Tag: ecotherapy

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Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy: Building Bonds for Healing

animal-assisted ecotherapy

Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy (AAE) is an innovative therapeutic approach that integrates the healing power of nature with the emotional and psychological benefits of animal companionship. This form of ecotherapy is based on the idea that interactions with animals, such as dogs, cats, or even horses, can significantly improve mental and emotional well-being, reduce stress, and help individuals overcome anxiety and depression. Whether you are experiencing a period of emotional turmoil or simply looking for ways to enhance your mental health, animal-assisted ecotherapy could be a powerful tool for healing.

Understanding Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy

Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy combines the principles of ecotherapy—the practice of using nature and natural environments to promote healing—with animal-assisted therapy, which involves structured interaction between animals and humans for therapeutic purposes. The bond formed between animals and humans can provide emotional support, reduce feelings of isolation, and help people reconnect with themselves and their environment.

In animal-assisted ecotherapy, a therapist or certified animal handler may guide individuals through specific activities, which can range from walking a dog in nature, caring for an animal, or simply spending time in the presence of a calming creature. These activities promote mindfulness, a deeper connection with nature, and improved emotional regulation.

The Healing Power of Animals

Animals offer unique emotional benefits that can have a profound impact on mental health. Studies have shown that adopting a dog or cat, for example, can significantly lower stress levels, reduce anxiety, and alleviate symptoms of depression. The unconditional love and affection that animals provide help to create a sense of safety and emotional stability for those who may be struggling with difficult emotions or traumatic experiences.

Here are some key ways in which animals play a role in healing:

1. Reducing Stress

Research indicates that interacting with animals has a calming effect on the human brain. Physical contact, such as petting a dog or simply sitting with an animal, has been shown to release oxytocin (the “feel-good” hormone) and decrease the production of cortisol (the stress hormone). This physiological response can help reduce stress, tension, and anxiety levels, promoting a sense of relaxation and peace.

2. Providing Emotional Support

Animals offer unwavering companionship, which can significantly reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation. Their presence can foster a sense of connection, making individuals feel less alone in their struggles. For those dealing with anxiety, depression, or trauma, animal-assisted ecotherapy provides a safe and comforting space to process emotions in a non-judgmental environment.

3. Encouraging Mindfulness

Animals live in the present moment, and their behavior can serve as a model for mindfulness practices. Engaging with an animal allows individuals to focus on the here and now, letting go of past worries or future anxieties. Walking a dog, for instance, provides an opportunity to connect with nature, breathe in the fresh air, and appreciate the beauty around you.

4. Improving Social Interaction

Animal-assisted ecotherapy often encourages socialization, whether through group therapy or community events involving animals. Interacting with a pet can help individuals break down social barriers, build trust, and improve communication. For children, particularly those with autism or social anxiety, spending time with animals can enhance social skills and increase self-confidence.

5. Fostering Responsibility and Routine

Caring for an animal requires daily routines, such as feeding, walking, and grooming. This structure can provide individuals with a sense of purpose and stability, which is especially beneficial for those experiencing depression or lack of motivation. Additionally, the act of caring for an animal fosters empathy, compassion, and responsibility, qualities that can improve overall emotional well-being.

Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy for Mental Health

The benefits of animal-assisted ecotherapy are particularly evident for individuals dealing with mental health challenges. Studies have found that individuals who engage in animal-assisted therapy experience significant improvements in their mental health, including a reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms.

For instance, a study conducted by the University of Maryland found that patients who interacted with therapy dogs showed lower levels of cortisol and reported improved mood. Similarly, research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has indicated that ecotherapy, when combined with animal-assisted interventions, leads to improvements in mental health and emotional well-being.

Anxiety and Stress Relief

For individuals dealing with high levels of anxiety or stress, animal-assisted ecotherapy can be a therapeutic game-changer. Spending time in nature with an animal helps lower heart rates, reduce blood pressure, and promote feelings of calmness. Whether it’s through quiet reflection with a horse or playing fetch with a dog, animal interactions allow individuals to de-escalate and regain emotional balance.

Depression and Emotional Healing

For those experiencing depression, animals can offer both emotional support and companionship. Animals never judge, and their steady presence offers unconditional love. Studies have shown that pet ownership, particularly dogs and cats, can reduce symptoms of depression by improving mood, increasing activity levels, and providing a sense of responsibility.

Getting Started with Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy

If you are interested in animal-assisted ecotherapy, here are a few ways to get started:

  1. Consult with a Therapist – Look for a certified ecotherapist who incorporates animal-assisted therapy into their practice. They can help you explore the benefits of this therapeutic approach and guide you through various activities.
  2. Adopt or Foster an Animal – If you’re ready for a deeper connection, consider adopting a pet from a local shelter. Whether it’s a dog, cat, or even a rabbit, fostering or adopting an animal can help you build a meaningful and healing bond.
  3. Join Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy Programs – Many nature therapy centers offer animal-assisted ecotherapy programs. Check with local clinics or online resources to find a program that aligns with your needs.

Conclusion

Animal-Assisted Ecotherapy is a unique and effective therapeutic practice that can bring profound benefits to individuals dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. By fostering a meaningful connection with animals in nature, individuals can find emotional healing, reduce feelings of isolation, and experience greater peace of mind. Whether through pet ownership or structured ecotherapy sessions, the bond formed between humans and animals can provide a safe, supportive environment for growth and healing.

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Mindfulness in Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and mindfulness woman meditating under tree by lake

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects millions of individuals worldwide, manifesting as a debilitating condition that disrupts daily life. Rooted in trauma, PTSD often leads to intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, emotional numbing, and heightened anxiety. Traditional treatment approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication, have proven effective for many. However, mindfulness has emerged as a complementary and transformative practice for managing and alleviating PTSD symptoms.

