Module 6 Nature Based and Mindfulness

  • Introduction to a Nature-Based Approach
  • Using the senses as resources
  • Your own body as a guide
  • Adding “time” e.g. by pausing
  • Mindfulness practices including sit spot
  • Working within nature

   Integrating Nature Based Practice into EFW

Horses have become cherished by people seeking intense or healing experience. These expectations can create too much pressure for the horses and gets in the way of a genuine connection. At Generation Farms we have added simple Nature Based principles to our work. It is refreshing and powerful to expand the principles in this way and moves the work beyond.

We are fortunate to have a Nature-Based specialist in our staff group. Nature Based Practice is a whole specialty itself, much as EFW is. We do not pretend to be specialists but we follow simple principles and our work becomes more holistic. Healing is a natural process of nature.

  • Working with horses can be an opportunity for clients to reconnect to nature; see hidden aspects of themselves; and look beyond the main symptom they are experiencing and see the underlying problem, lack of balance, or lack of connection.
  • Ecopsychologists believe that the health of the earth and the health of the human race are inseparable, and therefore foster a connection between the two.
  • Horses are able to teach humans to be more present in the moment because that is natural to the horse and their behaviour gives feedback about the present state of another.
  • People have spiritual experiences with horses, much as Louv (2006) discusses children having mystical experiences in nature.
  • Horses are not only part of nature; they live in it, respond to it, and invite us to notice it. Horses give us the opportunity to reconnect to the natural world.
  • Including all of nature; the birds that fly overhead, the trees and grasses that grow, the small and large animals that may be around, helps balance the potential pressure on the horse to be healing.

Examples:

  • Using nature as a grounding technique: asking client to notice the feel of the breeze, the sounds of birds,
  • Utilizing nature-based exercises: for example a meditative nature walk as part of a workshop or before or after a session; an exercise in following attraction, allowing participants to interact with horses but also trees, watch other animals, notice environment.
  • Working with horses tends to be outside, so simply attending sessions can be a way for clients to connect with nature more than they may in their daily lives.

 

    Kate Burns

Mindfulness

Since the turn of the century, the benefits of mindfulness have become increasingly well-known and researched.  There is no need to convince anyone of the additive qualities mindfulness can bring into day-to-day life.  An experience of mindful awareness or presence speaks for itself.

Intentionally attending, with curiosity, to some aspect of our experience (e.g. internal feeling or sensation, touch, hearing, relational engagement), in the present moment can lead to deeper and more authentic relationships with ourselves and others (including the non-human world). This dynamic use of mindfulness is different than meditation; it is a more on-the-spot- (rather than on-the-cushion) engagement with the unfolding moment-by-moment experience of life. it is a cultivated practice of attunement and it is very relational. 

This dynamic use of mindfulness, or dynamic mindfulness, can be learned.  At Generation Farms we incorporate it in our training and hold it as a core principle and practice underlying all aspects of EFW.

 

                                                                                                Kate Burns 2018

Sit Spot

Sit Spot is the central nature-based practice we have incorporated into our training at Generation Farms.  The value of this practice has been expressed over and over by participants of the program.  While incorporated as a daily practice during training days, participants are encouraged to continue it when they return home as a way to deepen their connection with their place in the world.

What is a sit spot?

It is a spot in nature where you sit.  That’s it; all you need to do is sit.  It is a spot where you can return to again and again and sit. 

Why?

Without doing anything but sitting quietly and observing you can start to learn about local wildlife, about the unique qualities and growing processes of specific plants, the information the birds are sharing, where different animals live and where they travel, the way sound changes before a storm, what direction good weather comes from in the winter, how close a stellar jay will come to you when you sit perfectly still.
The underlying value of this routine is to get to know one place really well – one community of soils, plants, animals, trees, birds, weather systems.  But something else occurs for those who sustain their practice. Not only do you have time to listen to the wind but also to check in with your heart – that is, your feelings – and allow yourself just to be. You learn to sit still, allowing your curiosity to grow and guide your attention, your senses become more attuned and with that your intuition increases.  This becomes your place of intimate connection with nature, within and around you.

How?

Find one place in your natural world that you can get to know really well (yes, get to know it at different times of the day, in different kinds of weather, in the cold of winter and the heat of summer). According to the Wilderness Awareness School, “There are 2 basic requirements that every sit spot should have 1) It needs to be close to your home and 2) you need to feel safe while there. While there are other ideal elements, they are not essential. The best sit spot is one that you go to!  Get to know it as your best friend.

 

                                                                                                Kate Burns 2018

Nature Based

Buzzel, L., & Chalquist, C. (Eds.) (2009). Ecotherapy: Healing with nature in mind. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.

 

Cohen, M. (2007). Reconnecting with Nature – Finding Wellness Through Restoring Your Bond with the Earth. Laekveille, Minnesota: Ecopress.

 

Kimmerer, Robin Wall, (2013) Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Productions.

 

Louve,Richard (2012) The Nature Principle; Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

 

Macy, J., & Brown, M. (1998). Coming back to life – Practices to reconnect our lives, our world. Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers.

 

Roszak, T., Mary Gomes & Allen Kanner (1995). Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

 

Uhl, Chris (2004). Developing Ecological Consciousness: Path to a sustainable world. Lanham Maryland: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

 

Wilderness Awareness School – Kamana One. For information about Wilderness Awareness http://wildernessawareness.org

 

Young, J., Haas, E., & McGown, E. (2008). Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature: For Kids of All Ages and Their Mentors. Shelton, Washington: OWLink Media.

 

Young, Jon (2012) What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World. Mariner Books.

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