When nature meets therapist

"Do you remember who you were before the world told you who you were supposed to be?"

This weekend I decided to try something a little out of the box. A few weeks ago, I had found a coupon on livingsocial for a two hour session of ecotherapy up in Marin County. It sort of peaked my interest. I had never even heard about ecotherapy before, so I did what one would always do in that situation. 

I brought out the google box. 

Turns out, the field of ecotherapy is fairly young to the western world. To the indigenous world, it’s sort of the basis of their very existence. From what I was able to learn from the few hours I spent researching is that ecotherapy is just as it sounds. Using nature and our natural environment as a tool of healing and comfort. Basically going back to the very foundation of who we are and allowing the technological and literal world around us to fall away. 

Basically communing in the woods. 

How many times have we all wandered out for a hike or a bike ride or woken up early to watch the sunrise or taken time to see the sunset? Why? And don’t we always feel so much better after we’ve done so? I know that there have been so many times this past year where I’ve just craved being outside, taking in fresh air, letting my head clear. 

And for that reason, ecotherapy just made sense. Of course this is an actual thing. The idea of having intentional, guided time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is a no brainer. What ecotherapy helps us do is take those moments and purposely use them to get a deeper understanding of who we are and why we are the way that we are. It takes idea of therapy, removes the four walls of the therapist office and brings us back to the simplicity of who we were before the world distracted us. 

Interesting concept.

Right now, I’ve become fairly interested in Native American history and culture (I blame all those episodes of Dr. Quinn) and have been learning about Indigenous healing rituals and natural medicine. I love the idea of vision quests and how ingrained they are with the land and the earth. It boggles my mind that we don’t always understand or seem to acknowledge our connection to the earth. We breath the same air that a tree just created. How can we not see that? It makes a lot of sense and very much reminds me of all the lessons I learned while I was with the Achuar community.  That time in the jungle was one of my most in-tune and peaceful places I’ve been in my life. 

So, I ended up buying the deal out of curiosity and this weekend, headed up to China Beach State Park in San Rafael for the morning. Though I understood the concept of the session, I’ll be honest, I had no idea how it would all play out. 

Inwardly, I felt like one of three things could happen:

•  This would be a fantastic experience that led me on a greater path of inner peace and enlightenment

• This would be a moment of ultimate hippie woo woo and it would lead to an even bigger life movement where I stopped shaving, became a Vegan and started to use hemp oil by the gallon.

• This would just be a fun morning out in the woods. No big changes, just a little more educated. 

      Though the idea of option B becoming a reality was the most entertaining, I’ll admit, I’m crossed somewhere between A and C. 

I arrived at the park just as the rest of the group began to gather. There were about 8 of us altogether (all women---shocking) and our Guide for the day, Guide D, met us near the start of a trail. We had to climb about 300 yards up a fairly steep hill to get to the area that we were going to be meeting in. All of the woman in the group were so different. Group therapy is a bit odd, especially the first time you all meet (and in this case, the only time). You’re expected to automatically be open to talking about challenging issues and sharing pieces of yourself. Two things that are just not natural to me.

Maybe it’s a good thing they’re strangers. 

The topic for this session was taming your inner-critic (aka: here comes the hippie). But it actually makes a lot of sense.  Who doesn’t have that voice in your head that tells you you’re not good enough or not doing enough or not being enough? We focused a lot on figuring out what that voice is, how we tame it and how it can be used as a source of strength (sometimes). Guide D shared some poems with us and gave us an overview of ecotherapy.  We did a few physical activities (minimal on the physical, but we moved around). And we shared feelings. I really enjoyed hearing the other women talk. I liked that we were all of different ages and backgrounds. It was neat hearing people share their struggles and doubts. Guide D did a pretty good job of creating a safe space for all thoughts and feelings. I can see why that would be incredibly important. 

It was a lot to take in in a two hour period. Almost a bit too ambitious---especially for me. I’ve learned that my brain tends to go a million miles and hour----I have lots of thoughts….but what I have trouble with is processing. It takes me awhile to filter through and think about all those thoughts…so two hours was too short, but it help me start to see what needs work on. One of the things that resonated most with me was this idea of “the shoulds.” That inner dialogue that we have that makes you feel like you should be somewhere else, anywhere else.  That where you are at in life at that moment just isn’t good enough. I should be doing this…I should be at this point in my life. I’m in my 30’s shouldn’t I be…

All of those questions and feelings take you away from where you are right now. I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason, but I easily fall down that shoot of “should bes.” Whether it’s a personal life question or a professional one, those darn I shoulds can be an absolute killer. Ecotherapy is apparently good for people who suffer from depression and anxiety. I can see why. There is something so calming about being in nature. They also say that these sorts of therapies are good for life transitions. Big and small. I think that is how historically the Native American’s saw them. Growing into adulthood, getting married, changing careers.

 It’s not quite the same as meditation, but I really enjoyed having a guided purpose. It was much more than just saying, “I’m going to go out for a hike.” But more of a “I’m going to go out for a hike because I am struggling through this and I know the land can help me work through things.”

Guide D gave had us gather visuals of ourselves. I picked a nice green leaf. And he also had get something that represented the critic inside of us. Mine was a rock that was shaped like a slice of pizza (go figure). I won’t go into the nitty gritty of the exercise, but it did give me an opportunity to acknowledge and understand somewhat better the anxieties that I have and why they are there. 

And I liked being outside and seeing the vast world around me. 

So much better than being in a therapist’s office----only looking out from a tiny window.  I’d like to try it again. Maybe go on a day long quest as opposed to the short, introduction. There really wasn’t enough time to digest it all in one sitting (maybe that’s why they make this one so cheap).  I’m definitely going to research ecotherapy more and see what else I can learn about it.

I also think I’d make a fantastic ecotherapy guide. 

So you better watch out Guide D.