Understanding PTSD and Its Impact

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing traumatic events such as violence, accidents, natural disasters, or combat. Symptoms fall into four main categories:

  1. Intrusion: Unwanted and distressing memories, flashbacks, or nightmares.
  2. Avoidance: Steering clear of reminders of the trauma.
  3. Negative Changes in Thinking and Mood: Feelings of guilt, shame, or detachment from loved ones.
  4. Hyperarousal: Persistent anxiety, irritability, or difficulty sleeping.

These symptoms create a cycle of distress, where individuals feel trapped in their traumatic past. Breaking this cycle is key to recovery, and mindfulness offers a powerful tool to achieve this.

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the practice of paying deliberate attention to the present moment without judgment. It involves cultivating awareness of thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations while accepting them as they arise. Popularized in the West through practices like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), mindfulness has shown remarkable efficacy in addressing various mental health conditions, including PTSD.

How Mindfulness Addresses PTSD Symptoms

1. Reducing Intrusive Thoughts and Flashbacks

Mindfulness teaches individuals to observe their thoughts and emotions without becoming overwhelmed. By practicing techniques such as focused breathing and body scans, people can create a mental “safe space” to manage intrusive memories and diminish their intensity over time.

2. Breaking the Avoidance Cycle

Avoidance is a hallmark of PTSD, but it often exacerbates distress by reinforcing fears. Mindfulness encourages individuals to face their emotions and triggers gradually, leading to a sense of control and reducing avoidance behaviors.

3. Regulating the Nervous System

Trauma often leaves the nervous system in a state of hyperarousal. Mindfulness practices, such as deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting a state of calm and relaxation.

4. Enhancing Emotional Regulation

Mindfulness fosters a non-judgmental awareness of emotions, helping individuals recognize and process feelings of anger, guilt, or sadness. This increased emotional intelligence aids in reducing the intensity of emotional responses associated with PTSD.

Evidence Supporting Mindfulness for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Numerous studies highlight the effectiveness of mindfulness in treating PTSD. Research published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress found that mindfulness-based interventions significantly reduced PTSD symptoms in veterans. Similarly, a meta-analysis in Clinical Psychology Review demonstrated that mindfulness-based therapies improve emotional regulation, decrease avoidance, and reduce the severity of trauma-related symptoms.

Mindfulness Techniques for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

1. Mindful Breathing

This foundational practice involves focusing on the breath to anchor the mind in the present moment. Mindful breathing can interrupt the cascade of intrusive thoughts and promote a sense of grounding.

2. Body Scans

Body scans involve paying attention to physical sensations from head to toe. This practice helps individuals reconnect with their bodies and release tension stored from trauma.

3. Loving-Kindness Meditation

Also known as Metta meditation, this practice involves cultivating feelings of compassion and kindness toward oneself and others. It can help counteract feelings of self-blame and isolation common in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

4. Mindful Movement

Activities like yoga, Tai Chi, or walking meditation integrate mindfulness with physical activity, fostering a holistic approach to healing.

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy: A Nature-Based Approach

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) combines traditional mindfulness techniques with the healing power of nature. This approach is particularly beneficial for PTSD, as natural settings have been shown to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and enhance overall well-being. Engaging in mindful activities outdoors—such as nature walks, eco-art therapy, or gardening—can deepen the sense of presence and foster a connection to the environment, aiding in trauma recovery.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and mindfulness

Integrating Mindfulness into PTSD Treatment

While mindfulness is not a replacement for traditional PTSD treatments, it serves as a valuable complement. Therapists often incorporate mindfulness practices into therapy sessions, while individuals can integrate these techniques into daily life. For those interested in structured programs, options like MBSR and MBCT provide guided pathways to harnessing mindfulness for healing.

Conclusion

Mindfulness offers a gentle yet powerful approach to treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). By cultivating awareness and acceptance, mindfulness helps individuals regain control over their thoughts and emotions, break free from the grip of trauma, and rediscover a sense of peace. Whether practiced independently or as part of a comprehensive treatment plan, mindfulness has the potential to transform the lives of those living with PTSD, paving the way toward resilience and recovery.

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Connecting with the Goddess

connecting with the goddess

Connecting with the Goddess is symbolic of our own meeting with our own concept of perfection. In Ecospirituality, “perfection” means the ability to accept our darker impulses from the Shadow without feeling obligated to act on them. By recognizing and accepting these parts of ourselves without feeling obligated to do anything about them, we create the capacity to just be with those darker impulses, without acting on them, until they pass.

When we are able to do so, we are able to integrate the Shadow and the Persona into a perfect, whole True Self. Integrating the Shadow and the Persona is another way of connecting with the Goddess because these integrative experiences are of the awe-inspiring variety that is the goal of ecospirituality.

Sometimes these experiences are described as reconnecting with the Goddess. In this case, the Goddess can also represent nature. In any case, connecting with the Goddess or reconnecting with the Goddess both mean connecting with love. The idea of “reconnecting” implies that we are connecting again to something that we somehow became disconnected with, in the first place.

How we became disconnected isn’t as important as finding out how to reconnect ourselves and to love. If there are barriers between ourselves and the things we wish to be connected to, we have the ability to remove those barriers. Ecospirituality allows connecting with the Goddess by eliminating the barriers that keep us separate from our concept of the divine, from each other, and from our true selves.

The way to have truly meaningful spiritual experiences (connecting with the Goddess) is to remove those things that keep us from connecting.

