Nature: Your True Reality Check
Marlow Shami
Summer 2001. 

Dear NaturalSense Readers--

Summer greetings! I hope this issue of NaturalSense finds you all in good health and spirits. I have lots to be grateful about this time of year. There is 60 acres of forest right out the back door of my home and I am able to walk there almost every day.

Today just as I started off, three turkey hens walked by with their fourteen young chicks. No one rushed, they just filed by making turkey sounds as they foraged for food. Then a young chipmunk caught my attention, not a foot away from my foot. We both stood amazed by one another's presence (for different reasons I am sure). After a few minutes of resonating in mutual interest, the chipmunk made her signature chirp and took off.

I share these touches of nature because they make a difference in my life. When we take the time to not only walk but also respectfully observe and connect with the natural world, we create a healing opportunity. I returned from my walk feeling grounded having my senses put back in order. Not a small feat in this cultural era of java-warp-speed life style.

Anyone can enjoy these benefits anywhere, most anytime. One tool that makes reconnecting with nature easy, fun and effective is the Natural Systems Thinking Process (NSTP). I teach this ecopsychology-based, cutting-edge method in my Growing Nature's Healing Connections summer workshops. I have two workshops coming up in Connecticut this summer. If you would like to learn more about these workshops see my calendar for details. The first starts this Saturday, July 21, at White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield.


Enjoy the summer season. With Earth in Mind and Heart, I wish you all the best.
Marlow Shami

NaturalSense
SUMMER 2001 ISSUE
Volume 2 Issue 6

To become human, one must make room in oneself for the wonders of the universe.
-- South American Indian Saying


CONTENTS:

* Mission statement
* Essay: Nature: Your True Reality Check
* Activity
* Calendar of Events
* Resources

Mission Statement: NaturalSense e-newsletter offers the opportunity to investigate how and why our relationship with nature can be a healing one. We are a part of Nature, not apart from Nature. Many of modern culture's problems are symptoms of our inner nature's longing for connection with our natural environment and authentic self. This column provides examples of how to rekindle connections with Nature and enliven both the personal and collective healing journey into wholeness.

ESSAY
Nature: Your True Reality Check
By Marlow Shami

I was having dinner with my friend Katherine last week. She was telling me about her 25th anniversary trip with her husband Dick. “I have discovered over the years that I must swim to truly feel at peace and relaxed,” her eyes sparkled as she described the colors and feelings she experiences while exploring warm waters far away from the 24/7 family business. I listened and enjoyed her holiday stories. “Wouldn't it be great to be able experience this positive swimming effect any day of the year right at home?” Silence and a very intense stare filled our little corner of the restaurant. “Katherine, this is what my NaturalSense work is all about. I love a holiday far from home--new experiences and new environments too -- but why wait to feel peaceful. One holiday each year doesn't help me through my daily life. Why not learn to enjoy those good feelings every day? Katherine's brown eyes locked onto mine, “How can I do that?”

I went on to explain the Natural Systems Thinking Process (NSTP). This simple process enhances my personal life, the lives of private clients and participants in my workshops. It enables one to develop a sense of grounding, enhance balance, and enliven healing in everyday life. Every nature connecting activity I design or find and share with you on line or in my workshops is based on the NSTP. Dr. Cohen spent 40 years developing and teaching this method (*see the end of this essay for more on Dr. Cohen’s work). 

It is a fact. We feel more alive when more of who we are IS ENLIVENED via contact with the natural world. Whether you live in the city or country, this can happen. Nature is everywhere. The reason nature can enliven our senses is simple: we inherited our senses from nature. When you take a walk with this fact in mind and use the simple activity in NaturalSense E-newsletter you co-create with nature. One outcome nature based activity often brings is an awareness of what is needed for healing. Nature will inform you and inspire your growth. Activities with nature help us locate what we need to in order to create and maintain a good life; a life that supports and contributes to the web of life. We learn to think ecocentrically rather than egocentrically. Nature can elicit in us what is needed this very moment to gain more balance. Like a trusty compass, activities with nature help guide us back home again and again and again.

ACTIVITY:

You know the feeling of walking out the door into the fresh air after a long day at work; that Ahhh feeling when your shoulders lower (not that you noticed they were up to your ears), breathing becomes deeper and your brain starts to relax and, well, you just feel better for no apparent reason? There is a reason we feel this way. Our inner nature is happy to be outdoors, in contact with the elements, with the natural world. A simple ten-minute walk can change one’s mood and perspective. Like magic, something inside shifts. Well, its not magic, it is a natural human response and nature (nature with in and all around us) elicited it! 


SOME FACTS TO REMEMBER:

~~You don’t have to wait for a holiday to relax.

~~A holiday’s healing effect may be experienced any place or time.

~~Your ability to appreciate the present moment allows you to tap a truthful source of wisdom: nature. The sensations and feelings you experience provide healing guidance and experience.

~~When you create moments to experience the present you experience Nature's Reality check.

Step 1. Take a few minutes to prepare for your walk. Set your intention: think of your walk as your creative healing ritual, or a time to visit a very good and wise friend. Find a perspective that works for you. By doing so, you enhance your experience. Stand still and pay attention to how your feet feel on the ground--wiggle your toes, hop up and down a few times—do what ever helps you to get out of your head and into your body. These simple actions bring you into the present. Now take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Quiet your mind. Allow any thoughts drift to into the background.

