Think about what happens when you step outside of your door into nature. Suddenly your world changes just a little. You probably breathe the fresh morning air, notice the light on the horizon, feel a gentle breeze skim across your skin. You see the wind move the leaves in the trees and hear birds singing nearby. Depending on how aware you are, you’ll notice that if you soak in a little bit of nature, you feel… better. It gives you an emotional sense of contentment. Why is this and why is it worth noticing? Is anything really happening that we are not aware of?

All of nature feels connected and works together pretty harmoniously. When you are in nature, or around the creative energy of the Earth and all that lives on it, you can sense the peaceful slow vibe that nature has. It seems that nature promotes its peaceful effect upon each of us. You feel better because something actually shifts emotionally as your physiology changes. Your body relaxes and begins to tune into that slow vibration. If you stay in nature long enough, you may feel like you are part of it because actually, you are. We don’t think about it much but we know that we enjoy how we feel when we are connected to the Earth, to clean air, clean water, the warm sun, beautiful plants and trees, and healthy organic things around us.

Have you ever noticed how you feel when you walk outside barefoot through the grass? Or how about when you stroll barefoot down the beach where the cool water meets the warm sand? Just imagining one of these scenes probably brings some positive feelings and memories to mind for you. Who doesn’t love how that feels? This act of connecting to the Earth is called “grounding” or “earthing.” There are more benefits to grounding than what meet the eye. By walking barefoot on the grass you are getting rid of some of the harmful free electrons that you have been carrying around in your magnetic field. The Earth helps you to discharge them. It’s helpful to know because you are continually being bombarded with electromagnetic energy from cell phones and other digital devices that you use everyday. Grounding gets you closer to being your more natural self again.

There are other processes that occur in our bodies that help us to feel nurtured and connected when we put ourselves in tune with nature, too. It seems that the Creator has built this into us. Studies have shown that when we’re in a room with plants as opposed to a room without them, our stress levels go down. Cortisol levels drop. Alpha waves change in your brain, even if you just look at pictures from nature. Negative emotional states of mind such as anger, depression, anxiety, and aggression reduce when people are in touch with nature. Research done in sleep studies show that grounding a person to the earth during sleep improves the quality of their sleep and reduces stress. Medical records of 345,143 Dutch people were assessed in a 2009 study where they looked at the health status of 24 conditions and diseases. This research revealed that people who live within a kilometer of the woods or a park are healthier than those who don’t. People living in urban areas, away from green areas were found to have a greater incidence of 15 of the 24 conditions. Within the city, people who exercise outside, like jogging in a park are found to be healthier than those who exercise in a gym. Those in the urban areas had more depression and anxiety than those living close to green areas. It seems that nature is really good at balancing the human body and mind.

So how important is it that you spend some time in nature? How important is it to your health? Nature as therapy is becoming widely recognized around the globe, especially in Asia. There they are building nature-centered healing centers in forests to help people overcome emotional and physical pain and stress to improve their sense of well-being. It would make sense to plan the development of hospitals, homes, workplaces and schools in settings where people inside could see nature through their windows and walk outside to be in a green setting. We’ve listed Nature Therapy in The Body Code as something that we humans really do need and you may find that it will show up as you use The Body Code. You might do well to be engaged in your own personal quest for nature’s nurture. It could be a morning walk through the park, putting some live plants in your home or growing a garden. If you don’t choose to get out to be a part of nature, you might ask why to see if you have any imbalances keeping you from doing so. Without a whole lot of effort, you could be feeling the balm of nature’s healing effects in your life. There’s a simple beauty in feeling connected to the greatness of nature, feeling that you are a part of the whole. People are happier when they feel like they belong to something grand. The intelligent energy of nature is alive and well and is there to help you to be healthier and to feel more contentment. It seems that in nature, we have been given a special gift.

By Jean Nelson