Take some time right now to think about the things that keep you from feeling connected. Make a list of these. Write down some of the things that in the past have kept you from feeling connected to others, to nature, to the divine (or your concept of “perfection”), and to your own True Self. Try to think of at least three.

Now that you’ve completed your list, look at it again. Of all the things you’ve listed, how many of those things on your list have to do with barriers within yourself? How many of them have to do with barriers from other people? How many of them have to do with barriers due to your circumstances or the environment in which you live?

What would it take to remove those barriers? Remember, you can’t change others, you can only change yourself. So focus on things that would involve activities and actions that are within your power to change about yourself. For example, you may have a person in your life who has a talent for making you angry. This anger keeps you from feeling connected to this person. Since you can’t change the other person, is there something you could change about yourself that would make dealing with this person easier and less stressful?

Brainstorm a number of solutions to removing the barriers you’ve listed above. If the answers are too difficult for now, don’t be discouraged. Set this list aside and come back to it when you feel ready.

Now that we’ve thought a bit about the barriers to connectedness we find in our own lives, how do we go about changing those barriers so that we can achieve connection to others? To nature? To our True Selves?

Think for a moment about the different faces we wear each day. If you’re interacting with people at work, do they see the same person that your family at home sees, or do you wear a different face in work situations? When you’re at school, do you interact with people in the same way that you would interact with someone on a date? If you are at church, mosque, or temple, do you act in the same way you would act if you were out for a night on the town?
If you’re like most people, you probably have different masks that you wear for different social situations.

Are there any people who prevent you from connecting with the Goddess?

Think about those people for a moment. Be totally honest with yourself. Do you think that those people act the same way in all social situations, or do they wear masks as well? Pick out one individual with whom you have difficulty feeling connected. Think of the mask they wear that seems to act as a barrier to your ability to connect with them. How much of that mask is their natural inclination, and how much of it is their response to the mask that you wear when you are with them?

This is not to say that you are responsible for the rude or reprehensible behavior of others. Each individual is responsible for his or her own behavior. The idea here is to evaluate your own responses to such behavior. Is there anything you can change that might make it easier to connect with them?

If so, try it and see if their behavior improves. If, after changing the way you respond, you still find the person difficult to connect with, or even to be around, then you’ve done all you can do to correct the situation. At that point, your part in the problem interaction is over and done with, and you will have to practice mindful awareness. If you’ve done everything you can to try to get along with a difficult person, and they’re still being difficult, then this is usually a good indication that the problem lies with the other person and not with yourself. You are not obligated to change other people’s behavior.

With this idea in mind, you can also try to see beyond the mask that the other person is wearing. Masks are often worn to hide a person’s true identity. Is the other person trying to hide something? Could it be that they wear the mask out of fear of letting someone see who they really are? What could you do to help them change their mask? What might be preventing them from connecting with the Goddess? Even if you can’t get them to put on a different face with you or with others, you may come to understand that their mask hides a deep hurt, and their mask is their way of protecting themselves from further hurt.

Going back to Jung’s ideas of the Shadow and the Persona, the Persona is the mask we wear in our day-to-day lives, possibly to hide those darker impulses in the Shadow. Think about your Persona mask. What sort of mask do you wear with the world? What sort of mask would you like to wear?

Now imagine the person you are becoming as you walk the Way of the Coyote. If your True Self were a mask, what would it look like? What sorts of masks might help you in your quest of connecting with the Goddess?

Connecting with the Goddess and the Way of the Coyote

The Way of the Coyote is a path of fluidity and instinct, guiding us to connect deeply with the natural world, our inner selves, the divine, and the people in our lives. As we follow the Coyote’s way, we learn that connection to nature is not only about appreciating beauty or preserving the wild; it’s about embracing the cycles, unpredictability, and resilience that nature teaches us. The Coyote shows us that to truly connect, we must release rigid expectations and open ourselves to the mystery of each moment. This means trusting in our instincts, allowing ourselves to be both vulnerable and wise, and meeting challenges with creativity and adaptability.

Connecting with the Goddess within this path is to discover our own ideals of love and perfection in a way that feels authentic and attainable. The Goddess is not some distant, flawless ideal but a reflection of our highest potential, embodying love, compassion, and self-acceptance. When we connect with her, we are connecting with the part of ourselves that holds these qualities, not as impossible standards but as expressions of our deepest truth. Through the Way of the Coyote, we come to understand that love and perfection are not rigid states to be achieved but flowing energies we can embody, guided by a spirit of adventure, acceptance, and reverence for all life.

This last post of 2024 on connecting with the Goddess concludes our series on the Way of the Coyote. Next week, as we begin a new year, we will start a series on how Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy can help with a variety of issues.

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Completeness and Perfection

completeness and perfection

We all long for completeness and perfection to some extent. Every human being on the planet has also experienced occasional feelings of shame, guilt, blame, or inferiority. Such feelings are a natural part of the human condition. They are the source of many of the problems we experience with our relationships, careers, spiritual endeavors, and day-to-day living.

As human beings, we’re conditioned to disown certain parts of ourselves. We don’t like to admit our feelings of shame or guilt, because doing so might mean that we are less than perfect. But how do we define “completeness and perfection?”

Try this sometime. Ask three of your closest friends or family members what their idea of the “perfect day” is. I’m willing to bet you’ll get at least three different answers. So if you do get three different answers to the question, “Describe your perfect day,” what does “completeness and perfection” really mean?

The obvious answer to this is that the term “perfect” is defined by the individual. This means that your idea of completeness and perfection might be completely different from my own. Each of us is in charge of defining what “perfect” means to us.

