Six questions to deepen your nature connection

How can a deeper connection with nature help you?

Communing with nature has abundant rewards that humans sense on a primal level. For example, the marvel of sunset seems to cast a spell, if only fleeting, of understanding we’re interdependent with something more significant. 

And even in the chaos of modern life, we each hold a sleeper cell of DNA—remnants of our hunter-gatherer biology from 30,000 years ago—waiting to deliver the benefits of reuniting with the land:

1. Enjoy a sense of belonging from feeling a part of nature’s interdependence.
2. Reinforce confidence in your resiliency in daily life. Nature is constantly changing, so you can handle what you face. 
3. Engage with a sense of purpose and meaning. Because everything in nature has a purpose.

Furthermore, a growing body of research points to the beneficial effects of exposure to the Natural World on health, reducing stress, and promoting healing. Some studies further clarify that only 20 minutes daily (of immersive Natural experiences) are essential to producing lasting benefits such as lower blood pressure, higher concentration, improved mental health, regulating cortisol levels, neutralizing inflammation, and even higher sexual satisfaction.

Nature is also omnipresent, making it the perfect partner in a lasting relationship. The park down the street, the landscape around your home, or even the fir trees along the highway are examples of nature’s intelligence, allowing you to connect everywhere you look.

While you might already have ideas and traditions about enjoying nature, asking these questions opens you to a robust exchange with the Natural World in ways that make your experiences in the outdoors more meaningful. 

Is Nature Connection the same thing as Forest Bathing?  

Forest bathing, or Shinrin Yoku, is a concept that originated in Japan in the 1980s as its population migrated from rural to urban living to support a booming economy based on manufacturing and technology. However, in this transition, companies found that their employees were prone to sickness and burnout.

Japan’s government commissioned studies to get to the root problem. They found empirical proof that a mindful re-connection to the Natural World worked well as a remedy against the stress of daily life in a demanding corporate environment.

The concept of “forest bathing” comes from the phytoncides and other essential oils emitted from forest trees. They quite literally rain down. Several studies have shown that the fragrance of phytoncides reduces stress and promotes immunocyte growth, including natural killer (NK) cells.

Question 2: How can you cultivate intention? 

Springing nicely from opting into nature, curiosity about aligning your heart, mind, and spirit—or feelings, thoughts, and intuition—with the organic world will pay huge dividends. Ask yourself, “How can I connect my wild nature with nature’s intelligence?”

This step is a “plugging in” of sorts. Imagine a two-way conduit from your brain, heart, and gut into a tree standing before you, enabling information to flow freely back and forth in an alternating current.

Another way to look at this is to ask the natural world for assistance—whether that be an authentic connection for wellness, healing heartache, or facing awakening questions like “What steps do I take to find a new job?” The natural world is unbiased and unconditionally supportive. It is an excellent place to offer your authentic feelings, thoughts, and instincts.

While this might seem like a lot of taking without giving back, remember that when you ground in the land or work to heal yourself, you add goodness to the collective. You’re more likely to manage emotions to make decisions from a place of grounding and self-clarity, which has ripple effects on your loved ones, community, and the planet.

Question 3: How do you remain present (continued)?

Ponder these six fears that arise frequently when people explore the wilderness of their own lives. Do any of these resonate with you? If one makes you feel defensive, ask yourself why. What do you notice when reading about fear? These golden insights provide reinforcement going into nature, so keep curious.

1. Fear of stillness.

This can also be a fear of silence, such as a pregnant pause in a conversation. Fear of stillness can lead to engaging in external distractions like media, technology, and talking while in nature. 

2. Fear of brain inaction.

Also known as the monkey brain, this is the need for your mind to keep spooling at a pace that isn’t sustainable but perceived to be required. 

3. Fear of not knowing.

This is the family of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and wanting to control the narrative. Sometimes, I see people stopping their momentum to look up the type of tree on an app or survey the map to see how much further the waterfall is. Safety realities, like wild animals, can also emerge as a fear of not knowing. In this case, engage nature in a beautiful city park or arboretum until you feel more comfortable in the great outdoors.

4. Fear of the present.

Time travel is a regular occurrence with people I guide into the wilderness of their own lives. Are you pondering your next hike? Or remember how a different hike was better? You’re time traveling, distracting yourself from the present medicine of nature.

5. Fear of not being good enough.

This is the family of competition and conquering nature. For example, focusing on reaching the waterfall for a photo op to say to the world, “We did it = we conquered it,” distracts from potential messages from nature’s intelligence along the path. Sometimes, this shows up when pursuing the perfect flower, viewpoint, or anything using the word “perfect.” 

6. Fear of the self. 

Since nature is a powerful ally that helps you see your wild nature more clearly, it might be scary to see yourself more clearly. This is because “waking up” exposes the darker parts of your personality—or shadow. Acknowledging success can be part of this fear because of deep-rooted cultural beliefs about “when the other shoe is going to drop and take this all away.” 

Question 5: What do you notice?

This question is the culmination of the other four. By this point, if you’ve opted into nature, aligned your heart, mind, and spirit, focused on the now, and synched up with your natural pace, you’re well-aligned to interact with nature’s intelligence. Ask yourself questions about the experience.

Engaging land spirits requires attention to bodily sensations, instincts, feelings, and thoughts about the natural surroundings. For example, you may keep looking at the birds flying above or notice a particular plant among the collage of life. In these moments, you can trust anything is possible and ask the land spirits for clarity. Remember, guidance and information may take various forms, so keep your senses open.

Ask questions about nature and your own nature, and be open to what comes next.

When working with people in forest bathing sessions, I often hear them say, “This sounds strange, but the tree just told me…” Ask yourself how you can be curious instead of judging your experience through the lens of modern-day culture, which, as mentioned, cannot explain nature’s intelligence in tangible human ways.