Nature, like food, is essential to our health as human beings.

Sleep, vitamin D levels, and cognitive abilities may be improved by spending time outside. Further, our bodies are like solar panels, charging up our bodies with energy from sunlight. Mother Nature and the earth also has a recharging effect on us.  Placing our bare feet on the ground is one of the most effective ways to ground our energy, get back in alignment with ourselves, and feel healthy and vital.

An hour on the land

As I write this I am reminded of the hike I went on this summer. Out on the trail a sunny afternoon I met a middle-aged man and his mother. The mother was very easy on her feet. She was moving quickly like a joyful child out on the playground. I was impressed by her seemingly inexhaustible energy bank. But even more surprised when her son told me about what had occurred earlier in the day. 

About two hours before they met me his mother had been unable to move, too tired to continue. Her sore legs had given up, refusing to carry her any further. He had been worried, he told me, because they still had four hours left of their hike.

His mother had told him that she needed to lie down for a short rest. She wrapped herself up in a blanket and fell asleep. The son sat next to her worrying about how they were going to be able to continue. One hour later, he told me, she had suddenly popped up refreshed, happy, and eager to continue on with their hike. He was amazed.

Truth

Our baseline state is one of happiness, energy, and vitality. This may not always be obvious, especially when we find ourselves in the midst of one of life’s great storms, however spending more time in nature will guide us to this truth. Mother Earth will reconnect us with our birthright and lead us back to how we were when we were created. Nature will disclose to us the truth of our nature.

Unconditional love and acceptance

Nature is always there for us. She is waiting patiently at the exact same place we left her, ready to love and accept us as we are in that moment. Ready to transmute old energy and relieve us of our pain.

When we feel alone or separated from the world and other people, Nature will be our mother. With her kind, loving embrace she shows us that we are, in fact, never alone but invaluable parts of something much bigger than ourselves. We are all equally important, bringing our individual energy in on the whole equation. The whole Universal masterpiece. 

Mother Nature is not perfect and nor is she striving for it. She accepts herself exactly as she is, even with all of her beauty flaws – as should we. She doesn’t care about acknowledgment because she is so confident in her own worth and of her importance on the planet – and we should be too. 

Nature holds no judgment. She is welcoming everyone with open arms no matter who they are and what they have done. She will not validate our criticism of other people or make it okay for us to hurt others, however, she will hold space for us to heal our wounds and let go of our pain if we let her. We can kick, hit, scream and yell as much as we like – nature will never abandon us. Gravity, her lap, will always carry us and offer us support. Nature is forgiving and her love for us is unconditional.

Movement

One great benefit of movement is that it will encourage the body to release emotions that are stuck and unprocessed. And therefore, nature in conjunction with movement will be an ideal scenery for healing. Movement will invite old emotions to come up to be released, while nature will hold us in her loving space, allowing us to safely feel what we need to feel and say what needs to be said. 

Wisdom

Nature will offer valuable insight to us if we are open to it. Whenever I spend some quality time with her I tend to come back with a sense of clarity and new perspectives on issues I am dealing with. It is not surprising that it was beneath a tree that Buddha was enlightened. Mother Nature has been around for a very long time and therefore it is only reasonable to believe that she holds great wisdom and knowledge that we all can learn from. 

Gratitude

We have heard many times that gratitude is vital to our happiness, and nature opens us up to feeling grateful for the simple things in life. A hot summer day will make us feel truly grateful for a glass of ice-cold, clean water and for the air conditioner in our car. A long run in a wet rainy forest will make us feel very grateful for our house and for the warm shower waiting for us inside.

True gratitude brings us to a high frequency. When we are expressing gratitude, we are deeply present in that moment and not stuck in worry of the future or regret of the past. True gratitude comes with the pleasant side-effect of happiness – something that Mother Nature desires for every being on the planet.

Thus, constantly aligning with her energy will eventually make this a desire of our own, and when enough people on the planet are aligned with Mother Nature’s desire and the healing power of mother nature, we will finally have created the kind-hearted, loving world that we are all hoping one day will become our collective reality.