The Healing Power of Being in Nature
My Recent Session With Nature
I had been suffering from a strong Imposter Syndrome for several days, thinking that I was not intelligent/capable enough to become an influential writer, filmmaker, and life coach.
As I was ascending the 1500ft mountain less than an hour away from sunset, I was thinking about why I was even doing this business thing in the first place.
I felt strongly my sense of purpose to open people up to new perspectives, develop a connection to their intuition (especially men for this one), believe in the life of their highest excitement, have radical hope for the future, and ultimately help people connect to their true nature.
But I noticed there was a kink in my body when I would think about the messages I wanted to tell people.
There was some part of me that was scared to fully open myself, fully express myself, and fully be me to other people due to fear of what others would think of me.
As I got higher in elevation, I became enveloped in fog and could not see more than 10 meters ahead of me.
At some point, I started running. The cold wind felt amazing. It made me feel alive. I had to run.
I did not have the fitness to run up the entire mountain, but I ran as much as I could, speed walking the rest.
I reached the top soaked in both mine and the fog’s sweat, and felt comfortable enough to let out an invigorated yell, as I had not seen anyone for the entire 2 mile trail.
I took out my drone and flew above the fog, revealing the beautiful scene.
Pretty majestic, huh?
This would have been my view had there been no fog.
After flying the drone, I got back to my contemplation.
I was thinking about my recent Imposter Syndrome and felt into these emotional knots I was experiencing.
I was thinking about the concept of polarity, and saw everyone's authentic self-expression as having a charge that repels certain people while attracting others.
And I realized that there is simply no way to avoid people reacting negatively to certain things I say.
But this is okay, because the way I authentically express myself is just the way I am, it’s what I believe in, it’s what I stand for, and it’s how Nature shaped me, and it to go against my core values and to hinder or repress any part of myself would be an enormous disservice to Nature/God/Source/the Universe/my Highest Self, whatever you want to call it.
Of course, I will always be as respectful, socially calibrated, and loving to others as possible, but I accepted that it is simply inevitable that I will make some people angry and that I will drive certain people in life away, even people I know.
I also accepted that making mistakes is all part of the process of being authentic.
Life is a process of never-ending learning. There will be times when I say false, delusional, dumb, and even potentially harmful things.
But by keeping an open mind, open heart, and staying in touch with Who I Really Am, I will learn from these mistakes and correct them.
Since this session with Nature, I have been writing exceptionally more freely, writing what I truly feel like writing without pressure of what my audience thinks.
Counterintuitively, my authentic, largely unfiltered content is probably what people will like the most anyway.
But even if they don’t, that’s okay because the work is me. It’s who I am, it’s what I believe, it’s what I have to offer.
This is just one example of how a solo walk in nature has helped me get back in alignment with myself.
In fact, going on walks in Nature has been the backbone of my Life Purpose.
The Backbone of my Life Purpose
Ever since the age that my parents have let me take walks by myself, I have been going on walks by myself.
If I had never taken these walks, I would not be even close to who I am today.
These walks allowed me to sort out the muck in my mind, integrate aspects of myself in dissonance, and feel into my heart what the next step is.
Whether I was feeling hopelessly depressed, anxious about an upcoming event, excited about a victory, or happy as a clam, engaging with the natural world has always helped me in determining which direction I would navigate my ship next, or rather, why my ship is even in the position it is in the first place.
In doing this for over a decade (with other practices too of course), I have developed a crystal clear purpose in life, and rather than having the problem of having no idea what to do with my life (which I had before), I now have the problem of having too many ideas of what to do.
In reflecting back, it really is beyond words how much taking walks in nature has helped me discover who I am.
I imagine if I had never taken these walks, I would have never developed a strong connection to my intuition.
And without a strong connection to the heart, one ends up largely defaulting to whatever society implants into their mind.
I probably would have been wondering why I was miserable, maybe a doctor would have told me I have a “chemical imbalance” in my brain and prescribed me emotionally-numbing antidepressants, who knows lol.
I won’t get carried away here into a bashing of Western medicine, there are pros and cons to this way of medication depending on one’s unique genetic make-up and circumstance, and is a topic to give nuance to at another time.
