The Myth that Nature Heals - Myth-busting Week, Day 6

We often hear that nature heals us. 🌿Go for a walk in the woods.

🌿Sit by the sea.

🌿Get some fresh air.

🌿Let the trees restore you.

There’s truth in it - but also a myth.

Nature can calm us, restore attention, reduce stress and give us a sense of perspective. But nature doesn’t magically cure grief, depression, trauma, illness or exhaustion. Sometimes we need a little help with that.

For someone experiencing high anxiety, 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈. Wide open spaces, unfamiliar paths, being alone, unpredictable sounds, weather, insects, getting lost- what feels restorative to one person can feel overwhelming to another.

Sometimes “go outside” becomes an easy answer to problems that aren't easy at all.

Maybe the more honest idea is this:

𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓.

🌿And sometimes that might mean a forest walk.

🌿Sometimes it might mean sitting on a doorstep for five minutes.

🌿Sometimes it might mean looking out of a window at a tree.

There is no right way to connect with nature.

𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚.

Nature Therapy