If you feel depleted, lethargic, unfocused, unbalanced, or just find yourself constantly looking forward to vacation, and it still feels a L-O-N-G W-A-Y O-F-F, a little nature therapy might help. A certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide like yours truly would be happy to accompany you, but once you learn the basics, you can practice on your own.
Go outside! (NOTE: **ALLERGY SUFFERERS, consult your physician prior to doing this exercise, and follow your doctor's instructions!) Find that special natural place that attracts you, where your breath is even and your heart rate slows. This is a place of beauty or mystery that you keep wandering toward, lingering there among your arbor elders and creature kin, and this place lifts you up whenever you feel down.
Stop. Literally stop in your tracks. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose, count to three and let the breath out through your mouth. Repeat. Repeat. Feel your shoulders and neck relax. OPEN your EARS. Listen until you can isolate 2-5 sounds of nature - filtering out human-made sound. If you can only hear one natural sound, focus on that. Wait until the natural sound(s) is pronounced in your hearing.
Reach out and touch something natural if it is safe for you to touch it.(***Careful to avoid common irritants from poison oak, ivy, stinging nettle, etc., or toxic flora and fauna***https://mdc.mo.gov/field-guide/safety-concerns?concern=950) Go toward what attracts you - tree bark, a leaf, a trickle of water, a stone or pebble, sand, moss, a spent flower petal, a rain puddle. Savor the patterns and textures. Note how it feels against your skin (Only do this if it is safe to do so; if you're not sure, don't touch!). Memorize its pattern. Note its unique shape and color, the nuances of its texture.
Now, nose up to the wind! Smell what's around you. Notice the aromas that attract and repel you. Pungent earth. Crisp or muggy air. Jasmine, lilac, roses, honeysuckle, mint. Go toward what smells wonderful. Approach close enough to inhale the scent deeply without actually inhaling any particulates. If memories arise that are stoked by the scent, let them come, and then let them fall away. Return to just the direct experience of the aroma. Do this until the scent that attracts you is more pronounced than any other.
Taste something natural if it is safe for you to taste it. Dandelions and other wild edibles are excellent candidates, but be sure they are edible first! (https://mdc.mo.gov/wild-edibles-4#:~:text=Dandelion%20leaves%20and%20stems%20are,%2C%20bacon%2C%20or%20pine%20nuts.) NOTE: ***Unless you are well versed in wild edible-foraging, stay away from mushrooms, berries, and other wild edibles you do not know! Consult an expert! https://midwestmycology.org/ ***https://mdc.mo.gov/field-guide/safety-concerns?concern=950 ****https://missouripoisoncenter.org/can-you-recognize-these-toxic-plants-of-missouri/#:~:text=Examples%20of%20some%20berries%20that,holly%20berries%2C%20and%20pokeweed%20berries.) Only if it is safe to taste, notice if it is it dry, squishy, tart, sweet, or minty? Does it taste bitter or mild? Is it completely unpalatable? If you don't know what is safe to taste, just open your lips slightly to let your tongue linger outside in the air. Does the humid air taste metallic, sweet, salty, or sour?
OPEN your eyes! Do a 360 degree turn - S-L-O-W-L-Y. Focus on something natural that attracts you. Go toward this creature, tree, plant, stone, hollow, river, etc. of light/beauty/wonder. Let your eyes take in every detail and nuance. If you gaze with love and wonder, you will notice a bazillion details - like looking at a newborn infant, or your dearly beloved. Every shade and hue, pattern and dance of what is before you will become a living, breathing being with energy and subtlety and nuance. Keep looking and focus. Until you can "recite" the sight by heart when you close your eyes.
NOW - Put it all together - draw it all together in one sweeping perception, calling your attention back to the natural sounds, aromas, textures, tastes and sights as a conductor would sweep the baton into an orchestral surge! Now the symphony of Nature is rising and falling all around you, within you. It is singing inside you, finding its rhythm in your own pulse, your own breath. You can feel its energy and vibration, its delightful pulsing sensations and cadences. Suddenly, everything feels CLOSE and ASTOUNDING! You're tuning into the Natural World. But there's still one more sense you haven't tapped: Your ability to "read the room." What does all of this together feel like? What vibe do you get in your particular neck of the woods/garden/beach/river/creek/lake/backyard oasis/park/breezeway/valley/mountainside/prairie/oceanside/waterfall? Is it peaceful, buzzing with energy, threatening to storm, quiet and gentle, or full of sound and fury? What else? Does it feel cohesive and flowing? Disconnected and scary? Read the Room of Nature. It's your Sixth Sense. What are you sensing as you allow your own energy to connect with this Symphony of Nature?
When you've completed this full-sensory toe-dip, write your experience in a journal, or capture it as best you can in a line of poetry. Sketch it. Hum it. Take a mental photo. Create a cairn. Sit still for a while. Bow deeply. Breathe reverently. You are home. Welcome home.
Whenever you feel you need a breath, or a break, learn the language of creation...
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
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