The good news about this is that if “completeness and perfection” are self-defined, and if my own personal idea of what “perfect” means is causing me stress, then I am free to change it at any time. The way to do this is to realize that all of us have feelings of depression, stress, or anxiety from time to time. All of us fail to live up to our own expectations for ourselves from time to time. We all have our moments of self-doubt. When this happens, we may choose to beat ourselves up for failing to be “perfect,” or we may choose to realize that as human beings, failing to be “perfect” is a natural part of existence.

By learning to love ourselves “warts and all,” we learn the art of radical acceptance of the True Self.

The psychotherapist Carl Jung believed that all human beings contain within them the potential for all behaviors, both “good” and “bad.” According to Jung, the Persona is the mask we wear in our everyday lives. It is the face we present to others. The Persona represents who we think we are, and who we would like to be. The Shadow, on the other hand, represents all those traits we wish to suppress in ourselves. All our anger, fears, and negative emotions and behaviors are pushed down into the unconscious world of the Shadow and denied expression in the Persona.

Jung believed that the key to mental health was a process called individuation. Individuation involves striking a balance between the Shadow and the Persona. The Shadow represents the forces of chaos and darkness within an individual, and the Persona represents the forces of order and light.

While the Shadow contains all of our darker and more negative emotions, it is also the seat of creativity. To deny the existence of one’s Shadow is to deny one’s own ability to be creative. However, allowing the Shadow to rule one’s life creates a situation where the individual is ruled by the forces of chaos and darkness. Jung saw psychoanalysis as the process by which we balance light and darkness within ourselves, thus achieving individuation.

Some moral, religious, and ethical systems try to deny the existence of our darker impulses. These systems focus solely on the Persona. This is the face we present to others. The more such systems of thought and belief suppress the darker impulses in the Shadow, the more unbalanced the individual becomes. In such a case, the Shadow becomes a pressure cooker with no means to release the pressure. In extreme cases, the pressure cooker blows, leading to dysfunction and even psychosis.

Ecospirituality recognizes the need to balance Persona and Shadow. By acknowledging our darker impulses, we open the door to creating this balance, leading to individuation. Many people think that acknowledging our darker impulses means having to act on these impulses. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is one of the misconceptions people often have in their quest for completeness and perfection.

Suppose someone has done something that leads you to be angry with that person. Your first impulse might be the desire to retaliate in some way by returning anger for anger, or by hurting that individual in some way. Those who focus only on the Persona would attempt to suppress and deny this impulse, even though the desire to retaliate is a perfectly normal reaction to being angered. The angrier such a person becomes, the more he tries to suppress that anger until he reaches boiling point and reacts explosively to the situation.

In Ecospirituality, we seek to restore balance by acknowledging this impulse. Instead of swallowing our anger, we would recognize it as a darker impulse. But instead of returning anger for anger, we strive to express that anger in positive ways; perhaps by confronting the source of the anger and saying to the person, “You know, I really felt angry when you _. I don’t want to be angry with you. What can we do to resolve this situation?”

In this way, we are able to acknowledge the anger in constructive, rather than destructive, ways. The anger itself is not “bad;” it is merely a catalyst. It’s up to us to choose what to do with it. Expressing anger in positive ways is one way to achieve completeness and perfection.

When we are able to master this, we will come to the realization that completeness and perfection are self-defined, and since we’re the ones doing the defining, then we get to say when we’ve achieved it.

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Thought Streams

thought streams

Thought streams can impact one’s ability to cross the First Threshold. Setting out on the path by Crossing the First Threshold means being open to new ways of thinking and new ways of being. One way to do this is to change your thoughts by learning to live in the present moment, with intention.

Imagine that your thought streams and feelings are like a river. The river is always flowing, ever changing. In this river of the mind, sometimes positive thoughts float to the top, and sometimes negative thoughts float to the top. If we find ourselves in a spot on the river where those negative thoughts are floating to the top, our goal isn’t to stop the river by trying to dam it up. If we try to dam up the river, the water will only continue to back up behind the dam until either the dam bursts or the water overflows.

This is what happens when people have panic attacks or “nervous breakdowns.” The water behind the dam has no place to go, and it eventually builds up until a catastrophe happens.

Trying to stop negative thought streams and feelings by damming up the river isn’t the answer, since it could lead to catastrophe. So how do we deal with such thoughts?

What if there was an alternative to trying to stop the river by building a dam across it?

Thought Streams and the River

If we find ourselves at a place on the river where those negative thought streams are flowing to the top, we can consciously decide not to drown in the river by choosing instead to get out of the river, sit on the riverbank, and watch those thoughts and feelings flow by.

When we make this choice, the river is still flowing. We haven’t tried to dam it up. We’re just not swimming in it. From our viewpoint on the banks of the river, we can watch those thoughts and feelings flow by without being carried downstream. Using our intentional powers of observing and describing our own internal states, we can acknowledge the river’s presence without being at the river’s mercy.

In our analogy of the river, the thing that makes it flow from Point A to Point B is the presence of time. The sage has said, “You can’t step twice on the same piece of water.” This is because the water is always changing from moment to moment.

If you have the opportunity, find a gently flowing river near you. This should be a river where the water isn’t flowing too rapidly, and where the water isn’t too deep. Remember, safety first! This should be a river you know well, and it’s best not to do this activity alone.

Once you have found your river, go out into it. Don’t go any deeper than your waist. It’s preferable to find a spot on the river where nature surrounds you. If in doubt, find a footbridge you can walk across instead of going into the river.

Now stand in the river and do a little deep breathing. Inhale and exhale deeply for at least three breaths. Ground and center yourself. You may wish to do a brief meditation before continuing.

Now call upon your own Supernatural Aid. You may call upon the archetypal energy of your spirit animal, or it may help to hold a talisman in your hands. When you are ready, contemplate the river.

