A Free Ecotherapy Prescription To Rewild Your Mind, Body And Spirit
In the modern world, there has grown a rigid divide that has created a profound disconnection between mind, body and spirit.
Most people live in their heads, stuck in endless loops of thinking about self, status, work and money that keep them from fully being present and truly enjoying their lives.
There’s a modern paradox that despite material abundance in highly developed countries, there has grown a spiritual poverty, a lack of community and a resulting deep loneliness that is at the root of all kinds of physical and mental illnesses.
We have lost connection with our bodies and the living spirit of the land and the foundational elements of air, water, earth and sun that give us life.
And paradoxically, despite enormous scientific research and data on the problem, it only seems to get worse over time, and it seems no modern pill, supplement or prescription from a doctor can reliably reverse the disembodied state of modern culture.
Instead, what we need is to cultivate a deeper embodied connection between our thinking mind and feeling body and the breathing spirit of nature.
That’s what this free ecotherapy prescription helps people do.
Building Ecotherapy Rituals To Rewild Yourself
Many health problems can only be reversed when we throw off the shackles of domestication and sedentary living with a ritualistic approach to rewilding our mind, body and spirit.
It is my conviction that reversing climate change and saving ourselves from extinction from nuclear war, ecosystem collapse or artificial intelligence will require not only rewilding the land but also the human spirit.
Fortunately, the beauty of nature is that it offers an abundance of free medicine and by spending time unplugged in natural environments, we can reconnect with ancestral traditions that keep us rooted in the land.
I have seen this ecotherapy prescription heal people’s depression and anxiety in a month of simply building a consistent daily ritual. The other rituals help us go deeper and can transform our way of seeing, feeling and being in the world.
I have found the magic happens when you build a community by doing these ecotherapy rituals with friends, families and colleagues. Often, personal transformation sticks when we regularly share our experiences and challenges with other like-minded people.
For the longer unplugged retreats and multi-day hikes, I recommend creating a plan, inviting people you know and then having everyone bring a friend or family member to make new friends and share the ecological wisdom gained through these experiences.
It’s not just nature or the land that can heal us, I firmly believe that people heal people and often the community built from this ecotherapy prescription is what finally helps us break our bad habits and transform our lives.
1. Daily Ritual
I recommend starting by creating a daily mindful walking ritual in the morning and the evening, ideally during the golden hour after sunrise and before sunset for best results.
You can combine sessions of short mindful walking with listening to podcasts, audiobooks or music that gets you charged up in the morning for your day and then something a little more relaxing to decompress from your day and watch the sunset if you can.
I like to start my day with a mindful walk and a cold plunge in the river. I end my day with a sitspot meditation to watch the sunset. A simple ritual like this can reconnect us to natural rhythms, which can help us sleep much deeper and heal chronic stress patterns in our nervous system.
2. Weekly Ritual:
Once a week, I recommend going for at least a 3-hour mindful hike, ideally somewhere outside of the city. Studies show the sweet spot for releasing stress and relaxing the nervous system is a 3-hour session each week of nature immersion.
Make it a weekly ritual where you ideally go at the same time each week. Explore new hiking trails in the your area, go for a swim in a lake or just have a picnic in a park where you can take off your shoes and fully relax on the grass.
I like to set aside my Sundays as a digital sabbath where I can spend time hiking with friends and family. As a business owner with a flexible schedule and lots of things to do, this gives me one day a week to fully recharge. I find I am much sharper and more rested when I return to work the next day.
3. Monthly Ritual:
Once a month, I recommend fully unplugging for at least a full day and spending time quality hiking, camping or exploring with friends or family.
This can be a good opportunity to unplug for 1-2 days and just allow your nervous system to reset so you don’t build up chronic stress and tension over time in your body.
For me, I regularly run nature retreats both for my community and spirit quests where I go with close friends and family into the wilderness to fully unplug and mindful explore.
4. Seasonal Ritual:
Another important practice is a seasonal ritual where you can fully unplug for 2-3 days and explore the seasonal rhythms of life that keep you rooted in something greater than yourself.
We should adjust our lifestyle to the unique rhythms of life from spring to summer, fall and winter. There’s a season to sow and a season to reap what we sow. Winter is particularly important because this is usually the season when we suffer the most from poor physical or mental health.
A good way to start is to connect with the local indigenous traditions of your area that celebrate the Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Fall Equinox and Winter Solstice.
5. Yearly Ritual:
There’s something in ecotherapy called the “3-Day Effect”. Basically, there’s something magical that happens when we unplug in nature for 3 days and rewild our senses.
I wake up on the morning of the 3rd day of nature retreat feeling a deeper sense of rest, connection and aliveness, which is often suppressed by my busy life. The colours seem brighter, the breeze feels more alive and the play of the light and shadows inspires more awe.
To get the full benefits from this ecotherapy prescription, I highly recommend doing an unplugged nature retreat or multi-day hiking trek each year where you can fully unplug for 3-7 days. This is where a deep transformation happens and it’s best to do the yearly ritual as a part of a community.
Unplugging for 3 days is something that 99% of people never do and it’s literally like hitting the reset button on stress and anxiety. When you return to your work, you’ll find yourself much more focused, creative and motivated after a big unplug like this.
Why I Created Unplugged Nature Retreats
This ecotherapy prescription changed my life and I’ve seen it change the lives of hundreds of people whom I’ve taught it to through group workshops, hikes and retreats.
It’s what inspired me to create this Nature Retreats platform to make it easy for people to find and book these kind of transformative group experiences where they can fully unplug, recharge their battery and awaken their senses.
If you’re new to nature retreats or multi-day hiking treks, it can be a springboard to learning the skills to awaken your senses and start creating your own seasonal and yearly ritualistic traditions to build your community and feel a deeper connection to your friends, family and ancestors.
Or, if you have expertise that you want to share with the world, why not share it with a wider audience by teaming up with other people to host your own unplugged nature retreats? We’ve created an online community that makes it much easier to do that and fill your retreats.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s people that heal people and there’s no better antidote to the alienation, burnout and disconnection of modern life than being a part of a community deeply connected to nature.
I have been running mindful hiking retreats for the last 7 years that integrate mindful awareness, experiential learning and community building practices.
I love exploring new places, flying my drone and sharing my adventures on my Instagram.
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