You can come home again
Returning to Earth is a blog about treating Nature Deficit Disorder with Green Exercise, Forest Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, Deep Ecology, Ecopsychology, Shinrin-Yoku, Yoga, and Mindfulness. Some influences include: Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louve, Your Brain on Nature, Joanna Macy, Mark Whitwell, Jay Brown, John Muir, Arne Naess, Rachel Carson, Bill Plotkin, Steven Foster, Meredith Little, Steven K. Harper, Esalen Institute, Gestalt Psychology.
Samuel L Jackson in Do The Right Thing
Without getting into specifics, today is a big day.
In the days that come, make time to connect to your larger body.
Grounding and connecting will be important.
Walk into Nature.
Take off your shoes. Touch a tree.
Breathe. Inhale through your nose and smell.
Look around.
Say hello and thank you to everything.
There is SO MUCH to be grateful for.
Riparian corridor of The Grande Ronde
There are certain rivers that I know quite well through my work guiding on them over the years. Most of these riparian pathways I have seen in wet, flooding Spring, Summer, and cool, slow Fall. The majority of my focus for all of these river miles, days, and hours has been on the river itself - specifically on the boulders, pillows, waves, holes, and clear moving sluices for which I aim. Mostly I find success in focussing on the way through - the path.
When rapids cease and the water runs smooth I still am drawn to the river and the bank - scanning for Blue Heron, Otter, Salmon, Steelhead, Elk, Wolves, Golden Eagle, Black Bear, Cougar, Bald Eagle, Bighorn Sheep, Canyon Wren, Swainson's Thrush, Ouzel, Kingfisher, Osprey, Cutthroat and Golden Trouts. My focus is on the riparian corridor. It is where I camp and work as well: the beaches, the banks, the cobble bars, high benches but all of it is close to the river. I am always on the same path. Yes, the path changes from day to day - it is a dynamic and flowing system as is all of nature, but it is this focus on that thin ribbon of wilderness I write about today.
I need to get off the river and take more hikes - explore some terrestrial corridors and take a break from the riparian - even though I love it so much. I have found value in taking hikes up canyon walls to get my bearings— to feel and more deeply know these incredible places I am honored to live and work in.
Above the Grande Ronde River
When I take the time to get away from the river, take a hike and get above it I appreciate and understand where I am. The river is a way in, but maybe I am missing out on a deeper connection to the place I am flowing through by not getting away and above the river to appreciate how it is connected to the larger, living, fecund body of the canyons that it has carved - the peaks that surround it, the buttes, cliffs, and battlements through which it flows.
When I am in nature I try to connect deeply. I try to awaken my nervous system as best I can. The palms of my hands are potent tools for nature connection. They manipulate, massage, feel, sense, explore, gather information, bring food to my mouth.
Aligned with this is the Hindu system of Chakras which assigns many sub chakras to the hands with the ones in the palms being described as "little heart chakras" - red or gold in color. They are connected to the heart chakra and thus quite powerful in their ability to feel and express love, compassion and gratitude.
When in a peaceful soul nurturing natural setting rub your hands together and generate some heat in the palms of your hands. Wake them up - get the blood moving there. Now bring your hands slightly apart and feel for a ball of energy that comes forth in that space. Enjoy it. Play with it. Bring your hands apart further and shape this warm ball of energy between your hands. Now take your hands and place them on a nearby rock or tree or tuft of grass. Keep feeling through your hands. Imagine the energy that comes from your hands going into the earth through this connection. Imagine energy coming from the Earth and into you through the hearts in your hands. Feel it flowing up your arms, down into your heart. Breathe.
Breathe.
Feel that connection. Awaken the hearts in your hands. Connect them to the heart in your chest. Connect them to the heart of the Earth. Now take them from the rock or tree and place them on your chest, belly or both. Bring it in.
Keep Breathing.
Sometimes in nature I sway. I sway with the wind as the trees do. I am affected by the wind - I sense and feel the rhythms in it. Even when the wind is not blowing or the tide is not lapping luxuriously upon the shore - I sense rhythm in nature. I feel its beat and sway.
Keep the movements small. Listen into them. Stay with the small movements— no need to make it big or extreme. Subtle is nice. Just a little movement - integral, truthful movement from that which is moving... Always. Keep moving. Keep moving.
