Yoga and Meditation

Usually ecotherapies are more focused on experiential learning, especially when compared to traditional talking therapies. Participants learn through taking part in activities and by immersing themselves in the natural environment, as well as by talking about their insights and experiences. As the focus is largely on experiential learning rather than talking and analysis, many are surprised by how easily change occurs. Ecotherapy seems to be particularly helpful when participants have difficulty in expressing their thoughts and feelings, or when those thoughts are usually outside their normal conscious awareness.

As humans we seem drawn, almost unconsciously, to activities which involve the natural environment. Research suggests human identity, emotional well-being, and personal fulfilment depend on our relationship with nature. People are already aware of the beneficial psychological effects of simply walking in a forest or the mountains or being on a beach,. I’m sure it is no accident that we are drawn to areas of natural beauty when taking our holidays. According to recent research people suffering from issues such as anxiety, depression, and addictions have all responded very well to outdoor nature based therapies.

Outdoor Nature-based therapies such as Walking Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, Nature Awareness, and Pet-Assisted Therapy, all deliberately take this concept much further by actively utilising a connection with nature as part of the personal change process to enhance your psychological and spiritual health and well-being.

The general aim is to…

1. challenge your unhelpful thought patterns and perceived limitations, and develop insight into your own strengths, through the use of the natural environment and challenging nature-based activities.

2. develop a deeper understanding of how you relate to others, yourself, and your life, by reflecting on any symbolic or metaphorical relationships between the nature-based activities and your own life

3. process your new understandings and learnings through sharing thoughts and reflections in a relaxed, safe, constructive, supportive, non-judgemental and respectful environment

4. integrate your new learnings and positive resources so that they become available in your everyday life

You may wish to seek out the help of a professional ecotherapist, if you are suffering from issues such as anxiety, depression, addiction, low self esteem or confidence.

Could ecotherapy be suitable for?

Some people simply feel uncomfortable with the traditional idea of sitting in a room talking to a therapist or coach, and would prefer to learn by doing and being, rather than talking and analysing. If you are someone who has an interest in nature, and you love outdoor activities then nature-based therapies and coaching could be worth investigating.

Nigel Magowan is a nature-based therapist and psychotherapist who regularly works with people who have anxiety, confidence, depression and addiction issues. To find out more about Nigel and his ecotherapy and coaching visit his website www.ecotherapy.eu

Nature-based therapies utilise an experiential connection with nature as a major part of the personal change process. An umbrella term for a whole range of nature-based therapies is Ecotherapy.

Ecotherapy is a relatively new field of therapy, but one which has many ancient roots, and as such, it draws its ideas from both modern and ancients practices. Unlike us, our ancestors would have seen little or no separation between themselves and the natural world they lived in. Many native cultures today still live in a harmonious relationship with nature, interacting with nature’s rhythms, to sustain and heal, physically, mentally and spiritually. In native cultures, the shaman would in effect be the equivalent of our modern doctor, counsellor and psychotherapist.

The nature-based healing practices of many native cultures are now being heavily researched and integrated with modern therapeutic practices under the umbrella term of ‘ecotherapy.’ It is a selection of these practices that are used during my workshops and one-to-one nature based therapy sessions.

Why do we need ecotherapy?

In industrialised countries we now spend more than 90% of our time indoors. To make matters worse only a small percentage of our time outdoors is actually spent in a natural environment. As a result our modern society has become increasingly disconnected from the natural world.

For millennia we have existed in a very close relationship with the natural world, and have been intrinsically connected to the rhythms of our natural environment, from our water and food, to the changing of the seasons. Human evolution has been so closely intertwined with our environment, that our need for a relationship with nature must reside in our very genes. Our genetic make-up has barely changed over the last 10000 years: an almost insignificant change of 0.005%. Therefore it would seem that despite our modern society and technological advancements, we are still genetically hard-wired to need to co-exist in close relationship with the natural environment.

We are drawn almost unconsciously to activities which involve the natural environment. I’m sure it is no accident that many of us take our holidays in areas of natural beauty, such as mountains beaches and forests. Research suggests that our relationship with nature positively affects our emotional well-being, human identity and personal fulfilment.

Some researchers now believe that the internal conflicts that can cause behavioural and emotional problems can be caused or at the very least intensified by our modern society’s disconnection from the natural world and our in-built need to relate to it.

It would appear that there is a strong need for us to redress the balance and find ways of re-integrating nature back into our lives.

A Solution

The use of nature to heal and enhance our well-being, physically, mentally and spritually, has been around probably as long as humans have existed. Man has only relatively recently become more disconnected and isolated from the natural world. In our modern society, that in-built need for relationship with nature has become disrupted, leaving us unbalanced and open to a variety of mental and emotional problems.

