If you’re going through a difficult time, finding yourself more stressed than normal or just need to get back to feeling like you, I would point you toward immersing yourself in nature.

I’m a huge believer that nature heals. I say this on multiple levels: physically, mentally and emotionally. I know that this is no surprise to hear nor anything that hasn’t been supported by science or heard before, but I just feel compelled to write about the importance of connecting to the natural elements.

Here is why:

Get Quiet

Disconnecting from the noise and demands of your everyday life and planting yourself in nature provides the kind of quiet where you have the opportunity to ground and hear your own self. Surrounding yourself with the sounds and natural flow of nature offers you the opportunity to sink into your inner world and hear your intuition with more ease.

Ground Down

Feel the earth beneath your feet. Take off your shoes and ground down into the soil of the earth. Your skins contact with the earth can be rooting. A great visual exercise to practice when your bare feet make contact with the ground is to imagine roots growing out of the bottoms of your feet and anchoring down in the soil below. This visualization can literally help you feel more grounded in your life.

There is Something Bigger Than You

Listening to the sounds of the animals, the wind, feeling the sun or the rain on your skin and watching the movement of life provides reminders that there is something bigger than you at play. Often, when we’re caught up in the "busyness" of our own lives, we can become consumed by our own thoughts and become off balance. The realization that we're being supported by something bigger; something outside of ourself can help us to get out of our own way.

There is a Natural Flow

Onlooking nature invites us to witness the cycle of life that is always in forward motion. Something has to die in order for something to live. Ones ending is another’s beginning. These are concepts that also apply to our life as humans. It can be hard to believe in the natural flow of our own lives. Especially when things aren’t flowing as we would like them too. When we get caught in our own agenda about when and how events should be happening to and for us, we create a lot of suffering. Nature reminds us to let go and let flow.

With that said……go jump in the ocean, go hiking in the mountains, count the stars, look at the moon, feel the sun, listen to the morning birds, get out there in one way or another and experience the healing energy of nature.

* The image was taken in by Amy Lynn Bjornson.