Select Page

Nature as Medicine – Nature is Your Sanctuary – Finding Yourself in Sedona

by | Mar 9, 2021

Nature is Healing

Did you know that in the US, Canada, Scandinavia and Scotland, doctors have started to prescribe Nature at times instead of medical drugs? Within integrative health care in the US, prescribing time in Nature is now used as a way of treating a range of conditions including high blood pressure, anxiety and depression. This is fantastic news that this movement is growing!

Since ancient times, the healing powers of Nature has been acknowledged and used to help people. In order to develop, create, evolve and be healthy, we need to be connected to Nature. Spending time in Nature is often not enough. We need to do this in a way that invites healing interactions. There is a long tradition of this in cultures throughout the world. It’s not just about healing people. It includes healing for the land, river, desert, animals and plants. There are many different healing activities that can be incorporated into a walk in Nature. An activity is likely to be healing for you when it makes room for embodied listening, for stillness and grounded presence, and for sensorial exploration through all 7 of our senses.

Sedona is Sacred

Sedona, as a sacred place, is intended to reconnect people with nature. It helps us find perspective, balance and to renew ourselves. Have you every considered Nature as a Sanctuary, a place of refuge, a place of connecting to your own spirituality among the heart of creation?

I am in awe when I look at mountains, whether they are the snow-capped Swiss Alps or the sun-kissed red rocks of Arizona. Going into the wilderness to find sanctuary expands your connection to your sacred self. Finding Nature as Sanctuary provides an opportunity to listen to our own hearts, to remember how much we want to be alive, and to contemplate the love that binds us all together. In times of uncertainty and fear, it can be very easy to forget our connectedness to each other and to the Earth. We recoil from the news, our projections of the polarizing “others” and the world in an attempt to numb ourselves. These are the times when the spirit and the heart of Nature is needed most.

Spirit Flow Nature as Sanctuary experiences are not done with the primary goal of physical exercise. It is not something to rush through. It requires mindfully moving through the landscape in ways that cultivate presence, opening of all of your senses, and actively communicating with the land and the energy of the land. This gives Nature access to our physical, emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual being. As we do this we begin to perceive ourselves, our minds and our hearts, in a more profound way. Messages from within and without begin to penetrate into our awareness and being even more deeply.

Nature as Sanctuary experiences is best seen as a practice, not a one-time event. Developing a meaningful relationship with nature occurs over time, and is deepened by returning again and again throughout the natural cycles of the seasons. It is a deeply relational practice, in which the relationship itself becomes a field of healing and a source of joyful wellbeing. Like energy healing, meditation, yoga, prayer, working out, Nature as Sanctuary is a practice and is best to learn it from a qualified guide.​

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

There was a study in the early 1990s that showed Americans spend on average 87% of their time indoors and an additional 6% in an enclosed vehicle. That is a shocking 93% of your day spent indoors and only 7% of your life spent outdoors! And, this was prior to the explosion of screen technology, which has become incredibly sophisticated at grabbing and holding our attention and keeping us sedentary, indoors with our eyes fixed on screens – especially our children’s. Does this sound true for you?

There are two types of stress that we usually experience in daily life:

1. Major life stresses, such as divorce, financial/job loss, life altering accidents, serious illnesses

2. Low grade stresses, such as daily life hassles, arguments with strangers, flat tires

With both types, feelings of frustration, worry, irritation, agitation, annoyance, anxiety, or depression arises. When you have more stress, you have higher levels of cortisol in your body. And, while cortisol actually has short term benefits during a crises such as immediate immune support, the longterm effects of elevated levels are detrimental for you on many levels. Chronic cortisol elevations are linked to a cycle of low-grade inflammation and oxidative stress which are cell damaging. Virtually every chronic medical condition has been associated with both of these.

There are many theories as to why Nature is able to relieve the feelings and effects of stress. For me, my Truth is found in direct experience with Nature.

Commonly associated benefits with Nature are often said to include:

  • Reduced stress
  • Boosted immune defense
  • Anti-cancer effects
  • Increased energy
  • Improved sleep
  • Lowered blood pressure
  • Reduced inflammation
  • Reduced risk of obesity
  • Accelerated recovery from surgery

Spirit Flow Sedona’s mission is to encourage and guide individuals to immerse into personal development and transformation through their personal connection to Nature.

We need Nature, and Nature takes care of us. In order for us to live sustainably on this planet, we must recognize and honor this fact.

Come to Sedona and experience something unique. Join a Spirit Flow Nature as Sanctuary experience and connect to your innate self in one of the most beautiful places on Earth – the ancient, healing, red rocks of Arizona.

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – John Muir

 

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *