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Field Report: an online program
participant, shares her results from a nature-connecting activity.
BUILDING TRUST OUTDOORS HELPS NATURAL THERAPY TRAINING FOR LIFE
COACH
I was drawn to do this activity
simply with the night. I went outside and asked permission of
the night and the night landscape. We get tumultuous winds here--last
week up to 80 mph, for instance. So the stillness of the night
was really amazing and I savored it. Every little peep is magnified,
as if in an echo chamber. The silence of the night brings out
such sensitivity. I could sense the electronic devices around
(eg. pumps going on and off) and could also feel the infinitude
of the night.
There had been some rain, making
the ground unusually fragrant, reminiscent of my beloved land
of lakes back East, where I grew up inhaling the perfume of the
wet soil. There was also some humidity in the air, which also
reminded me of my old stomping grounds, so I was in heaven. The
scent of the soil after a good, hard rain brings me so much delight.
The original aromatherapy for me.
I have a lot of trust in the
night. I stayed in the 5-acre meadow and, with eyes closed, settled
into a cozy meditation pattern. So peaceful. The feeling of infinity
in everything. I was so content, period.
Being a Life Coach, I was very
grateful to be out there instead of running around with my necessary
projects indoors. With eyes open, I saw everything in shades
of black, bluish, and grey. I thought, "at least in the
cities they have the sky," then remembered that on the East
Coast, often the sky is hidden by smog. so I thought, "at
least they have the day and the night" in terms of external
nature.
I was cold and went in and
got extra clothes. Cozy warm, I continued outdoors. Very grateful.
Not that big a difference between eyes open and closed. At the
end, I walked close to the forest. Had I started out in the forest
at nightfall, I would have stayed in the forest. I know of no
one who goes in the forest here at night, due to the mountain
lions. Choosing to be prudent, I did not walk into the forest,
though it was prudence and not fear that kept me out (and my
time was up). I am very grateful to be able to stop, sense, feel,
and move.
It would be wonderful to be
able to bring people who are dying, people who have physical
challenges and are largely immobile, to a place like this--or
if not, to be able to bring it to them in the form of aromatherapy,
plants, anything wild that doesn't mind being indoors. Why do
I think the activity led me to feel as I did: the cessation of
daily tasks, the awesome stillness, the "thusness"
of the landscape, the quiet of night, and the fact that everyone
who lives here adores nature or they wouldn't live here, brings
a sense of peace.
Too many quotes from the reading
were my favorites, but I did not think of them when doing the
exercise and they did not bring meaning to the experience, as
I did not think of them then. When engaged in a direct experience,
it is simply that.
I loved that science should
include sensation, alive or dead, each being is naturally attractive,
and what we call "things" are actually natural attraction
relationships
We must re-sense and re-think
ourselves as part of nature, for that is the truth. Speaking
the truth about our society as a cancer, nature rewards us with
good feelings, in some way every member is attractive and included,
every form of education and counseling works better in nature.
A prominent rabbi (loved by
people of many faiths all over the world), Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi,
teaches us to thus interpret this word as people being told to
go down [to learn from] the fishes, the birds, etc. Nowhere does
it have to be translated "dominate." Hebrew is a multi-faceted,
non-linear language and thus is a challenge to convey all its
nuances of meaning into a more linear language like Greek or
English. Again in the Bible's original language, it is clear
that a person is made from all that was created before, so humans
are every bit a part of nature--without nature we would not be,
period.
Act now.
Master Organic
Psychology by doing it.
Explore it from our homepage
Read
Additional Student Reports
Contact us at 360-378-6313 mailto:nature@interisland.net,
http://www.ecopsych.com
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