This is a river of the mind. Upstream, your thought streams about the past spread out behind you. Downstream, the river flows into the future. To return to the past would involve wading upstream against the current. To visit the future would require swimming downstream with the tide.

Suppose you tried to wade upstream or swim downstream. Once you got to your new location, the past would still lie behind you upstream relative to where you are now. Likewise, the future would still lie downstream ahead of you.
No matter which direction you move, you will always find yourself right here, right now, in the river.

Imagine yourself turning now to face upstream, towards the past. You already know what lies behind you. There may be rocky shoals and rapids behind you. There may even be high waterfalls and boulders. But the fact that you are standing right now at this place and this time in the river means that you survived the journey. Regardless of what lies behind you on the river, you have made it this far. This means that you are a survivor! You have met the challenges on the river and have gotten to where you are today.

Now turn to face downstream. The thought streams in this part of the river are unknown to you. You haven’t ventured there yet. There is no way of knowing whether more rapids lie ahead, or whether there is smooth sailing for the rest of the journey. You might try to make educated guesses as to what the downstream journey might be, based on the parts of the river you have already traveled, but there is no way to know with any certainty whether or not those guesses are correct. Rivers can suddenly change, and if you spend all your time worrying about what lies downstream, you miss the moment in which you find yourself. Worrying too much about what might lie downstream takes energy away from enjoying the pleasant experience of the river here and now.

Even if the worst happens, and we encounter catastrophes downstream, the choice to remain in the river is still ours. We can, at any time, make the conscious choice to step outside of the river for a while to watch it flow by.
We can’t know what lies downstream, but we can prepare ourselves for it. We can’t change the river, but we can change ourselves in order to increase the likelihood of a safe journey.

Life is like a river. When we learn to go with the flow, we decrease our chances of running aground.
Now cultivate an open and accepting attitude towards everything you are experiencing. What do you see? What do you hear? Can you feel the river’s currents with your body? Are there pleasant aromas on the breeze? Enjoy the experience of being in the river right here, and right now.

When you feel at peace with your surroundings, take a mental snapshot of all you have experienced here in the river. Mentally record the river in as much detail as possible. When you have done so, you may recall and retrieve this experience the next time you are feeling stressed out.

When you are ready, leave the river and sit on the riverbank while thinking over these questions:

  1. Once you were grounded and centered, did you find yourself thinking about what lies upstream or what lies downstream, or neither?
  2. Once you were grounded and centered, did you find your mind wandering to your mental “to do” list of daily activities, or did your thought streams subside?
  3. What was it about the river that made this experience different than your day-to-day life?
  4. Is there a way to carry this experience with you into your day-to-day life?
  5. How might this experience help you to see things in new ways that will lead you to your True Self?
  6. How might this teaching metaphor help you to cross the first threshold on your own Call to Adventure?

Though Streams and the First Threshold

thought streams

So, here we are, in the middle of the river. On one riverbank is the life we are leaving behind. On that other, unknown shore is the new life we’re moving towards. Crossing this river of the mind is consciously making the spiritual quest that is the Way of the Coyote the first and foremost quest in our lives. Rather than making pleasures of the flesh and accumulating material goods our goal and ambition in life is seeking a higher calling.

Seeking True Self doesn’t mean that we’re leaving our loved ones behind. It’s just the opposite. The more we are able to live according to our own true nature, the more we are able to help others. This is because when we are able to be the person we were born to be, we set aside the obligations that others have placed on us against our will. When we learn to do this, we learn to act for others because it is what we have chosen to do for ourselves, and not out of a sense of guilt, or shame, or self-blaming. This frees us to fully act for others of our own free will and to set aside resentments.

As we cross the river into the realm of the shaman, it’s not that we are leaving the material world behind either. We are instead learning a new way of seeing and being in the world. That way of seeing shows us that there is more to life than the trinkets and baubles of material possessions and status symbols. It is the path of true wealth that leads to love, connection, and ecospirituality.

This phase of the quest that is the Way of the Coyote involves emptying your cup. In order to be reborn as a seer, one must leave behind the former life. This means setting aside a life of pursuing material wealth just for the sake of owning things and instead seeking a life that makes room for nature and the spirit.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the idea that material things are the key to happiness, and a certain amount of material goods are necessary to survive. But if that is the sole motivation for life, our lives become meaningless and empty. The vision seeker instead searches for, and finds, things of spiritual significance. These spiritual things guide and enhance the quest. It is the path of true success and personal power.

Crossing the First Threshold, or crossing the river, involves announcing to the world and to yourself that the old ways have passed away. From this moment on, now and forever, a new journey begins. By announcing your intent to yourself and to others, you hold yourself accountable to staying on the path until the journey’s end. It is an acknowledgement that things will never again be as they were before.

Are you ready?

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Nature as Supernatural Aid

nature as supernatural aid

Last week we discussed Supernatural Aid. This week we’ll talk about Nature as Supernatural Aid. While there are many forms of Supernatural Aid an ecospiritual seeker could rely on, nature is one of the more convenient ones, since most of us have the opportunity to experience nature in some form.

I grew up on a 400-acre farm in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then there were no video games, and the television only had three channels, and that was if the wind was blowing in the right direction. My best friend lived five miles away, and if we wanted to visit each other we had to ride our bikes or walk. Our afterschool entertainment consisted of building forts in the woods, taking hikes, fishing, or collecting plants and animals. Growing up this way not only allowed me an opportunity for fresh air, it also stimulated my imagination and curiosity. The mythology of my time consisted of stories from my Scots-Irish great-grandmother about Native Americans, faeries, and Celtic lore, and Christian tales from my Scottish grandmother about the biblical patriarchs.

