By Ian Hart
When I was 29, my health spiralized precipitously. Over the course of a few months, I went from an expert trainer who had appeared in Men’s Health magazine to a medical mystery whose diagnosis kept shifting. My doctor told me that I would never fully heal, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and find my own ways to heal my mind and body.
In the eleven years that I’ve been on this healing journey, I’ve come to understand that the root cause of disease is our disconnection with ourselves and with nature. During my childhood, I’d spent hours playing outdoors in the woods, but somewhere along the way I had forgotten that part of myself. I got distracted by my day-
to-day life in the concrete jungle of New York City.
But we are meant to connect with nature as much as possible. It brings us joy, peace, and happiness, and the more we are in that state, the faster we heal and recharge our batteries.
Studies have shown that spending time in parks and natural spaces in urban environments promotes better health overall, and another recent study showed that spending twenty minutes a day outdoors dramatically reduces stress levels.
Here are some simple hacks to help you bring more of nature’s healing effects into your life.
The Power of Sunlight
Sunlight is necessary: it not only provides fuel for plants through photosynthesis, but it also gives us specific types of energy that are vital for our health. Without the sun, we wouldn’t be alive. Sunlight is a wavelength of light and energy, and our bodies are tuned to its frequency.
Through sun exposure on our skin, our bodies produce vital nutrients and hormones, including vitamin D, which is an important component of the immune system. Studies show that getting proper vitamin D from the sun is protective against respiratory infections, without the additional chemicals and toxins one would receive from a flu shot.
In our modern lives, where we spend much of our time indoors, we miss out on the full spectrum of light that our bodies are meant to have. Imagine that for years you spend all day indoors exposed to unnatural light frequencies, such as LED light, which lacks frequencies of infrared light that we need, and generates an unnecessary amount of blue light. Too much blue light generates free radicals that are harmful to the eye and health.
One of the simplest hacks to bring our bodies back to nature is to spend more time in the sun. But how much sunlight is needed? While sunlight is incredibly healing, it can also cause damage in the form of sunburns. Sunlight, like everything else, must be taken in moderation.
Get Grounded
Another simple and easy technique for stimulating the healing process and bringing the body back to nature is to connect with the earth beneath our feet. All of the atoms of our bodies carry an electrical charge that interacts with the environment around us. Our atoms are constantly exchanging electrons with everything we come into contact with.
There are always ions in the atmosphere around us, and they can take electrons from us, or they can be electron donors. These ions are, on a basic level, exchanging
energy with us. As environmental conditions change, they have an effect on us, including on our emotions. When it’s very windy, for example, we can tend to feel fatigued much faster because there are lower numbers of ions in the environment exchanging electrons with our bodies.
Grounding—literally bringing our bodies in direct contact with the ground—is a great way to bring equilibrium back to this electron exchange and bring our bodies back into harmony and connection with the earth. We can do this simply by stepping on the earth in our bare feet.
When we make direct contact with the ground, without the rubber soles of our shoes or concrete and asphalt to insulate us, we exchange electrons directly with the earth and get a donation of antioxidants.
Change Your Environment
We are all impacted by our environment. Often in modern life, the environments we choose to live in cause us to disconnect from nature. We spend our time walking on concrete instead of the ground, and we light our lives with lightbulbs instead of the sun. We trade the frequencies of the natural world for the frequency of wifi. In turn, these environmental factors influence our emotions, thoughts, and ultimately, our beliefs.
When we remove ourselves from the environment we’re always in, we can show up differently. When I lead health retreats in Costa Rica, one of the biggest benefits is that the retreat setting takes people out of their normal environment. Often, people will arrive on day one with the stress and constricted beliefs and view of their old environment, but shortly into the retreat, they realize they have different thoughts, and feelings that produce different actions, interactions, and revelations.
Such a huge transformation comes from a change in environment and a change in daily practices. Taking a trip to any natural environment can help open you up to new experiences and perspectives. The beach is one of the best environments to relieve stress, research shows. The rhythmic sound of the waves can put us into a meditative state, while the light has a calming effect on the brain. Ocean air contains negative ions that have a positive effect on your mood, and walking barefoot in the sand grounds your body.
Get a Daily Dose of Nature
It was easy to see the positive effect of nature on my children when they were babies; if they got injured or upset, I would instantly pick them up and take them for a walk in the woods. They would quickly stop crying and become more relaxed. Connecting with the earth and natural environments fosters recovery and restoration.
I now make a daily practice out of grounding with the earth. Everyday I try to go outside, lay on the grass, and get a little sun. Each time I do this simple practice, I instantly feel more relaxed, revitalized, and restored.
When you provide for your body’s needs, connect with nature, and open your mind to new thoughts, transformation can occur. Pay attention to how your body feels in nature, and I bet you’ll be able to feel the difference—and you’ll feel better.
For more advice on nature’s healing effects, you can find Healing Hacks on Amazon.
