The Healing Power of Nature

I have been noticing lately how disconnected we as a society are from nature. We’re constantly on our phones and devices, rushing from one thing to the next, grabbing convenience food on the go, and staying ‘too busy’ to take care of ourselves. 

There are days when I barely even step outside, and my kids act like it’s torture if I tell them to find someting to do outside. What happened to the days when kids had nothing to do except play outside? (I age myself when I admit that’s what I remember doing most in my childhood!).

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as I’m trying to heal my body from the effects of  stress and anxiety in my life. I’ve tried all different kinds of treatments, remedies and prescriptions, but what if it’s as simple as tapping into the healing power of nature?

If you think about it, God created the very first humans, Adam and Eve, and placed them in the garden of Eden. The garden had trees of every kind with edible food and a river running through it. Before they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed.

They had everything they needed right there in that garden - food, water, shelter, companionship. God created the very first humans to live off the land, which he created for them, and to live in unity with nature.

God created us to live in nature, and we are still meant to be in nature.

Don’t get me wrong, as a society we’ve made some great advances. But in the process of trying to make life better, quicker, simpler, more convenient, newer and flashier, could it be that we have lost sight of the most important thing? The very thing God created for us?

Nature is God’s most marvelous creation, and he made it for us. Through nature, God speaks to us, teaches us, and provides for us. He shows his love for us in the magnitude of its beauty. 

A gorgeous sunset, a rainbow, bright colorful flowers, the vast ocean, the magnificent mountains, the winding path of a river, the power of a thunderstorm, the stars in the night sky…all God’s creation, designed just for us. 

I am filled with awe and wonder when I take time to notice and appreciate these things. I feel humbled by their greatness and the incredible love our creator demonstrates to us through these gifts of nature.

There is healing power in nature. Nature engages all of our senses, restores our minds, and helps bring our bodies back to their natural rhythms, to the way we were created to live in connection with the earth. Don’t you feel something start to settle inside of you when you’re outdoors? 

Being in nature can be as simple as taking a walk, playing at a park, sitting beside a stream, gardening or planting flowers, standing barefoot in the sand, pausing to admire the sunset, breathing in the clean, fresh air, listening to the sounds of the critters in the forest, looking up into the trees. 

My favorite place to be is on a trail near the water or mountains. I feel blessed to live in Colorado and have easy access to both. Water has an incredible calming effect on me, and the mountains remind me that if God can create something like that he can do anything.

And, as much as they fight it, my kids are so much happier when they spend time outdoors. They have more energy, sleep better, have better moods, and engage their creativity in a way that doesn’t happen when they’re in front of a screen.

Slowing down, pausing, taking time to connect with nature, and tapping into its healing powers can do wonders for our stress, anxiety, and overall well-being.

And not just being in nature, but eating foods that come from nature. Our food is more highly processed than ever, and our country is more unhealthy than ever. I don’t doubt that there’s a strong correlation. 

In my own work to heal my body, I’ve had to cut out so much of the processed foods I was eating, foods that cause inflammation, gut issues, headaches, system imbalances, weight gain, low energy, and even affect my mood. My body feels so much better when I feed it whole foods that come straight from the earth. 

There’s no fancy diet, just the foods that our bodies were created to consume. Foods that aren’t processed with all the added junk that’s literally making us sick. There was no fast food or packaged foods in the garden of Eden! Just the food that came from the earth.

There’s healing power in the foods that nature provides because that’s what we were created to consume. 

I recently watched The Earthing Movie, which has changed the approach I’m taking to healing my body. Like I said, I’ve tried the medical route, which has offered medications as a solution, but has never really identified the cause of all the issues my body was having, other than stress. 

This documentary provides scientific evidence for the healing powers of nature. Spending more time in nature can heal your body. So simple, yet so powerful.  

It strikes me as ironic that this seems so contrary to our world right now, that we have become so advanced, but we seem to have gotten so far away from our creator and how he created us to live. The most simple solution to our well-being is right there, available and accessible to us, calling to us with its wonder and magnificence. 

Harnessing the healing power of nature is within our reach. All we have to do is step into it, experience it, and receive it.

I’m committing to spending more time outside and eating more natural whole foods. I’m committing to my health and well-being, my peace of mind, slowing down and connecting to nature with all my senses, and appreciating God’s beautiful creation. 

How about you? What is one thing you can do this week to tap into the healing power of nature?

I’m going to leave you with this Bible verse that reminds us about God’s creation and how we were made in his image. 

"But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:7-10)