Step 2. After you feel centered in your body and quiet in mind, walk. Only walk where you feel comfortable. Pay attention to how you are feeling as you walk. Notice how you’re breathing changes depending on the terrain. Experience how your arms and legs move. Notice the personality of the natural places you walk through--colors, textures, smells, sounds, feelings will inform you—these details enliven your experience of the here and now. What you are noticing inside and all around you is Nature’s Reality Check. 

Step 3. The key is to relax and go with where the walk leads you. Just notice what you notice and don’t worry about weather you are doing the activity correctly. Each of you will have your own unique experience. The key is simply staying present and aware as you walk. 

Step 4. On return from your walk, take a few minutes to journal about your walk. Write down three or more things you learned during this activity. I share some observations made by my workshop participants:

~~My painful hip started to feel better as I walked.

~~I had been depressed about the lack of sunshine for a week before my walk. As I did this activity I noticed the birds singing: a pair of robins, goldfinch, grackles and a cardinal. I started to feel better as I listened but didn’t know why. As I write this down it occurs to me that the bird’s song felt like sunshine to me!

~~My breathing felt good. I realized how shallow my breathing is most of the day. The expansion of my lungs amazed me. I felt so much more energy after the walk.

~~I kept noticing how fresh all the green plants looked. The color and the life of the various plants reminded me I need to find ways to feel fresh and colorful, my walking is inspiring a change I need but never recognized till now. 

Nature doesn't speak or read human language. You need not to worry though, we inherited nature’s sensory language and this activity will help you remember it. When we start to use our original language we connect to a vast sensory matrix. This matrix—the web of life -- connects every entity in the universe. It has no words, nature communicates via our many senses (remember we have at least fifty-three senses). Reflect on what comes up for you after your walk. Our rational mind needs the input of nature’s reality check, the web of life. Nature's input is wise and naturally contributes towards balancing human ecology via our sensory connections with nature.

*Michael Cohen Ed. D. - is an ecopsychologist, writer, and musician. He founded Project NatureConnect (PNC) an online resource providing distant learning ecopsychology classes and degree programs. You may learn more about the Natural Systems Thinking Process by viewing the award winning Project NatureConnect web site http://www.ecopsych.com/ Purchase Dr.Cohen’s excellent book Reconnecting With Nature by contacting the PNC office via email: nature@pacificrim.net. Feel free to call me (Marlow) too, if you would like to discuss what PNC has to offer.

RESOURCES:

UTNE READER The Best of the Alternative Press-- This bimonthly magazine's June headline runs: "The Future of Healing: How The Age Of Ecological Medicine Will Keep You Healthier." You will find a series of informative articles on the interrelationship between human and planetary health. Carolyn Raffensperger, Executive Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN) states a "truly holistic medicine extends beyond the mind-body connection to the human-planet whole." A foundation principle in her organization's work is what she calls the precautionary principle. This principle basically states that science and industry must fully assess the impact of their activities before they impose them upon the public and the environment. All the articles make sense. We are no longer dealing with non toxic materials in the making of so many common household products, and the same goes for the products and waste created by agribusiness, pharmaceutical, petroleum and technological industries. We create products and dispose of them as if we were still living in the early 1900's....hmmm, something needs to change eh? Read about what you can do in the June 2001 issue of UTNE Reader Box 7460, Red Oak, IA 51591-0460Tel: 800/736-UTNE, Website: http://www.utne.com/info

Rachel's Environmental & Health News -- Understandable scientific information about human health and the environment. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403 TEL: 888/272-2435, http://www.rachel.org

EarthLight:The Magazine of Spiritual Ecology -- This quarterly magazine and organization is dedicated to the well-being of the Earth Community as a whole and to the Great Work of restoring a sense of the sacred to our world. Drawing on diverse wisdom sources and traditions, EarthLight explores the interface of ecology and religion, science and spirit, cosmology and community. EarthLight 111 Fairmount Ave., Oakland, CA 94611 TEL: 510/451-4926, http://www.earthlight.org

Marlow Shami, BFA -- Marlow is a Holistic Healer, Writer and Teacher. She conducts Nature As Healer workshops, energy healing meditation circles, and publishes the quarterly e-mail newsletter, NaturalSense. Her specialty is the healing connection between humans and the natural world. In her private healing practice in New Haven and Litchfield Counties in Connecticut, she sees both people and animals. You may contact Marlow via e-mail at MShami@aol.com.

READERS WRITE COLUMN
NaturalSense™ from time to time publishes a Reader's Write column. Please don't be shy, email any questions or comments and I'll do my best to respond to them in a future column.
MShami@aol.com
Marlow Shami
P.O. Box 186
Bloomfield, Connecticut 06002 USA

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Copyright © 2001, all rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute NaturalSense™ Newsletter as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. The author of this article is: Marlow D. J. Shami. Contact her by email at: MShami@aol.com, or by phone at (203) 720-0302

Create balance and healing by deepening your relationship with Nature.

Marlow Shami
NaturalSense™ 
PO Box 186
Bloomfield, CT 06002
TEL: (203)720-0302