But, I find it sad that those who dwell in urban regions, which represents over half of the world’s population, do not have access to unaltered Nature so easily.
The Plight of the Modern Human
I do not find it difficult to reason why a life of “Wake Up. Hit snooze 3 times. Stare at your phone. Roll out of bed. Sit in traffic. Sit in a box for 8 hours. Sit in traffic again. Stare at the TV. Repeat.” would yield an enormous decrease in humanity's mental health.
While this is an oversimplified version of the life of the modern human, it is not far from how many people live.
Some people can thrive in this structure, but as a collective, there are numerous steep costs that come along with this way of living.
It is important to recognize that Modernity has yielded enormous benefits for humanity such as drastically reducing poverty, greatly lengthening the average life span, improving education, and giving rise to a more diverse and interconnected culture.
But, this increasingly urbanized life has been responsible for mankind’s loss of connection with nature, and this is a problem whose influence has seeped its way deep into the collective consciousness.
Of course, not everyone has lost this connection, but for the hundreds of millions (maybe billions) of people who dwell in cities and live the vast majority of their life within it, the connection with nature is severely hindered.
It is the belief among many experts in the field of psychology that increased urban living (and thus less time in nature) is a key cause of overall worsened mental health in recent decades¹.
When you can see more tall structures and right angles than trees, there is a problem.
This problem is one of feeling more isolated, stressed, depressed, anxious, and lacking a sense of meaning and purpose².
Break Out of Your Cage
I imagine many of you reading can experientially relate to this.
Whenever I have been indoors for too long, I start to feel like a caged bird.
I might start ruminating, getting caught up in unhealthy and restrictive thought patterns.
I may start to get irritated by petty things, such as a page on my phone taking too long to load.
It’s almost as if the walls of the building I’m in are literally trapping my mind, creating a narrow filter for my thoughts to flow through, which results in a negative self-consciousness
To stop these unhealthy loops, one must EXPAND that filter, and the easiest way to do this is simply by going outdoors and spending intentional time in nature.
Depending on your state of mind and what your aim is, a simple walk around the neighborhood may do the trick.
But if you really want to go deep, if you want to expand that filter to levels you don’t experience everyday, get out into mostly untouched nature, preferably by yourself.
This is the most effective method (without using mind-altering substances) of providing you with a sense of expansiveness, a sense of interconnectedness to all things, which will yield a healthier perspective on various life matters.
When doing this intentionally and on a regular basis, your life can be utterly transformed.
The Nature of Thought
“Thoughts are not merely reflections of reality, but the very movement of reality itself.” - Ken Wilber
It’s funny because when I was younger I went on these walks because it made me feel good, but I was unconscious to how Nature was actually shaping me.
here was still the narrative that I was separate from Nature, that I was a completely differentiated entity that lived inside the head, behind the eyes, that was “creating” my thoughts purely by own volition.
But if you have the “eyes” to see into your direct experience, you will find that thoughts appear out of nowhere, there is no “one” creating them, and the idea that there even is a “you”, a sense of being a differentiated entity that is somehow willing these thoughts into existence, is just another bundle of thoughts that also simply appear in your mind.
Thoughts are movements of the Cosmos no different than the trees blowing in the wind or the sun rising and setting everyday.
The thoughts that appear in your mind are largely determined by the context you are in and how it relates to your self-schema.
If you are nervous about giving a presentation in class, you will have anxious thoughts.
What if my presentation sucks? What if these people make fun of me?
If you are new to weightlifting and see how jacked everyone is compared to you, you will likely have thoughts that compare yourself to them.
I’m so skinny. Everyone is so much stronger than me. I don’t belong here.
If you just hit a game-winning buzzer beater in basketball, you may have grandiose thoughts.
Step up, son. You can’t guard me.
If you just got home and plopped down on the couch after a long day at work, you will have thoughts of relief.
Ahhh, finally I can relax.
The point I want to hammer in here is that you are not the sole creator or your thoughts.
You cannot have a truly original thought because every thought you have exists within a cultural background, of which your thoughts are merely reactions to depending how it relates to your self-agenda.
