Nature-Play: Our Key To Connection & Re-Connection
"If we surrendered to earth's intelligence we could rise up rooted, like trees." -Rilke
Spending time in nature always re-roots me in my own innate happiness & it creatively re-charges me like nothing else.
Carl Jung, renowned psychologist, realized that he was happiest and his most creative ideas came to him while he was building sand castles.
Later he would have his clients return to doing what they did between the ages of 4-10 as part of his therapy process.
During those childhood ages I spent all my time outside. Hours upon hours roaming forests, playing along rivers & streams, walking along the ocean, and climbing anything & everything (hills, mountains, trees, buildings, etc.).
Sometimes I just sat in the grass or in a tree looking upon the skylight.
Connecting with nature. 😇
I also spent a ton of time outside riding my bike, jumping on our giant trampoline doing all sorts of flying acrobatic tricks & rollerblading through the urban jungles like a true badass.
But always I was . . .
Exploring. Myself. Mother Earth. Father Sky.
Communing & connecting. With myself. With the Divine.
And despite the chaos that so many of us experience with our family growing up . . .
I was happy.
Even despite my parents divorce and physical abuse from an older brother who was going through much more hardship than me I still regularly found my way back to inner joy through play in nature.
I have returned to this practice in my adulthood. Whenever I feel stressed or unhappy getting outdoors and connecting with nature is an incredibly simple way to reconnect with myself and this beautiful world we live in.
Though I prefer long jaunts through nature hikes and days spent at the beach I more often just take a walk wherever I happen to be.
Neighborhood walks where I breathe in the trees and plants light my mind & heart on fire. Joy & creativity re-ignited.
At times during the hyper-speed of working in Silicon Valley building a Stanford startup I forget this important connection to Gaia.
And when I do forget it isn't long before I am feeling frazzled & fried.
Yet, all it takes to renew & reconnect is a little play outdoors. A brisk walk taking in the plants & trees. An exhilarating bike ride or a blade session. Hiking, the beach, lawn games & acroyoga/yoga in the park. Or even bouncing on my mini fitness trampoline in the sunshine right outside my house.
Mother Nature. Father Sky. I love you!
Alchemical Learnings:
- Nature is a part of our inner child and our inherent joy & creativity.
- We can easily reconnect to ourselves and the infinite energy of this world by simply getting outside & letting our child-Self play.
- A simple daily morning walk sets the tone for a magical day. I fall out of this habit despite knowing how great it is for me. Especially when the weather is cold/wet. Nonetheless, I bike to the gym weekly (even in the rain) so I proactively get my outdoor charge no matter what. [So stop being so hard on yourself, Justin.]
- Don't make it hard to reconnect if limited on time. Even 5 minutes walking outside wherever one is at the moment (even the office) can work wonders.
- Having live plants (flowers, bamboo, succulents, etc) in the work-space & home is a simple life-hack that can keep me connected even when I am unable to get outdoors. Like when I am feeling like too much of a baby to go out in the rain or claiming to be "too busy."
- Play outside is like reconnecting with childhood bliss. It's not gone. We just have to remember. Remembering that "actually counts" happens through action. Time to go rollerblade & do outdoor acroyoga & frisbee with my fiancé! Often it’s even more magical when shared with others.
Alchemical Opportunity for the reader:
- What did you do between the ages of 4-10? Can you re-instill your childhood practice of play in your life now?
- Can you make it a daily habit (aka daily ritual) to just go outside and consciously connect with nature for a few minutes? If a walk sounds like too much, how about a 5-minute sit? Still too much? Smell a flower or stare at a plant.
- Go buy yourself some plants and arm your physical space with the power of Gaia. Any that catch your fancy will do. Plenty of studies out there showing how amazing this is for your health & happiness (Google it).
- Play outside. Pick whatever comes to mind. Don't make it hard. The key is to take action. Today.
We were conceived in connection & joy. And all we have to do to reconnect to our true Self is reconnect with Mother Earth & Father Sky and play with their healing touch & gaze upon us.
We are all children of this Universe.
Let us remember.
And before I go... How do you play outside?
In alchemy & service,
P.S. If you enjoyed this #SpiritualHipster reflection and want to continue to empower your life in all ways sign up for my NEWSLETTER! We can foster continuous positive growth & transformation by consciously proactively programming our environment to keep feeding it to us (like via email). 😉
