Dear reader,I will warn you ahead of time that this post veers off into what many call “woo woo”. I have discovered in the last 2.5 years that I am drawn to those practices, ideas, beliefs, etc that fit under the “woo woo” umbrella. Yoga is the only exception. I’ve tried yoga many times and it’s just too slow for me. There’s something about spending 45 minutes to an hour slowly bending my body into complicated human pretzel like poses over and over again that just doesn’t do it for me. I’m down with all the other “woo woo” things though.

I have always connected with nature and being out in nature is what makes my soul sing. I connect with part of myself in nature that I can’t connect with anywhere else. I walk through the forest and feel as if I am home and the tress are my long lost friends always there to greet me. I know in the deepest parts of my soul that nature speaks if we slow down long enough and open our hearts enough to hear what she has to say. I’ve leaned just as much about myself in nature as I have sitting across from A+ therapist each week and no offense to her, but the lessons brought to me by the trees, the sun, the deer, the birds, etc have been a lot more fun to learn.

I’ve been reading the book “Returning Home To Our Bodies: Reimagining the Relationship Between Our Bodies and the World” by Abagail Rose Clarke and it has been both life affirming and life changing. I’ve never met Ms. Clarke, but have already decided if we ever did meet we would be best friends. She connects with, sees, feels, and loves nature in the same ways that I do. I imagine we would spend hours traipsing through the forest in awe of the beauty around us and smiling with delight the entire time. She understands how interconnected we are to the natural world, how the majority of humans are completely oblivious to this interconnectedness, and the power returning to out “natural roots” has for our bodies, minds, spirits, and souls.

In her book she talks about how we are always held by the Earth no matter where we are. The Earth always has us we just have to connect with her loving energy. We connect when we slow down and ground ourselves. Grounding can look like going outside, standing barefoot in the grass, and feeling the energy that radiates through us. It can be sitting on your couch and remembering that your couch sits on a floor, which sits on a foundation, which is buried in the Earth. So even when I’m sitting on my couch watching Gilmore Girls or Real Housewives for umpteenth time, the Earth still has me. I don’t know about you, but for me the idea that I am always held by the natural world that I love so very much is incredibly comforting. It’s comforting to know that even in those moments the I feel as if I am floating and desperately looking for a soft, safe place to land that the Earth is holding me.

For those of you who are skeptical of anything “woo woo” pat yourselves on the back that you’ve continued reading this post this far.. I’m impressed. I’m about to get a little more woo woo on you because I know in the deepest parts of my soul that the natural world has healed me just as much, if not more than the prescriptions I take each day. Connecting with the natural world has allowed me to connect with parts of myself that were long buried under the overwhelming noise of the world that defines worth through productivity and the amount of things checked off ones to do list. The trees have taught me how to surrender. The birds have taught me we always have a song to sing and the world needs our song. The deer have taught me I’m never alone. The rivers have taught me how to let things go. The meandering paths of the forest have taught me how to trust myself and my journey.

If you’ve never tried grounding yourself and connecting back to your roots in the natural world, give it a try! There’s no special steps you have to follow or kit you have to buy for the low, low price of 5 installments of $9.99. You simply have to be open, get outside, slow down, and listen. Listen to the sounds of the natural world around you, be present and notice the extraordinary things right outside our door that often go unnoticed by us, and listen to the sounds of your soul that come forth when you’re outside. Hug a tree, stand barefoot in the grass, bask in the glow of the morning sunlight, sit and listen to the morning melodies of the birds. If you can’t get outside or you don’t enjoy the outdoors, stand on the floor in your house in a way that’s comfortable for you and imagine the bottom of your feet are the roots of a tree grounded into the fertile Earth beneath you. Feel the energy and love that flows from the Earth into you and vice vera. Yes, for those of you skeptical of anything “woo woo” I probably really lost you with that last line, but the Earth does have energy and so do we as humans.

It’s easy and life changing to return to your roots and to know the Earth’s always got you.