A thought is a concoction of interior experience with external events (whether real or imagined):
You x presentation = anxious thoughts.
You x first time in gym = comparative thoughts
You x basketball game-winner = grandiose thoughts
See how this works?
The Importance of Spending Intentional Time in Nature
But what makes spending intentional, mindful time out in Nature so valuable is that you leave the human world behind.
It is just you and Nature.
Nature is not going to judge you, try to compete with you, or try to shape you into being any particular way.
Nature will just let you be you, which is why it is the ultimate therapist.
This is precisely why spending time in nature has been shown to reduce stress levels, improve sense of belonging and self-esteem, improve overall life-satisfaction, and reduce symptoms for a variety of mental health disorders.
I believe this is also why there are strong correlations between spending time in nature and heightened affective, cognitive, and moral development in children, and that these children also report higher measures in self-esteem and self-worth³.
You x Nature = expanded thoughts
Virtually all practitioners of Nature-Based Therapy believe that the fundamental mechanism behind improvement in client outcomes is the sense of expansiveness the environment provides that allows one’s limited self-perception to expand⁴.
Nature will provide you with a totally accepting environment, but the real question is: Will you accept yourself?
Are you willing to look deep within yourself, to feel into your fears, and sort out your muck?
This can be a scary thing at times, which is why it is important to remain as mindful as possible (more on this in a bit).
How to Spend Intentional Time in Nature
When going out in Nature, pick a spot that is relatively isolated, there should be as little signs of human influence as possible.
Before starting your trek, have a few prompts in mind so that your thoughts are directed towards a general purpose.
Why do I feel so lonely? Why do I want this relationship? What’s my definition of success? How do I get myself out of this rut? What is the meaning of life?
If you want some amazing prompts to choose from, check out my past blog post titled “100 Questions to Ask Yourself to Get in Touch With Your Life Purpose.”
As you are walking, try your best not to cling to any thoughts too strongly.
Watch your thoughts like you are watching a movie. You don’t play an active role in the movie, you just observe it. Likewise, just observe your thoughts.
Just watch your mind go, don’t judge or label any thought as good or bad.
Don’t be looking for a certain insight or light-bulb moment, just let your mind be as unaltered as possible from your ego’s wants.
Basically, don’t try to steer the ship too much. Be the witness, not the thinker.
As you are contemplating, notice your body’s reactions to your thoughts.
Notice what makes you feel happy and excited, and how this excitement influences your future thoughts.
In addition, observe what makes you feel scared and closed up.
And remember, don’t forget to absorb the beauty around you. These nature walks are supposed to be relaxing.
Don’t be so hyper focused on your internal world that you forget you are with Nature in the first place.
Remain as the Witness for the entirety of your session with Nature, only afterwards should you start seriously considering plans for what your next step is.
Look at your session as a whole and ask yourself powerful follow up questions.
What feels most true? What feels most right? What feels solved? What feels unresolved?
Sometimes the right thing is to do something small, like starting a habit of journaling everyday, other times it may be to start considering doing something drastic, like leaving a relationship or moving across the world.
Conclusion/My Offers
So get out in Nature.
Attune yourself to leaving the human world behind and allow yourself to just be.
If you know you are meant for something more in life but are unsure of what the next step is, consider booking a coaching call with me.
I will be like Nature in the sense that I am not going to judge or force you to be a certain way, I will accept you for who you are, but I will also do a few extra things in that I will listen to you, ask you questions, and send other linguistic probes into your mind.
Head to the “Coaching” tab of this website and book a call with me if you are interested.
With love and intention,
Wyeth
Sources
Naor, L., Mayseless O. (2020). The therapeutic value of experiencing spirituality in nature. American Psychological Association. 7(2) 114-133. hhtps://doi.org/10.1037/scp0000204
Summers, J. W., & Vivian, D. N. (2018). Ecotherapy – A Forgotten Ecosystem Service: A Review. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01389
Naor, L (2020). How Practitioners Work with Nature in Nature Based Therapies: Toward a Tentative Model for Intervention (Publication No. 28745383) [Doctoral Dissertation, Haifa University] ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global