Foundational Pillar #5: Nature

“I go to nature to be soothed, healed and have my senses put in order.”

-John Burroughs
The fifth foundational pillar of health and wellness is nature. 

Do you want to rebalance your cortisol levels?

Want to decrease stress and anxiety while improving depression?

Want to feel grounded, rooted, and connected to the actual planet we live on?

The answer is... 
NATURE.

Believe it or not the law of vibrations is not a made up whoo whoo thing that hippies developed. It is an actual scientific law. Every physical thing on the planet puts off vibrations. These can be good, bad, etc. Nature’s vibrations tend to be more good, calming, and connective. Ours tend to be whatever emotion we are feeling that day. 
There are many ways we can get out in nature. Walking, standing, or sitting in the sunshine and feeling its warmth on our skin is one great way. Plus this way you get the added benefit of vitamin D which your body desperately needs, but that is a subject for another time. Another way is taking a walk through nature, think a hike or walking trail through the woods or a nature path. Even getting outside and walking around the neighborhood counts, just make sure you put the phone down and actually look at the nature around you (the sky, grass, trees, etc.). This gets you out of the busy, hustle, and bustle of everyday life and literally slows your body’s stress responses down and helps to lower cortisol levels and inflammation. Plus its a great movement and exercise option. The last option I am going to discuss today is grounding. This is my favorite and is the quickest way to connect to nature. 

Grounding is as literal as it sounds. You simply touch part of your body to a rooted piece of nature, close your eyes, and take 10 deep breaths. Examples: take your shoes off and go put your toes in the grass, dirt, sand, river, stream, pond, or ocean; go put the palms of your hands on a tree. Grounding literally transfers the vibrations from you to the earth and from the earth to you. This leads to an instant decrease in stress and cortisol. Don’t believe me? 
Go try it. 

“Allow nature’s peace to flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.” 

-John Muir