After arriving at a pleasing natural place, stop and breathe a few breaths. Make them slow and conscious breaths - pranayama. Now ground through your feet...slight bend to your knees... straighten your spine, imagine the wire running from sacrum to crown, pulling you gently upwards. Keep breathing. Shift your weight from side to side slowly and gently.
Sway with the deep beat of nature. Stay with it for as long as feels comfortable.
Connect.
Keep breathing.
I was at Olmstead Point, a vista parking area in Yosemite National Park one day many years ago when I saw the power and wisdom of a child's curiosity for nature. A boy bounded from a mini van followed by his attendant parents. He immediately hopped over the small rock wall between the parking area and the wild world of granite landscape and began looking around, exploring. His parents followed. The boy was the leader - he guided his parents into the mysteries of the glaciated rock shelves, boulders, and creeklets. I witnessed his curiosity and sense of adventure influencing those of his parents.
They seek out connection naturally. While walking in nature, try to tap into the natural child that lives inside of you. Allow yourself to be child-like - to play - to explore - to wander with no plan or agenda.
Be a loose and comfortable child in nature. Relax your adult concerns and reality and see Nature as a playground— a safe place— a place you belong and are welcomed.
You belong. Your play and celebration are appreciated and needed here. Everywhere.
I am able to go much deeper in my nature connection practice the more liquid, limber, lithe, and flexible I make my movements.
I bend my knees and lower my center of gravity - my stance is as wide as my hips or slightly wider. I allow my arms to swing and my fingers to flop around as I walk. I loosen myself up and remain flexible. I want to abandon any rigidity I came to the threshold with. I soften, open, and listen through my body, through my feet.
If the terrain is unstable and the footing is not secure as on large, loose river cobble, I bend my knees more and prepare myself to use my hands if I need to. I move like a lizard over the shifting rocks.
Stand solidly on the Earth. Connect through your feet.
Bend your knees.
Stand erect.
Bring your shoulders back and drop them down from your ears.
Open your heart.
Lift your chin.
Feel a small wire attaching at the base of your spine and then running up through your vertebral column up and out the top of your head. This imaginary wire is pulling you gently upwards.
Breathe deeply.
Grounded feet.
Bent knees.
Imaginary wire pulls you upward.
Stand like this and breathe slowly.
What comes to you?
Now begin to move slowly with your bent knees, erect spine and loose arms and hands. Walk slowly and mindfully. There is no rush. You are softening and moving as an animal does through nature.
Lately I've been reading and listening to Martin Prechtel, a powerful yellow-haired man who lives and teaches at his school, Bolad's Kitchen, down in New Mexico.
I have some podcasts I've been enjoying. Here's one.
He has a new book I've been reading too: The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise. It's a synthesized version of what he has been writing and speaking about for many years. It has some practical instructions for recovering from the Industrial Growth Society with primary focus on moving Grief and Praise through the human heart. He encourages me to FEEL my grief and let it roll, "so that you look bad when you're finished" he says. After the grief there is more room for the praise. And that is the heart of LIFE.
At one point in the podcast he says something like, "When I'm out in the world I am constantly greeting everything and every body. I am saying, 'hello, hello , hello' to everything."
This consistent acknowledging is something he attributes to his indigenousness. Maintaining connections — he actively interacts with the multi-dimensional world that he inhabits and directs his attention out into the world, allowing his nerves and senses to be open and available so that he might see and be seen.
As you wander in nature, give this a shot. Try saying hello to everything. Look into each tree, rock, stream, blade of grass, bug, bird, scurrying rodent, speck of sand, polished river pebble and acknowledge it and greet it. Introduce yourself. I suppose you cannot really say hello to everything. You would have to probably choose one spot to sit and that would be your afternoon of nature reconnection. Might be valuable.
On your slow walk into nature I encourage you to try saying hello to as much as you have time and energy for. Greet the natural world with humility and reverence and with your beautiful self. See what greeting you receive in return.
Hello. Hello. Hello.
In my experience out loud is best -
After crossing a threshold and stepping into the sacred space of nature I ask myself a simple yet powerful question..
Where am I drawn in this landscape I am exploring? With all that I am sensing and feeling, what is it that pulls me? What is pleasing? What do I want to get closer too? In which direction am I drawn? I sense into the connections I feel. I trust them. I move further in. Deeper.
Where do I want to go sit and spend some time? Where in this natural place do I feel most comfortable, relaxed, and at peace?
After I ask myself questions like this and listen to my heart and my guts - my solar plexus, I begin to move in a particular direction for a while, always listening to what feels right. Sometimes my feelings change, so I change direction - I ask myself again, "where am I drawn?" and begin a new exploration.
