Are You Suffering from the Nature Deficit Disorder?

Dear Friends of Holistic-Ways,

This past week, we spend some wonderful time with family. My husband’s parents and brother came to Alaska. The very next day after their arrival, we took the opportunity to visit Denali National Park.

Wow! This place really puts everything into perspective. The park spreads over 6 million acres or pure, untouched nature. We camped and explored during a short hike into one of the many valleys forged out by rivers like the Yentna River. The exploration was cut short, however, because our 7-year old climbed on a snow/ice sheet which cracked and took him down into the water. Half-soaked we decided it was time to wrap him in a military tarp that we had in our backpacks and walk back to catch the next shuttle bus to camp.

This nature experience created a lifetime memory and makes me think of a book that I read not too long ago. “The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder.” The author, Richard Louv, who wrote national bestsellers like the “Last Child in the Woods” and “The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age,” tells us to tap into the power of the natural world, which he says will provide us with emotional, physical, and family fitness in return.

He is not the only one who advocated for the power of nature. I would like to share a poem with you from Henry David Thoreau, the author of the quote above:

O Nature! I do not aspire
To be the highest in thy choir, –
To be a meteor in thy sky,
Or comet that may range on high;
Only a zephyr that may blow
Among the reeds by the river low;
Give me thy most privy place
Where to run my airy race.

In some withdrawn, unpublic mead
Let me sigh upon a reed,
Or in the woods, with leafy din,
Whisper the still evening in:
Some still work give me to do, –
Only – be it near to you!

For I’d rather be thy child
And pupil, in the forest wild,
Than be the king of men elsewhere,
And most sovereign slave of care;
To have one moment of thy dawn,
Than share the city’s year forlorn.

Thoreau, considered by many to be the first nature-writer, often voiced his love, respect, and awe for Planet Earth and our environment.

Once again, I would like to give you my words as food for thought. When did you visit nature last? Where your senses open to take in the beauty and positive energy of the untouched place? And how did this experience affect you – did you take it home with you and maybe even allowed it to calm you during a stressful moment?

Nature is beautiful. Our trip to Denali certainly opened my eyes again to the grandeur or the places we live in. Maybe you would like to check out the above mentioned books, or maybe you simply are inspired to take a stroll “into the woods.”

Enjoy your week with lots of positive natural energy from God’s creation!

Blessings,
Alexandra