Let nature expand you beyond your wildest dreams.
On the importance of being an outlier, re-thinking how you spend your time & letting nature make everything in your life better.
When I got pregnant (my son is currently 8 months old ) I promised myself that I’d keep up my varied nature practices.
Well, things didn’t go according to plan.
For context, for more than five years, I’d been doing all sorts of nature connection activities such as grounding or earthing, gardening, hiking trails, dancing outside, fly fishing and doing my seasonal 24-48 hour camping or nature detoxes.
Some of these things I do solo and some with others in small or large groups.
Some as part of my business models and some for pure joy and family and connection time.
These nature aspects of my life are a significant part of joy, connection, wealth, vitality and grounding.
I see so much of life through the lens of nature and everything seems to just right itself the more I am immersed in the obvious and not so obvious benefits.
Well, around month 5 of being pregnant I was shocked that I seemed to put many of these practices in a not so regular place.
Yes, I was pregnant. Yes, emotions. Yes, so many changes happening.
And…I’m calling myself out.
Because there is no excuse to not find ways to be in nature. Because we are nature. We literally need to be in her fabric to thrive in so many ways.
And yet… we look to so many other things to fix the thing that could be fixed simply by these perspectives and practices.
So here I was not feeling myself super pregnant , wondering all these existential things as to what’s wrong and finally I realized.
Oh I need to get dirty and in the sun more often.
When my son was 3 months old I started my daily walks again for long periods and I started to just play in the grass naked and put my hands in the dirt and face my face to the sun and do the smallest of things.
I couldn’t go on some of my bigger adventures but I made it happen.
And guess what? The big shifts? The mind blowing breakthroughs? The quantum leaps?
They didn’t happen quickly.
They happened subtly and with an energy that fetl full of compassionate love.
I could go out and rage and share my dark thoughts with a flower, I could lay in the moss or the grass, I could run like Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans and feel free. I could share my dreams and my hopes through writing under an old oak tree.
There is a compassionate love in nature connection that is indescribable and absolutely necessary to a thriving human psyche.
Things started to really shift and I found myself thinking about nature like a friend again, like I used too. In that deeply held, motherly and fatherly, kinship feeling.
It’s always there, it’s always accessible.
It’s always a place to go if you can attune your mind and body and remember.
What a gift!
Here’s the deal, I can track all the times In my life where things were going REALLY WELL and it was often attributed in some level to me being outside - gardening, hiking, camping, swimming, on retreats or leading retreats, just dancing barefoot in my backgyard, fly fishing- you get the idea.
There is a correlation.
Nature cleanses the rot.
It cleanses the things you think you need to do, to become, it cleanses who you label yourself as, it distills your world to a place, that if you are open and willing- it will continue to give.
It helps you tap into a type of abundance and abundant thinking that actually helps you be brave, solve problems and take bigger risks in life.
Through increased nature connection, you will continue to become an outlier in the best of ways.
You will have a competitive advantage that many in the world don’t see yet as one.
It’s been a joy to get back into the swing of feeling the pulse of nature again, having her on my mind more and more and finding easy and challenging ways to make sure I am constantly tethered to her in my life and businesses in some way.
I don’t like to use the word busy as I think it’s a cop out. So I use the word FULL.
If your life is full but you want it to feel richer, find ways to incorporate varying levels of nature into every part of your life.
HERE IS HOW I INCORPORATE NATURE INTO MY FULL LIFE
Hosting nature retreats for team members in my direct sales business
Doing unplugged, barefoot picnic dinners with friends in our backyard or parks (no phones)
Doing a big camping trip once a year with my husband
Fly fishing with my brother and cousins
Incorporate permaculture principles into my businesses and finances
Four times a year going camping solo for 24-48 hours to simply be in nature and get clear on goals, priorities, etc.
Barefoot hikes with friends
Capturing strategic space in back yard for gardening and also space to move my body outside
Breathwork on my front porch
I eat about 30-40% seasonal veggies in my home
Learning about edible plants in my area
Leading all sorts of nature retreats around various topics for people
Co-hosting wellness gatherings
The trick is to build nature around your life as much as possible- big or small- it all adds up and your life will move more and more towards its most natural expression.
Thanks for reading y’all! I’m so grateful you are here and I take the time to read and respond to every comment!
Stay wild,
Cristina
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Love that!
I loved reading this resonate essay on nature. I hadn’t considered short solo nature overnights and I love this idea! Thanks for the gentle reminder and new ideas.