This is a wonderful initial activity once crossing over - follow your intuitive heart to the aspects of this place that pull at you.
We're getting to work now. Keep breathing. Walk slowly and mindfully.
We are warming up our nature-connection muscles.
Enjoy that.
Then I go wandering off, following all of my favorite trails to all of the places I like.
I check how everything is doing.
I spend the day admiring things.
- From Byrd Baylor's I'm in Charge of Celebrations.
Countless books, magazine articles, blogs and films have been written and produced to try and illustrate the simple beauty of this activity.
Earlier this month I went surfing in Crescent City, California. My surfing experience that day was wholly embodied. The ocean's immense presence filled me up from root to crown. I could barely contain myself.
The swell was large and powerful, coming out of the Northwest - periodic mountains of water steadily moving through the lineup. As they approached, butterflies began careening around in my stomach - anticipating the wide thick band of power, closing in on me. When I was less experienced in the ocean, sights like this would ignite in me something akin to dread. They were large. I was not.
This day I felt excitement and anticipation as they rolled toward me. I clapped for them as they approached— I felt called to do it— applause for the set waves. CLAP CLAP CLAP— arms flapping like a Pelican, water flying from my hands. The big ones. I clapped and threw water in the air -greeting and honoring these immense gifts of surf at the end of their long voyage, having travelled hundreds of miles across the sea, born of hurricane-force winds in the Gulf of Alaska. "NALU! NALU!"
And as they slid under me, or as I paddled furiously to catch one of them I felt their power surge into and through me— into my arms and back as I efforted on my board.
But I don't have to be surfing waves to feel this. It is more obvious in such situations but I receive the Earth Force Infusion if I am simply aware and open in any natural setting. I just need to open my senses, pay attention and be mindful.
Why do I sometimes forget this?
Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus, John Muir, and other mystics all wandered in the wilderness to get closer to Spirit— to talk with God, whatever that was for them.
People sometimes do things when they enter such buildings: make the sign of the cross, remove shoes or bow.
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To acknowledge my entrance into Nature I do something I learned from a powerful teacher, Steven K Harper. I encourage you to try this the next time you find yourself at the threshold of the Wild World.
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I bring awareness to my feet. I imagine roots growing out of them into the ground. I bend my knees slightly and feel the Earth below.
I breathe.
I bring my hands apart and then clap them once together. This initial clap announces my presence and my intention. The clap says, "Hello Nature. I am here—to connect—to listen—to be one with your sacred body."
I bring my hands apart and clap them together again. This second clap reminds me, "I am here to connect. I intend to be mindfully present in this natural area. My senses are awake. I am open."
Lastly, I bow— to the immensely powerful, life-giving, numinous, ever generous Earth. I humble myself before her.
Taking time to acknowledge the threshold with this simple ritual adds significance and potency to my time in Nature. When I "bow in" like this I pay attention differently.
Where the sidewalk ends...
I know where I'm going and have my pack put together. I am ready to cross the threshold and move into Nature in a mindful manner.
They are significant.
Teeming with diversity and activity.
Boundaries between natural communities are filled with life: river bank, lake shore, ocean beach, where forest meets meadow, the tree line. Different plant, animal, and insect communities meet and merge. These are good places for hunting, stalking, and observing.
There are human made boundaries - where the sidewalk ends... and the wild Earth begins. When going to nature I always cross this civilized/wild threshold. I move from my house to my car to the parking-lot, walk across concrete, blacktop and pavement until...
These portals present me with an opportunity for awareness - for paying attention and noticing not only what is outside of me, but how I am feeling on the inside. It is a time and place for me to re-set and be mindful. I take a deep, slow breath...
The boundary between the developed world and the natural world is worth noticing. What is the relationship between these worlds? How is one effecting the other? How does one support the other? How does one learn from the other? How these two space/times relate to each other is increasingly important on our rapidly changing planet.
As I approach the civilized/wild threshold I slow down, stop, and look around. What do I notice? How do I feel? What are the qualities, characteristics, and spirit of this world I am about to enter?
Facing the Redwood Curtain
The clothing I wear and the gear I choose to put in my pack are important. No cotton, a sit pad, some rain gear, extra layers for staying warm while sitting still, a journal and a pen to write with. Excellent.
