Medicine In Nature

A few years back I left my shoebox apartment in Phoenix, AZ for a journey back home to Winchester, MA. It was just me and my dog, Brego. We took our time traveling through Northern Arizona one more time, exploring Utah’s vast beauty, and wandering Brego’s home in the Rockies of Colorado.

We sailed through seas of green in Nebraska and Iowa, outran tornado warnings in Ohio, and found ourselves slowing down for the Field of Dreams in New York and the deep woods of Vermont. Every leg of our journey home was accompanied by nature’s magic - the medicine we all need.

In my journal, throughout that journey, I often wrote of the feeling of deep healing and immense freedom that came with so much time in solitude with nature. I begged myself not to forget that feeling, and one day. to return to it wholeheartedly.

Being back home in Massachusetts, I’ve made it part of my routine to get out in nature, to explore the woods and find peace by the sea. I’ve continued to self-prescribe the most effective medicine there is - time with nature.

Yet, as proud as I am of my commitment to this healing energy, I’ve found myself reflecting on a weekend away only to reawaken the truth I uncovered some years ago: I need more time with nature.

I just got back from a 4 day trip to the Jersey Shore. I got to see family I hadn’t seen in a while due to COVID. It was so refreshing to reconnect with everyone and to be surrounded by unconditional love. This is a love you expect to experience with family, but what I experienced was even beyond that.

Each morning I got up while the house remained asleep.

I watched the osprey carry their prey out of the ocean, over the houses, and away to their nests. I listened to the waves rehearse their morning hymn as the sun teased the still blue sky with a touch of pink from the horizon. I felt the warmth of a new day enter. Each crashing wave was a collaboration with my beating heart. Each gust of wind carried my breath into oneness with the earth. Each sunrise was a reminder of natural paintings I had seen before, on the open road. I felt the freedom I swore to return to.

The trip was an opportunity for me to reset. I got to step away from the responsibilities I stepped into to make life back home sustainable. I got to reconnect with myself and realign with my spirit.

I didn’t think I left that feeling behind, but it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day only to look back and realize you didn’t take action to keep your dreams alive.

I’m grateful for the trip that rekindled my flame, and I’m fortunate to have a dream that is still very much alive. Should I begin to feel my freedom fade again I will quickly return to nature for another dose of healing and alignment.