Research has shown that just spending time outdoors in green space can have significant benefits on your mental well-being. This can be as simple as spending some time gardening, or sitting in your local park, or spending quality time with a pet, or going for a walk in the countryside. it may be worth seeking out the help of a professional and qualified ecotherapist. You may wish to seek out the help of a professional ecotherapist, if you are suffering from more severe issues, such as anxiety, depression, addiction, low self esteem or confidence.

Ecotherapies such as Wilderness Therapy, Pet-Assisted Therapy, Equine-Assisted Therapy, Nature Awareness, Green Therapy, Horticultural Therapy and Walking Therapy, all take this concept much further by actively utilising a connection with nature as part of the therapeutic process to enhance your psychological and spiritual health and well-being.

Nature-based Therapies and Traditional Talking Therapies

Usually ecotherapies are more focused on experiential learning, especially when compared to traditional talking therapies. Participants learn through taking part in activities and by immersing themselves in the natural environment, as well as by talking about their insights and experiences. As the focus is largely on experiential learning rather than talking and analysis, many are surprised by how easily change occurs. Ecotherapy seems to be particularly helpful when participants have difficulty in expressing their thoughts and feelings, or when those thoughts are usually outside their normal conscious awareness.

The overall aim is to…

1. challenge your perceived limitations and unhelpful thought patterns, and develop greater awareness of your own strengths, through the use of the natural environment and challenging nature-based activities.

2. develop a deeper understanding of how you relate to others, yourself, and your life, by reflecting on any symbolic or metaphorical relationships between the nature-based activities and your own life

3. process your new learnings through sharing insights in a relaxed, constructive, supportive, non-judgemental and respectful environment

4. integrate your new learnings so that they become available in your everyday life

Could nature-based therapies and coaching be suitable for?

If you are someone who has an interest in nature, and you love the outdoors, or perhaps you just want to try something different then nature-based personal development could be worth investigating. More and more research is showing that nature based therapies can be effective treatments for issues such as depression, anxieties, addictions, confidence building and relationship skills.

To find out more about Nigel Magowan and his wilderness therapy and coaching visit his website www.ecotherapy.eu Nigel is an wilderness therapist and psychotherapist who works with people who have anxiety, confidence, depression and addiction issues.

There is a lot of nonsense talked about meditation. I do not mean what it can do for you because that is difficult to prove one way or the other. I have read people saying that they found all sorts of things in meditation and who am I to say that they did not merely because I have not had the exactly same experience.

I believe that there are many stages of evolution and therefore what one person experiences in one way another might experience in a entirely different way.

No, I mean that there is a lot of rubbish talked about how one has to meditate. I am reading an article this moment by someone who says: ‘… for a successful meditation practice, everything has to be perfect ….. the room has to be set up in such a way …’ and so it goes on. The person who wrote that piece appears never to have even thought let alone ever meditated.

Meditation has always been most often carried out by people with a spiritual bent. Of those people, most people who meditated were monks, because they were seeking enlightenment and had the time and tranquility to meditate. It was difficult to find the time or the quietness if you were a subsistence farmer with ten kids running around.

Anyway, lower orders of monks are not famous for living opulent lives where ‘everything … is ideal’. They live quiet lives and when they want to meditate, they will not be disturbed, no matter where they are but particularly in their cells.

My father used to drive out to a cliff top and meditate behind a bush looking out 100 feet over the Bristol Channel. Frequently he did it in the middle of the night.

It is best that the people you live with understand that when you want to meditate that they should endeavor not to make a great deal of noise and certainly not call you by name or barge into the room where you are.

How you can accomplish this in your household, you know better than I, but talking to cohabitants and displaying a sign in a prominent position can help as can always meditating at the same hour of the day, but is not usually practical. Most of us have to take our free time while we can.

Turn off anything that makes a noise. Turn off phones and even the door bell, if you can. Open the window, if it is not unbearably cold or raining cats and dogs. Take a shower and put on loose-fitting comfortable clothes like pyjamas.

Sit on the floor, if you can; cross-legged, if you can. If you are nearly there, try sitting on a cushion or pillow. There are items known as zafu or meditation pillows, which are small and thick.

Some are round and others are square, but a round zafu might be 12 inches in diameter and four to six inches in thickness. This is to raise you off the ground enough to take the strain off your hips and knees, if you are not used to sitting cross-legged.

It will encourage a correct posture, that is a straight back. It is also softer on the behind and when you are sitting comfortably, you may begin.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now concerned with the waterproof mattress pads. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Egg Crate Mattress Pad For Sale.

Are you feeling depressed and agitated because you can no longer spend money like you used to and go out and enjoy life with your family? Economy may be forcing you to spend only on necessities. You can still explore way and means to look for doing something that makes you happy or perhaps find a place that gives you quiet and peace. In fact that getaway place can be just next to your home and you may not have realized.