In Winter I pack my thermos filled with sweet, spicy tea. It is worth a little extra weight to bring the magical container that is the thermos. Sitting on my sit pad in the cold, drippy forest sipping some hot tea is a sensual experience I cherish.
In most other seasons I bring a quart water bottle which is usually enough for a half-day outing. If I am going for the entire day I bring at least two quarts or one quart and water purification technology. It is important to stay hydrated out there. Another strategy is to pre-hydrate. Put an extra water bottle in the car and drink it on the way to the park. Start your adventure well hydrated.
I take enough to sustain me for the time I will be in nature but not so much that I become distracted. The consumer society and accompanying behaviors are significant obstacles to connecting with Nature and many of us are too consumed with consuming to slow down enough to take a mindful walk in Nature. Everything I put in my pack should serve me in connecting and not distract me from that project.
That said, I do pack more calories in Winter than in warmer seasons. Having enough calories on-board helps me maintain a safe body temperature.
Here is a short list of snacks I sometimes toss in my pack.
- almonds
- chocolate (many calories for not much weight)
- crackers or salty corn chips
- cheese
- jerky
- apples
- medjool dates (nature's most easily assimilated sugar)
- Granola bars
- simple sandwich
-
Sardine-Salad Burrito with raisins, kale, and avocado - YUM!
Cotton, aka "Death Cloth" is not something you want to wear outside in winter or any season with the exception of hottest Summer. Other fabrics are safer like wool or synthetic.
Wet cotton stays wet and dries slowly. If you have wet cotton on your skin and it is cold outside, you will lose heat through evaporation and in winter this can be dangerous.
If you want to save some money on some warm layers I highly recommend thrift stores - wool pants and thin wool sweaters are treasures to be hunted for. If you cannot find the wool (first choice) you will definitely be able to locate some polyester. Thrift stores are shrines to polyester.
It weights next to nothing and can be worn as a beanie or as a head, face, and neck covering. If it gets really cold and windy, the balaclava is indispensable. It covers the jugular veins in the neck out of which much heat escapes.
Returning To Earth experiences and activities are not overly physical. Many of them are observation-based and call for extended periods of time sitting in a solo spot, watching both what is happening outside and within oneself.
If I do not wear enough warm clothing at certain times of year (Fall, Winter, Spring) I can get too cold to focus on the work of observing and connecting with nature since too much of my vital energy and focus is taken up with staying warm, or trying to get warm...
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When I dress in layers it is easy for me to regulate my temperature and stay safe, warm and dry. A simple layering system:
- T-shirt (wool or synthetic)
- light windbreaker with hood
- insulative layer with hood
- Rain jacket With hood
- long underwear
- fleece or wool pants
- Rain Pants
Warm hat
Balaclava
Gloves
Wool Socks
The goal with dressing in layers is to stay warm and dry. If you begin to warm up, you should peel off some layers until you are not hot any more.
If you feel yourself getting too hot, stop and peel a layer. Don't sweat. If you get sweaty and wet, you will have a much harder time maintaining a safe body temperature.
It is a 12-18 inch square of closed cell foam - what people used to call "insulite". As the name suggests - the sit pad is for sitting. It provides some insulation from the ground and reduces convective cooling. It helps you maintain healthy body temperature and keeps you comfortable and thus, more able to relax and connect to nature.
If your body is burning extra energy and calories to maintain a safe temperature, you will feel a low level of anxiety and tension as you are essentially engaged in a kind of battle against what wilderness medicine practitioners refers to as a "cold threat".
Many of the activities in the Returning To Earth curriculum are slow and quiet, involving extended periods of observation and solo sitting. Thus, maintaining body temperature, especially in winter, is critical. The sit pad buys you extra time and makes you more comfortable out there. With that extra time you will be able to slow your thoughts, breathing, and be relaxed enough to connect more deeply to the wisdom and healing power of the Earth.
You can usually find closed cell foam sleeping pads in the camping section of any large department store or in Army surplus stores.
In order to connect to the Earth we sometimes have to be insulated from it. Especially in winter.
To make a Return to Earth you...
