Tag Archives: nature

Healing Power of Trees

Do you know that trees have the power to heal you? The Japanese know it! They are avid tree lovers and forest bathers. You heard it right! Bathing in trees, spending time around them and soaking up all their great energy.

Trees are powerful medicine

Major studies and experiments have been conducted in Japan to measure the positive effects of trees on humans. The results astound in terms of physical and emotional health. The benefits include improved immune system, lower pulse rate and blood pressure, and reduced incidence of depression. Have I piqued your interest? To find out more, go to this Quartz blog post: The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ is scientifically proven to improve your health.
After you read it, you may just become the next tree bathing convert!

Forest bathing moves West

And lest you think this is just some ‘flash in the pan’ fad, I’m here to tell you, no it is not. In 1982, forest bathing integrated into the national health program in Japan and the studies quoted on health benefits go back as far as 2004. Tree bathing is lately being embraced in our Western culture as an antidote to stress.

A brief excerpt from the Quartz article:

“Julia Plevin, a product designer and urban forest bather, founded San Francisco’s 200-member Forest Bathing Club Meetup in 2014. They gather monthly to escape technology. “It’s an immersive experience,” Plevin explained to Quartz. “So much of our lives are spent interacting with 2D screens. This is such a bummer because there’s a whole 3D world out there! Forest bathing is a break from your phone and computer…from all that noise of social media and email.”

As far as I know, no one has figured out how to bottle this yet. And I hope they never do! I urge you to scout around soon for some trees, and let them work their magic.

They’re waiting for you…

Nature Teaches Us

When I see a solitary tree in a field, I wonder… Are you lonely out there? Do you yearn for the other trees, your family?

But wait, when the farmer cleared the field and if there were others, why did he not cut you down too? Perhaps there was something in you that he felt. A will to live? A purpose not yet fulfilled?

Were you the one tree that looked strong enough to withstand the solitude, to be staunch and strong through every harshness imaginable to guard his field?

But wait, you are NOT alone. Earth, air, sky, clouds, rain, sun… You are nurtured, cradled, and loved by all of it.

Perhaps you demonstrate that not just simply survival – but dare we hope great joy? – is found in your ostensibly lonely journey.

But still I wonder, DO you miss your trees? Your family?

Hmm. Perhaps not. Perhaps you also teach that it is ALL family.

Green Monday

No Monday blues here. I’m bringing you an injection of nature’s green to start your week feeling uplifted and rejuvenated. Think of it as a building block, a foundation for your day (and I hope) for your week. Build on it.

Pen onto your calendar, right now, something that will uplift you each and every day. Commit to those goals. Make your well-being the most important “item” on your calendar this week.

You know the things that bring you personal happiness, that lift your heart. Right now we might be restricted to “the small things”. What you will find out is that the small things are actually the big things…

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.”
~ John Muir

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” ~ John Muir

“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” ~ John Muir

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
~ Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Photos courtesy Luis del Río Pexels, HoliHo Pexels, KANENORI Pixabay, Pixel2013 Pixabay, SplitShire Pexels

Light vs Dark

The classic battle between light and dark is being played out right before our eyes. Remember all those movies where you were cheering for the hero(es) to win and for goodness to prevail?

In our current reality, sometimes it is difficult to know who is on the side of the light. There are many forces at play and there is a lot of double talk that makes it confusing.

Now is the time to use your own power of discernment. Look for the signs and the clues to find the truth. Listen to your gut. This is an essential spiritual guiding thought: Something that truly has your best interests at heart does not want to control you. Control is rooted in dark energy. Energy of the light does not try to dominate and diminish. Light desires expansion, growth, and enlightenment, fulfilling its infinite potentiality.

Now, who has the best interest of you and the rest of humanity at heart?

Inspirational Quotes:

“Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” ~ Veronica Roth

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” ~ Roy T. Bennett

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” ~ Maya Angelou

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Remember this: Nothing is written in the stars. Not these stars, nor any others. No one controls your destiny.” ~ Gregory Maguire

“Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” ~ Ralph Ellison

“From the backstabbing co-worker to the meddling sister-in-law, you are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life.” ~ Anais Nin

The Root of It

No important problem or lesson is ever going to be solved with a bandage approach. That is, salving or treating the surface symptoms of our dissatisfaction or unhappiness. We may feel relief temporarily, but sooner or later we must dig to the very root of any problem to achieve a lasting solution.

This requires some honesty and introspection, and sometimes we just don’t want to face it. We also live in a time where distraction is massively prevalent. We are encouraged to salve our unhappiness with new material toys.

There are good roots and destructive roots within each of us. The trick is to build on the good ones, and heal the ones that keep causing us to hurt our own potential and happiness. We owe it to ourselves to reach for our happiness, but at the end of the day, it’s up to each of us to achieve it. No one is going to hand it to us on a silver platter.

On a larger scale, this idea also applies to our societies. Around the world we are witnessing massive collective dissatisfaction with the way things are being run by our leaders. I see people still falling back on the typical duality A or B thinking to find a solution. “If the usual A isn’t working, then the usual B must be the answer.” It’s the pendulum of history.

But, stop! Are we really examining the cause of the disease? That is where the clues to our growth are to be found. The real answers always lie at the root of the matter.

Inspirational Quotes:

“I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all encumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run. ” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you do not like a certain behavior in others, look within yourself to find the roots of what discomforts you.” ~ Bryant McGill