Nature Healing
Nature heals and Nature grows and Nature is in us, but are you in Nature?
In 2008 we crossed a threshold; for the first time in our history more than half the world’s population now live in urban environments. As a species, we are also sick and getting sicker; is there a connection between habitat and health do you think?
“ Less contact with nature, particularly in one’s young years, appears to remove a layer of protection against psychological stress and opportunity for cognitive rejuvenation. Japanese research suggests also that nature deprivation may have wide-ranging effects on the immune system. In the big picture, our turn away from nature is associated with less empathy and attraction to nature and, in turn, less interest in environmental efforts related to nature. An obvious concern is that a massive withdrawal from nature will immunize us against empathic views of nature. Sustainability of the planet is not merely about being a good citizen and recycling; it is ultimately about maintaining an intimate relationship with nature. Research shows that in order to truly care about “being green,” one must actually have meaningful exposure to nature.”
Your Brain on Nature, Dr. Eva Selhub and Alan C. Logan N.D
If you want to heal, you have to get back to nature, get out of the adrenaline/stress mode that has become the norm and become conscious of the process of natural healing. Healing is not something to do every now and then, it’s happening all the time – ongoing, continuous renewal and regeneration.
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
Heraclitus
Healing is the process of reuniting with all that is and can never be achieved within the erroneous idea of a separate self. On a practical level, you can’t unite with all that is via your mobile phone, computer, or TV. It might be possible when you lose yourself in a good book, but the best way is to get outside and get involved.
Remember walking in the woods? The smell of the Earth and the dappled sunlight through the trees inviting you in. Your breath slows and deepens, your shoulders drop and you begin to relax. In Japan this is called shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. Studies have shown that after three days of hiking and camping in the wilderness, participants improved their scores on tests of creativity by 50 percent. Other studies have noted improvements in mental aptitudes too. These results are not achieved through walking in city parks, although if this is the only access to Nature you can get it is better than nothing.
Nature is intelligent and highly interactive, so much so that the plants you need to support your health usually show up when you need them. I’ve learned to pay attention to which plants appear in any given year. One year we had a glut of St John’s Wort and I made lots of sun oil and tincture, and then used most of it when Freya was gored by a wild boar. In another year, for the first time, there was wild lettuce everywhere – it’s a painkiller and sedative, so that didn’t bode too well, but it turned out that it was a friend who needed it.
We live in the country-side, surrounded by wooded hills and meadows that are mostly wild. There are a few small family farms around, but no large operations and no crop spraying and I find all the medicinal plants I need within a few kilometres of the house. Nature is our healthcare provider.
Humans are naturally self-healing and, for the most part, capable of thriving despite everything that is thrown against us. Strange as it might seem, we are all born with the natural pharmacopoeia of all the healing plants of our homelands already installed – it just needs to be activated by being in nature. What you need shows up when, or even before, you need it and all you have to do is pay attention. Living naturally is healthy, but every now and then something might throw you off-balance and that’s exactly the right moment to seek out nature’s remedy, plant medicine, if at all possible.
There are some tinctures, salves and powders I always have to hand as first aid remedies: St John’s Wort oil and tincture, Yarrow powder, Usnea Barbata tincture and Plantain salve. Other plants are useful as tonics, or for teas, such as: red clover, pine pollen, pennyroyal, milk thistle, self-heal and lemon balm. I also use of edible wild seasonal plants every day, especially in juices and sometimes in salads – they can’t be beaten in terms of support for the immune system, nutritional value and freshness. Some plants help with spiritual growth, or are pattern breakers, such as Arbor vitae and sometimes a particular plant just grabs my attention and I have to discover its secrets.