- some time
- a willingness to connect
- some softness/a dropping of armor
- conscious breaths
- open senses
- wonder
- curiosity
- quiet mind
- small pack
- a journal
- a sit pad (small square of closed-cell foam)
- appropriate layers for thermo-regulation
- water
- snacks
- Expensive high tech gear
- Go Pro Camera
Because we live in a materialistic narcissistic society, many people assume that in order to spend time outside, they need to have the latest shiny expensive gear and high definition cameras to record their exploits for their Facebook pages. This is not true. Such an attitude can prove a significant barrier to getting outside. You do not need any special gear to spend time out there. You do need to bring enough clothing (ideally made of wool or synthetic) to stay warm, but you do not need to spend large sums of money on the latest outdoor fashions to enjoy your inborn love of nature. In fact, the gear and fascination with it often get in the way of the experience.
If I want to Return To the Earth, I need to locate some undeveloped, open land to explore. Here are a few simple ideas for finding some:
1 - maps. Paper or digital. Locate some maps of your local area and look for patches of green - the usual color used by cartographers to delineate park lands.
2 - Apps - the only app I have found helpful is "Oh Ranger! Park Finder" which makes use of your location to provide you with green spaces, National Parks, State Parks, County Parks, City Parks - all parks. It is easy to use. I recommend it. However, it lists all open green spaces - even public school fields — so before you travel to a location "Oh Ranger!" has recommended, see if it is a park or a soccer field. A soccer field will work, but may be less interesting and potent than a more wild piece of Earth.
3 - Local Environmental Organizations - Through contacting land trusts, Sierra Club chapters, Audubon Society chapters or similar groups you can learn about the great places to hike and explore in your locality.
4 - Friends and humans - talk to the people in your life and ask them if they know of any beautiful natural areas to explore nearby.
5 - retail outdoor stores - most employees of such stores have ideas of where to go - they are adventurous people that often enjoy showcasing their knowledge of the outdoors.
You might think that you need to go to an especially beautiful or dramatic place but that is not the case. All you really need is a little bit of earth and the willingness to connect. Do not worry too much about finding the perfect place to engage in mindful natural connection. It is more important that you get out and do it somewhere.
Do some research and find a few areas in your community that will work for you to engage in your Return to Earth. Maybe find one near your home and another near school or work.
I can talk about nature connection. I can write about it. And I can think about it too. But I feel the most powerful and immediate path to profound Earth connection is to FEEL the connection through my body. To be embodied.
What does "embodied" mean? It means for me to inhabit my body - to take up residence in this fleshy, sensate, fluid filled, nerve-covered meat suit. And to exploit its sensitivities— to experience and feel life. For the purposes of RTE it is to experience, feel and truly drop-into a relationship with nature.
All three of the pillars of RTE move me into my body. My Mind slows down and my body awakens as I engage in:
1) Conscious Breathing
2) Sense Inventory
3) Mindful Connection
The first two in particular... Deep conscious breathing stimulates all of my senses - enables me to access them more easily - and then I can pay attention to what I am experiencing. Without an awakened body - my nature connection can only go so deep. I need to get the blood, the breath, and the cerebral spinal fluid moving and pulsing through my system and be in my body. Take up residence.
My body is THE primary tool for connecting deeper to Nature. It is a sensual/embodied journey this Return to Earth. It is not cerebral - nor intellectual. It is felt.
Next time you are in Nature:
Breathe
Be with all your Senses.
Pay attention.
Get into and stay inside your sensual, feeling body. It is all you need to go deeper in your Earth Relationship.
I realized the other day that Returning To Earth is in need of a simple, and clear structure. That in order to reach as many people as possible and encourage them to make conscious, mindful contact with the healing power of the Earth, I need to simplify and clarify the message and the practice that I am espousing as the route to Healing Nature Connection.
I have identified three practices that, when combined, yield a profoundly relaxing and healing state of mind, body, and soul - and thus to healing. I will continue discussing and exploring Nature Connection and the treatment of Nature Deficit Disorder through the use of these three practices in further posts.
Here they are:
- you are now breathing slowly and consciously and fully aware and observant of all the sensations and feelings in your present environment -
That's it. Three practices:
1) Conscious Breathing
2) Sense Inventory
3) Mindful Natural Connection
Until next time. Explore Nature. Feel your connection. Keep Breathing.
Returning to Earth is a blog about treating Nature Deficit Disorder with Green Exercise, Forest Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, Deep Ecology, Ecopsychology, Shinrin-Yoku, Yoga, and Mindfulness. Some influences include: Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louve, Your Brain on Nature, Joanna Macy, Mark Whitwell, Jay Brown, John Muir, Arne Naess, Rachel Carson, Bill Plotkin, Steven Foster, Meredith Little, Steven K. Harper, Esalen Institute, Gestalt Psychology.
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