Eco-Therapy: What We Can Learn About Life from How We Connect with Nature
As humans, we are innately drawn to connect to the rest of the natural world as our bodies know that we are actually not separate from nature. Some of us may be drawn to spending more time outside than others due to our conditioning, experiences, geography, and access but we all have a sense of connection to nature, even if we feel we have lost touch with it.
In our modern age, connecting with nature can often become something we pursue for recreation, competition, work, research, and travel. These can be great ways to foster connection and also, it is important to examine how you are approaching each of these points of connection. Examining your relationship with nature connection can give you a lot of information about how you may be approaching your relationship with yourself, your life, others, and the planet.
If going outdoors or connecting with nature has become something you view as a luxury, I wonder what your connection to yourself may look like or feel like.
Do you find it difficult to prioritize taking care of yourself?
Are you often feeling constrained by stressors/obligations in your life?
Do you feel like there is only one way to connect to the natural world?
If any of this resonates with you, I wonder how you may be able to consider a new approach. Connection with nature is not only connecting with the outdoors or other natural beings but it is also connecting with yourself. You are a part of nature!
If it feels difficult to get outdoors, if access and time are hard to find, how could you reconnect to your body? How could you reconnect to movement? How could you reconnect to noticing your senses? How could you intentionally notice your experience anytime you are connecting with the outdoors whether it is while running errands, commuting to work, picking up a child from somewhere, or seeing the world through your window? I wonder what may be possible if you begin to reconnect here.
If connection with nature has become something you view for sport, competition, or recreation, I wonder what your connection to yourself and others may look like or feel like.
What is your relationship like with the land and other beings when you are recreating?
How are you talking to yourself when you are competing?
What do you know about who else is around you when you are hiking, biking, or skiing (other natural beings)?
How present are you when you are recreating outside and what do you feel?
If you notice that competing or recreating pulls you into a critical relationship with yourself, an outcome oriented relationship with nature or a place where other natural beings become objects, I wonder what could be possible. How would it look to try out a kinder connection with yourself while recreating? How may this impact your connection with others and yourself while outdoors? Who (other natural beings) may you be able to learn about in spaces you are recreating? How may this change your connection and care for the natural world around you?
If connection with nature has become something you view as a way of making an income, furthering your own research, or advancing goals, I wonder how connection and relationships feel or look for you.
How do you relate to others (human or otherwise)?
Are curiosity, awe, or excitement present in your relationships?
How does stress show up in your life and relationships?
How has your relationship with yourself and other natural beings changed since your income and profession became reliant upon the land?
If you notice that your profession pulls you into a relationship with nature, yourself, or others where you are seeking control, power over, or constant stress about outcomes, I wonder about what may be possible. How would it look to recognize the places you do not have control and practice reverence? How may this impact the relationships present in your work or research? How could you notice your relationship with yourself as you are outdoors and how you are talking to yourself? How may you hold the outcomes you are seeking with curiosity?
As you consider your answers to the questions above, see if you can notice how the ways you may feel connected/disconnected to nature may also reflect connection/disconnection in other areas of your life. See if you could notice how these observations may give you insight into shifts you may want to consider in how you approach your life in general.