While getting everyone into your station wagon can be quite a hassle, going alone by yourself is also not an option. But then what are your options? Look around and try to think.

How about building a Japanese Garden in the backyard of your home? Borrow the concept from Japanese who perfected this art centuries ago. They use elements of nature like water, sunlight, plants and rocks to create a mini heaven on earth that radiates peace and harmony.

Japanese gardens are known to provide a peaceful and calming effect on people and thereby promote a healthy long life. With a proper design and all supplies in place, it should not take you more than 2 days to complete the job.

Spending just one hour in the garden every day by yourself is good enough to lift you out of your moods and relieve you of the stress and anxiety.

The project is very simple. All you do is to bring all elements of nature and align them in together to create the magic. You will not need more than 2 days on the weekend to complete this. If you can find additional helps, you can even cut short the time by half.

People do not believe that they can do this by themselves without help. One doesn’t need a mason or a carpenter to do this job.

If you compare your project to the ones that professional landscapers do, thee can be a world of a difference. Professionals tend to look at things differently and do things their way. Your project is something some thing personal to you and you are right in doing it your way.

Refer to various other educational articles by this same writer covering items like full coverage dental insurance and cheap car stereos.

Are you, like many other Americans, logging more hours than there seem to be in a week? Do you find that you lack free time in your schedule? Stress is more prevalent than ever before, and the sources seem to be countless! Furthermore, we seem to be logging these extra hours not because of the overtime pay, but rather to ensure that we keep our jobs.

Think back to when you first fell in love, and the rush that you felt. You could probably stay up all night, eat nothing, and still feel content and full for weeks. Your love is what sustained you. This love is not only a massive adrenaline rush, but the ultimate in human caring and compassion.

Kindess can have a similar impact on humans. While nothing holds quite the power of a first love, research shows that positive and healthy work environments improve morale and productivity, and reduce turnover. However, not enough workplaces employ this philosophy. Too many employers wear down their employees to the limit and still expect optimal performance.

Many other countries are a step ahead of the R&R game. In Europe, many workplaces issue massive “holidays” to their employees. More than one of the European travelers whom I have met have reported having upwards of six weeks of vacation every year. In Asia, you may very well walk past a building and see a group of colleagues exercising together - right at work. And who can forget the ’siesta?’ Many Latin-based countries close their businesses in the afternoon for a mandatory rest period.

My goal is to encourage you to take time for YOU. I know just as well as anyone else that there are times when logging hours is the only option. I also know that we, as humans, need to rest. Our bodies need a break, and you should take time recuperate, rest, and recharge.

The quickest, most basic of getaways can be extremely rejuvenating. Get up early and take a stroll with your favorite cup of coffee. At work, get away from the office for a few minutes, and take a walk. Take a mini vacation on the weekend, somewhere cheap. Head for the hills if you live on the coast and to the coast if you live in the hills. Time away is supposed to be simple and easy to adjust to. We’re people who have given all this up and constantly have our noses on the proverbial grindstone. We’re looking for little steps, for a balance of our time.

And if you have the means, look into something a bit bigger - perhaps something out of your comfort zone. Look for a trip with something like the Sierra Club. Or better yet, look into an adult camp (like a youth summer camp but with grown-ups!) Get out, get to know some new folks, challenge those muscles, and dare the child in you to come out and play again.

Hey, they have camps for kids and camps for families, so why not invest in an adult camp? Getting out and about in nature is cathartic. There’s something about being outdoors that inspires, encourages and supports a healthy balance. So step outside of the box, do something unexpected and reap the benefits of a camp that challenges you emotionally & physically. The food is great, the staff phenomenal and new friends are always great to meet.

For me, it took some serious indicators before I began creating that time for myself: a little heart thing, a hundred-pound weight gain, and a serious loss of “family fun time” as work took precedence were all clear signs that I needed to make a change. We’re working the long hours and going the extra mile - for what? Is it worth the sacrifice?

Don’t get discouraged as you begin this new process. While the newfound free time may feel difficult or counterintuitive, it is a new and important skill to have. So relax, and ENJOY it, reminding yourself that this darn leisure time will get easier.

I have taken the initiative to carve out leisure time, relax, and work on my own personal health - and I’ve even taken some of my own suggestions! There are plenty of voices in the media telling us what to avoid, but few of them are actually telling us what to DO for ourselves. So get out, get active, and take care of yourself. I had the opportunity to ride my bike for 40 minutes with my teenage daughter today, and this fun, free activity was the best time I’ve had all weekend. The rest of the time, I’ve been stuck on the computer!

Nature’s-classroom is the leading provider of adult camp services. We take grown ups out of their comfort zone and provide unique, engaging experiences that eliminate stress and leave participants feeling rejuvenated and revitalized.