Nature Therapy

Mermaid Well participated in a Guided Nature Therapy Walk led by Darion at Gem City Wild at Possum Creek MetroPark.

What is Nature Therapy?

Nature Therapy is all about mindfully connecting with nature to improve your mental and physical health.

What are the Benefits of Nature Therapy?

Decreases Heart Rate
Lowers Blood Pressure
Reduces Stress Levels
Decreases Anxiety & Depression
Improves Cognition
Strengthens Immune System
Improves Overall Physical & Mental Fitness

What are Phytoncides?

We learned that phytoncides, oils that trees emit to protect themselves from pathogens & parasites, have been shown to have a direct effect on the activity of natural killer (NK) cells in the body. NK cells are responsible for identifying and destroying potentially harmful organisms that enter the bloodstream. Increased activity of those cells means increased immune defense!

Recounting Our Nature Therapy Experience. What was it like?

Nature Therapy was an incredible, healing, and calming experience. Our guide led us through several nature connection activities including:

Nature Meditation Using All Our Senses. We started sitting in the grass noticing what we could hear (birds, trees, wind), smell, taste, feel (ever wonder what it’s like to hold air in your hands?), and ended up laying in the grass looking up at the sky and noticing what we see.
Slow Walk Along a Nature Trail. Our mission was to notice: “What’s moving?” This was a very slow walk, oftentimes pausing to notice what is moving around us.
Exploratory Walk Along The Water. We spent 15 minutes exploring the shore, watching tiny frogs jump, and finding shells.
Choose a Tree or Plant. We were to imagine what it would be like to be that plant or tree. Dr. Kendra found a black walnut tree with a water view.
Pick an Object. It could be anything that really stood out to you. Together, our group created a beautiful collection of wildflowers, leaves, and more!

We ended the walk with a time of thoughtful gratitude and a special poem reading.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver:

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”