I was never much interested in Christian mythology, as it mostly seemed to consist of people getting zapped by God for doing things in a way that displeased him. And he seemed to be displeased quite a bit. The Native American and Celtic lore were much more alive to me. Those stories were not black-and-white moral tales, but puzzlers where the right answer was often difficult to find. The more I studied these stories, the more I gained insight into myself and the world around me.

As I became much more acquainted with mythology and learned to interpret it not as literal stories, but as teaching metaphors, fables, and parables, I returned to some of those Bible stories and got a lot more out of them the second time around. If you look at those stories as teaching tools and not as literal textbook descriptions of actual places and people, they become useful again. They come alive again. The secret is to focus on the message and not on the messenger.

Nature as Supernatural Aid: The Power of Myth

This poetical use of story and myth can also extend to nature. It is possible to use the wilderness as a metaphor for spiritual growth. In fact, many religious mythologies do just that. When Jesus asks us to, “Consider the lilies of the field’ which don’t toil or spin, yet they’re complete,” or when Buddha tells us that, “The Way lies in the nature that surrounds us,” these spiritual teachers are using nature as a training manual.

A lot of the great enlightened teachers began their spiritual journeys by going off into the woods. Buddha did it, Jesus did it, Mohammed did it, Moses did it, the Native Americans did it, and so did most of the great spiritual masters throughout history. There is something about seeing the wild places firsthand that awakens our deeper, more intimate, and more personal levels of awareness. It is a rite of passage that uses nature to give meaning to our lives while returning to our most primal instincts.

Science in recent years has begun studying the psychological aspects of wilderness experiences. In a 2005 study, van den Berg & Heijne researched some of these characteristics. The study, Fear versus Fascination: An Exploration of Emotional Responses to Natural Threats, explains that there are two basic types of attention: focus and fascination.
Focus is the type of attention we experience most often in artificial environments. Human hands make most, if not all, of the things we see indoors. Since we evolved in the wilderness, but have only been living in increasingly artificial environments for a few thousand years, our brains are wired to be on guard in unfamiliar surroundings. The more primitive parts of our brains recognize artificial places as somehow alien. Because of this, we tend to use more energy to focus our attention while indoors to avoid these man-made distractions.

Fascination is the type of attention we experience more outdoors. The deeper, older parts of our brains recognize natural environments as something familiar, so we tend to use fewer mental resources for focusing attention. This means that more mental energy is available to generate more meditative states. So unless a bear is chasing you, you’re calmer and more relaxed in the woods or on a beach than in an office or classroom. Such serenity is a prerequisite to spiritual events, so experiences in nature are highly conducive to developing more spiritual awareness.

Such ecospiritual awareness, enhanced and induced by nature, is not about a particular religion. All religions contain aspects of nature, and all religions, when understood properly, hold a deep reverence for the natural environment. Ecospirituality is about fostering a spiritual connection by using nature as a tool to experience those awe-inspiring moments that make life worthwhile. When nature is experienced in this way, it is Nature as Supernatural Aid to the seeker. Sitting or hiking quietly in the woods or in another natural environment will allow your own inner wisdom to come forth. This Supernatural Aid will help you to find your own fires of inspiration when you walk the ecospiritual path.

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Ethics and Ecotherapy Webinar

ethics and ecotherapy

This Ethics and Ecotherapy Webinar covers some of the common ethical challenges unique to the practice of ecotherapy. Ecotherapy usually includes doing therapy outdoors. Therapy in non-traditional settings presents unique ethical challenges. These ethical issues are not usually covered in therapy or counseling graduate school programs. In this course, we will discuss how to address some common ethical issues for therapists and counselors that are unique to the process of ecotherapy.

  • Target Audience: Mental Health Professionals
  • ONLINE Continuing Education Hours: 2 (Two)

Ethics and Ecotherapy Course Information Packet

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Ethics and Ecotherapy Course Objectives

After taking this course the student will be able to:

  • Discuss and describe confidentiality and informed consent issues common to the practice of ecotherapy
  • Discuss training recommendations regarding the practice of ecotherapy
  • Discuss assessment and client safety issues common to the practice of ecotherapy
  • Discuss and describe what constitutes dual relationships in ecotherapy
  • Discuss and describe values conflicts in ecotherapy settings
  • Develop a sense of self-awareness for counselors and therapists practicing ecotherapy

Ethics and Ecotherapy Course Instructions

This is a LIVE WEBINAR continuing education course that will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

PLEASE NOTE THE TIME AND THE TIME ZONE.

Once you have purchased the course, course documents will be available for download. You will also have access to the Zoom conference link, which will be embedded in the lessons for the course. Use that link to attend the live conference.

Upon conclusion of the webinar, you will have access to a brief course review and a link to the final exam. When you have completed the webinar and the course review, take the final exam. You have three attempts to pass the final exam with a score of 80% or higher. Once you have passed the final a certificate of completion will be generated in pdf format for your records.

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Supernatural Aid

mindful walking the coyote walk

Supernatural Aid is a necessity when answering the Call to Adventure. Let’s resume our story with Brother Coyote and his Call to Adventure…

As he arrived at his den, Brother Coyote thought about what Brother Eagle and Sister Cougar had said. He thought about how it had been getting colder with each passing day. He remembered their words that the People and Chief Buffalo did not know if the Sun would ever come back. He thought about how disappointed Chief Buffalo had been with him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

“Why should this be my responsibility?” he cried, “I didn’t ask for this burden! I just want to play in the forest! I don’t want to go on any journey!”

