Ecotherapy
Nature /Ecotherapy
Nature: The world of living things
Eco: ecological - the relationship amongst all living organisms - mountains, sky, animals, humans, moon, plants, water, bacteria etc
Therapy: is to make someone feel better or grow stronger
Popular terms for ecotherapy is
♢ Meditation
♢ Forest Bathing
♢ Gardening
♢ Foraging
♢ Creative arts using natural resources
My Ecotherapy is
♢ Opening awareness
♢ Self Learning
♢ Understanding habits and behaviour
♢ Embodied and sensory exploration
♢ Tracking the world around you (This is not just tracking in the traditional sense of the word)
♢ Eco-psychosomatic
♢ Neurogenesis
♢ Understanding connection
How it helps
♢ Is a safe place for your wild-ness to emerge - the freedom of being you
♢ It awakens parts of you you never knew or forgot existed
♢ Gives a sense of connection and belonging.
♢ Brings calm to your body and mind
♢ Brings out the child within, the curiosity, the wonder, the exploration
♢ Realigns your values with what matters to you
♢ Stop the chattering mind
Is it all about just being outdoors?
A great way to describe nature and ecotherapy would be to draw on a book I read about a person going through a transition. I can't recall from which book I read it.
Each chapter describes the process as they build up details within each developmental part towards the transition of discovery in therapeutic congruence. The book takes us alongside the person as they travel from a physical to an esoteric realm of understanding.
Most people in the modern world miss so much because they don't give time or attention, even to their health and well-being. A Modern translation of the transition described in the book above is of peeling the layers of an onion. However, this materialistic description is not explanatory. Let me give you a better description that will help you understand.
Imagine a seed wrapped in layers of mud, leaves, twigs, insects and much more. Let us extract a 60 by 60cm chunk of ground from the earth with this seed in the middle. From this chunk, I will describe the transition a person goes through.
To access the seed, we must remove the surrounding bits. These bits lack any context, reference, or meaning at this point. With space around the seed, it can finally breathe and has room to sprout its roots. By peeling away these layers, the seed will be able to grow, and a new picture will emerge, allowing us to identify the type of seed it is. Through comprehension, we make sense of the specific components in the soil around the seed. The bits as they provide the necessary nutrients for growth. For example, a shy individual (bits in soil) with a knack for spontaneous storytelling will challenge their shyness to become their storytelling self (part of the seed self).
As we delve deeper, we gain context. Through context, we can establish connections and gain understanding. This process does not involve reliving the trauma but exploring the underlying connections that keep it in place.
Ecotherapy is like stepping into a magical world.
It's awakening that side of you that has been dormant.
Moving at your own pace, we will unlock this new world by using your senses, body, and connection to understand and become yourself.