if I had done something meaningful and was part of a bigger story. This story is what ecopsychologists call the “Ecopresence Narrative,” the idea that we are not separate from nature but very much a part of it.
Incorporating the healing power of nature and the science of ecology into our everyday lives can be delightfully simple. Appalachia is a special place for nature therapy and ecopsychology. In my experience, when I talk to people about incorporating either of those therapeutic practices into their lives, their first reaction is usually this: They don’t. Their second reaction is they don’t think their lives hold the time for those sorts of practices.
Regular Walks in Nature: Try to spend at least 20 minutes each day in a natural space. This could be as close as your backyard or a neighborhood park, or you could make a daily journey to our conveniently located national forests. Walk in a relaxed, unhurried manner, and try to engage all of your senses. Listen to the many sounds around you: the calls of birds, rush of wind, rustle of leaves. Watch what is going on in the world of trees and grasses, and why not? Let yourself be drawn into the world of bugs. Take a hike in the mind of your own thoughts. Maintain steady rhythmic breathing and enjoy the forest bathing.
Gardening is not merely a hobby; it can be a wonderful way to connect with nature. If you liked playing in the dirt as a kid, you might enjoy it as an adult too. The thrill of getting your hands and feet in the dirt is complemented only by the excitement that comes with the garden pushcart coming toward you. It’s like reverse trick-or-treating.
Practice being present and fully engaged in your experience in an outdoor setting. This could mean finding a spot to relax and just “be” next to trickling water, stretching out on the grass, or spending time just watching clouds or stars. Researchers think that engaging with natural diversity can act as a kind of de facto meditation especially the ritualized type known as “sitting” or “moving” meditation helping to short-circuit stressors.
Contribute to conservation work. This could mean doing something local, like helping with a beach cleanup, or something long-distance, like virtually assisting the work of environmental organizations based in other countries. Or it could mean giving to those nonprofits so that they can dump even more human energy into their planet-healing activities and, ideally, so that they can replace human volunteers with machines.
Journaling in Nature: Maintain a diary to report your interactions with the great outdoors. Elucidate your experiences with the words you’ve learned and the senses you’ve employed. The wild sights and sounds are yours to savor and remember almost as much as the triumphs you felt and witnessed. This practice will serve to not only bind you to the natural world but also unravel what you’ve been going through.
Reconnecting with the natural world can profoundly benefit our mental and physical health. Whether by adopting nature therapy and ecopsychology’s powerfully simple concept or by taking part in more structured, traditional activities, we can incorporate the activities that bind us to the natural world into our lives. In doing so, we will forge a path toward deeper connection to the world. This will, in turn, enable us to find peace on multiple fronts, through the self and in communities.
Therefore, take a moment for yourself to go outdoors, inhale the fresh air, and allow the natural environment to have a positive effect on you. The air and your surroundings in the outdoors have two times less the amount of pollutants that indoors do, which is an excellent start!
When we adopt the practices of nature therapy and ecopsychology, we find benefits not just for ourselves but also for Earth. Isn’t that nifty? To me, it seems like a pretty revolutionary double whammy of goodness, a perfect counterpoint to our separation from nature and the melody of destruction it has engendered. Why not, then, take the proselytizing of our parents and teachers to heart? They may have been serving up vitamins under the guise of pedagogy, but in retrospect, the more we went outside, and the more diverse the cast of characters in our adventures, the better we fared.
My aspiration is that this piece of writing will kindle your interest in nature therapy and ecopsychology. I invite you to share any events that have led you to your natural state of wordless joy.