As he thought about it, he grew angrier and angrier. He became so mad that he began to chase his tail. He ran around and around in circles on the ground. The faster he chased his tail, the faster it ran away from him, and the more frustrated he became.

Thus preoccupied, he didn’t notice at first that a mysterious white substance had begun falling from the sky. It fell thicker and thicker around him until finally he could not help but notice. Puzzled, he caught a flake of this stuff on his tongue and found that it was cold and tasteless. As he watched, the snow covered the ground, obliterating the dying plants as it fell. The air around him grew colder and colder.

Shivering, Coyote curled himself up into a ball to stay warm as the snow continued to fall.

As lay there on the ground tucked into a ball, watching the snow, Coyote began to think that it would never stop.
“Truly this is the end of all things!” he thought to himself, “I might as well just lie here and freeze to death!”

Soon the strange white stuff completely covered Coyote. Lying there buried in the snow, he had begun to compose his Death Song when he saw a faint light shining in the distance. As he watched, it grew closer and closer. He eventually saw that the light shone from atop a stick being held by a woman dressed in the color of the snow that surrounded her. The light on her stick looked like a miniature sun, and she was bringing it towards him. He was frightened but also cold. If that miniature sun gave off heat as well as light, how he wanted to be near it! So he did not run away but waited patiently as the woman dressed in white approached and sat next to him.

“Greetings, Brother Coyote,” she said, “I am White Buffalo Woman.”

Coyote was usually wary of strangers, but something about White Buffalo Woman put him at ease. She seemed wise and kind, so he greeted her and began to tell her his story. He told her that the People were frightened because of the cold and that they were worried that it might never be warm again. He told her that the People wanted him to go on a quest to find a new place for the Tribe to live, but that he was afraid to go.

“It is wise that you are afraid,” she told him, “Only fools are fearless in the face of the unknown. But that does not mean you shouldn’t go.”

As they talked, White Buffalo Woman gathered sticks and twigs and began arranging them in a pile in front of Coyote. When the pile was big enough, she touched her glowing stick to the pile, and it blossomed into heat and light. Almost instantly, Brother Coyote felt himself begin to thaw. The heat spreading across his body was almost magical.
“What is this strange thing?” he asked.

“It is called ‘fire,’” said White Buffalo Woman, “If you have its secret, your People will not have to move away to a new place. With fire, you may stay warm through the winter until the spring comes again.”

“What is ‘winter’?” asked Coyote, “and ‘spring?’”

“Winter is the reason it is cold now. It is a time known as a ‘season.’ Spring is also a season. Winter is a time of cold, decay, and death, and spring is a time of warmth and rebirth. Seasons come and seasons go, but when the time of winter has passed, the spring will return again. Fire will help you make it through the cold and dark of winter. Until then, you must be vigilant and wait for spring’s return.”

Coyote was amazed at the magical power of the fire. He was also glad to know that spring would come again, but if the People did not have this magical thing to help them through the winter, they may not live to see it.

Coyote and White Buffalo Woman sat warming themselves by the fire and talking. White Buffalo Woman told Coyote that the fire had come from a sacred village in the mountains to the North, where it was guarded by a greedy witch who wanted to keep it for herself. She told Coyote that if he followed the North Star he could find this village, and claim some of the fire to call his own.

“But why can’t I just have some of your fire?” Brother Coyote asked.

“Because each person must find his own fire, and this fire is mine,” replied White Buffalo Woman, smiling enigmatically. “It would not work for you because it is my fire. You could not make it burn.”

They talked for half of the night until White Buffalo Woman lay down in front of the fire to sleep. Coyote tried to sleep himself, but after hearing of the village of the Fire Tribe, the fire, and the witch who guarded it, he was more frightened than ever. Yet he knew that he was the only one who could make this journey. When he had resolved for himself that he must be the one to go, he finally fell asleep just before dawn. When he awoke the next morning, White Buffalo Woman was gone, and the fire had gone out.

Just as Coyote began to grow cold and numb in the snow, when we deny our emotions we open ourselves up to the process of emotional numbing. We kid ourselves into believing that certain emotions are “wrong” or “bad,” and we hide them away. We don’t want to own these parts of ourselves. Sometimes emotional injuries can lead to this state of numbing as well. The feelings are so powerful that they become overwhelming, so we learn to stuff them down and pretend they don’t exist so we don’t have to go through the pain of feeling them. Over time this denial of what we feel can make it difficult, if not impossible, to acknowledge our feelings at all. When this emotional numbing occurs, we have to actively work to “thaw out” our feelings. Sometimes we may do this by relying on our own Supernatural Aid.
To find your own Supernatural Aid, first ask yourself if there are there any fears that might have led to your own emotional numbing in life. Like Coyote, do you need to “thaw out” those feelings? How might the characteristics of a shaman help you to do so?

It can be difficult to answer the Call to Adventure. When our emotions freeze us into inaction out of habit, it sometimes becomes hard to choose a different path. When faced with the opportunity (or challenge) to discover new ways of being, our fight or flight response often takes over, and we remain stuck in the familiar. It can be scary to journey off into unknown territory, simply because it is unknown. But using mindful awareness in the present moment we can become aware that the unknown is just that…unknown. Dangers may lie ahead, but great rewards may lie ahead as well.

We only change when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Every action has a consequence, and answering the Call to Adventure is an action with unknown consequences. Answering the call means facing our fears. It means facing our pain. It is an acknowledgment that with great risk comes great reward. It is a willingness to risk it all in order to gain ourselves.

Ultimately, the Call to Adventure is about inspiration. Ecospirituality is all about finding that which is awe-inspiring in our own lives. When we find that source of inspiration, then the “fire” of our own Supernatural Aid comes to warm us. Your own Supernatural Aid will come to assist you when you realize that there are no other options but the path you’re on. All other doors have been closed to you, and from that point on the only choice is to heed the call.

