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The Healing Power of Nature – A Psychological Take

Human beings are created as both spiritual beings and creatures of the earth. We need to nurture both aspects of ourselves in order to be balanced.

Are you suffering from excessive worry or have difficulty regulating your emotions? Have you been dieting and exercising but you cannot lose weight? Do you have tension headaches, or are you often irritable?

If the answer is yes, then consider the possibility that you are out of synch with your own natural rhythms.

The Healing Power of Nature - A Psychological Take

When you are out of synch with your own natural rhythm, then you are likely out of synch with nature herself.

There is a subtle link between our spiritual essence and our body. When you consider what you are made up of as a human being, consider yourself as “graduations” of awareness.

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This awareness is the essence of you.  It contains spiritual, emotional, mental, psychological, and physical expressions, or graduations.

With that said, the laws of physics and quantum physics demonstrate that everything in the universe, the world, and the earth is an expression of energy. 

That which holds the universe together is the same “stuff” that your own thoughts in your mind are made of.

Humans in Harmony with Nature

Nature expressed as energy is a perfect system operating with and through us and all that there is. It is holding us together and helping us to differentiate.

Harmonize with this principle, and you will harmonize with nature.  This is a path to wholeness.

When we pray, we are synchronizing our spiritual selves with this principle.

We are quieting our minds, regulating our emotions, and engaging our physical bodies so that we can bring all aspects of ourselves into synch with the earth, the universe, and Allah Himself.

The Healing Power of Nature - A Psychological Take

Prayer is a way to momentarily transcend our environment.  To complete our existence, we also need to ground ourselves in healthy ways in our environment.

Most of us are forced to live unhealthy lives with overwork in an artificial surrounding and depend more and more on technologies that remove us from the direct experience of nature. 

So we need to make a conscious effort to reconnect to the earth, sky, and universe, which are actually a part of who we are as human beings.

When we are disconnected from nature, we become disconnected from our own beings. 

So, even if we are praying faithfully, we might not feel connected to Allah, because we are so disconnected from ourselves. 

How can we bring ourselves (our soul) to Allah in prayer this way?

Here are some tips to help you connect to nature. We must revive them within ourselves in order to live holistic lives that we can dedicate to the sake of Allah.

By integrating these simple practices into your daily life, you will integrate your own self with the source of your being.

This will greatly reduce stress, regulate emotions, rebalance your energy system, and alleviate many physical and emotional manifestations of imbalance, such as headaches and states of irritation.

How to Connect with Nature?

First, set your intention to connect with nature for the purpose of receiving healing and to rebalance for the purpose of extending this healing energy to others and the world.

You can set your intention by affirming it, asking Allah for help, and allowing yourself to become His instrument.

Once you have set your intention and are consciously aware of your absolute integral part of nature and thus your connection to it, go out and feel your oneness with nature.

Balance

If you are feeling unbalanced and unfocused, take a walk in an open area.

When there is any grass or dirt and the weather permits, take your shoes off and feel the ground beneath your feet.

If you can, actually lay down on the ground and spend some time experiencing being in nature.

The Healing Power of Nature - A Psychological Take

Purification

In the case of experiencing emotional upset and an inability to regulate your emotions with a lot of negative runaway thoughts, get yourself into some water.

If you can swim in warm ocean water or find a river or a lake, this is excellent.

Find privacy for modesty. It is really helpful to be able to wear thin clothing or a suit that allows the water to wash your skin.

By doing this in nature, you feel the sky, the wind, the sun, and the water, and this will truly rebalance your soul.

If this is unavailable but you have access to a shower, then take a very long shower or bath and then take a long walk afterward.

Daily Regeneration

Take a walk for 30 minutes or more every day.

At the beginning of your walk, set your intention. When you walk, consciously focus on your environment.

Look at the sky and notice where the sun is. Look at the clouds and take note. Feel the cold, the warmth, or the wind around you.

Look for flowers, plants, animals, and birds. Even in urban areas, you will see all of this if you look.

The Healing Power of Nature - A Psychological Take

Feel what it is like to be part of Allah’s creation. This kind of walking is different from walking for physical exercise.

You don’t need to be in a hurry. This is not the walk that you use to process the thoughts in your mind. (Although this is also good.)

But the regeneration walk is one in which you quiet your mind and practice the art of mindfulness.

Pay attention to your body, your stride, and to your breath.

Develop thoughts of thankfulness to Allah for His beautiful creation and for your own being and existence within it.

If you do this three to six days per week, you will be surprised to see how your effectiveness in your personal world of family, relations, and work will increase.

You will begin to feel more harmonious in your “human” environments.

Transformation and Maintenance

One of the most effective efforts you can make for the purpose of connecting to and remaining connected to nature is to synchronize yourself with nature’s patterns.

Do this by decorating your environment so that it synchronizes with the outdoor ones.

For example, if you are in the mountains and you have four seasons, change your home according to the seasons and bring in items (gifts) from the outdoors.

In the fall, bring in pine cones, colored leaves, etc.

If you live by the ocean, walk along the beach and find nature’s treasure of seashells and driftwood.

This really helps a lot, and it does not cost any money. You will be surprised at how beautiful your home or work environment can become with just a few touches from your own backyard.

In addition to this, Muslims have the added benefit of tuning into the energy of both the earth and the universe by following the Islamic calendar and remaining consciously in tune with the phases of the moon.

Increase your awareness and pay attention to the night sky.

The article is from the archives.

About Maryam Bachmeier
Dr. Bachmeier is a clinical psychologist who has been working in the mental health field for over 15 years. She is also a former adjunct professor at Argosy University, writer, and consultant in the areas of mental health, cultural, and relationship issues.