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Doing Mode to Being Mode

from doing mode to being mode

Moving from doing mode to being mode is how mindfulness helps you to deal with stress. When problems arise, they cause stress. When we experience stress the natural tendency is to try to do something about it. The problem with this is that if you could do something about the stress you would have already done so, and you would no longer be stressed.

By moving from doing mode to being mode, we are able to just accept what we feel, without feeling obligated to do anything about it. Stress is a natural feeling and a natural response to problems. To expect not to feel stress from time to time is not a realistic expectation, and telling yourself not to stress out is stressful in itself. Think of it this way: Suppose I expect the weather to be sunny all the time. I complain whenever it rains, and my mood becomes irritable because of the cloudy weather. If I have such an expectation, I’ve set myself up to be disappointed, because rain is a natural part of the weather. So by grumbling every time it rains, I’m complaining about something that’s a perfectly natural part of existence.

Now suppose I complain every time I stress out. Stress is also a perfectly normal part of existence, so expecting never to be stressed out is unrealistic.

The more I tell myself not to stress out, the more stressed out I become. Instead, if I learn to welcome the stress and simply allow myself to be with it until it passes it no longer has a hold on me. Note also that telling myself not to stress out is doing something, and not just being with the stress.

If I notice stressful events with the goal of “trying to relax” or “trying to calm down,” trying is doing, and not being. My goal is to be and not to do.

In being mode, we recognize that when we have strong feelings we don’t have to do anything about them. So if we find ourselves having thoughts of refusing the Call to Adventure, such thoughts are just thoughts. However, if we find ourselves wanting to act on those thoughts by refusing the call, we are engaging in doing mode. One way to escape the Refusal of the Call is to merely shift from doing mode to being mode.

The first step to leaving doing mode is to become aware of the ways in which we engage in it.

Think about how you slip into Doing Mode throughout your day. Doing Mode involves solving problems, figuring things out, and participating in day-to-day activities. Right now, make a mental list of a few of the ways you engage in Doing Mode.

We sometimes create unrealistic expectations for ourselves by assuming that stressful or depressing thoughts and feelings are somehow not “natural.” In fact, just the opposite is true. It is perfectly natural to have stressful or depressing thoughts and feelings from time to time.

Try this sometime: Ask everyone you know if they’ve never in their entire lives had a depressing or stressful thought. I’m willing to bet that you won’t be able to find anyone who would say that they’ve never been depressed or anxious. That’s because, like cloudy days, stressful and depressing feelings are a natural part of being alive.

If we can accept that we don’t have to do anything to fix cloudy days, we can accept that we don’t have to do anything to fix negative thoughts and feelings as well. Sometimes our attempts to fix such thought cycles could be the very thing that makes them worse. Here’s an example of how this process works:

Suppose I am prone to panic attacks. One day I find myself feeling anxious. I can tell by the way my thoughts are racing and by the way my body feels that my anxiety is rising. I know from previous experience that rising anxiety has led to panic attacks in the past. As I realize this, my anxiety increases even more because I’m afraid that I’m about to have yet another panic attack. So I try to do something to stop it by forcing myself to calm down. But “trying to calm down” is doing mode. The harder I try to calm down, the more I stress out about the fact that I can’t calm down. The more I stress out about the fact that I can’t seem to calm down, the more my anxiety rises, because I’m trying to do something to fix it, and what I’m doing isn’t working. The more I fail at fixing it, the more I stress out and try even harder to fix it. This cycle builds and builds until I have another full-blown panic attack.

What if, when I felt my anxiety rising, I was able to say, “Oh, that’s another panic attack that’s about to happen. I’ve had them before. Yes, they’re unpleasant, but I’ve managed to survive them. No need to try to do anything to stop it.”
In this case, I’m not trying to do anything. I’m not trying to stop the attack. I’ve consciously chosen to sit with it and be in the moment with the natural experience, paying attention to and describing the sensations to myself. Because I’m not engaging in doing mode by trying to fix something, I’m not adding to the anxiety. I’m just allowing things to happen in their own time, while I observe with my senses. From this perspective, even if I do have another panic attack, I’m being still with it and observing it rather than interacting with it. I know from previous experience that it won’t kill me, however unpleasant the experience might be. I’m engaging my internal observer to be with the experience without having to do anything about it.

This ability to pay attention to the present moment is the essence of moving from doing mode to being mode.

One of the most basic ways to engage in Being Mode is to simply start paying attention to the sensations you experience in the world around you. One thing you can always focus on is your breath. This is because your breath is always with you. Try this now by going outside and taking a few deep breaths while noticing the sensations you’re experiencing. What did you feel in your body? Did you notice any smells in the air? Were you able to taste anything in the air as you exhaled? What does your breathing sound like? What physical sensations are you experiencing?
Leaving Doing Mode and entering Being Mode can be as simple as paying attention to what your senses are telling you in the present moment. Think about some ways you can engage all of your senses. For example, you might light a scented candle or go outside and smell the flowers.

From Doing Mode to Being Mode

Now that you have a list of activities you can engage in when feeling tempted to engage in doing mode, you can choose to be with these activities instead.

The Refusal of the Call often manifests in a temptation to return to the way things have always been. Change is difficult, and setting out on a path of personal and permanent change for the better can sometimes be the most difficult life-changing experience of all. We feel tempted to tell ourselves, “Change is too hard,” or “I’ve always been this way, why change now?” or “People won’t like me if I change.”

We’re very good at coming up with excuses because if we don’t then we have to take responsibility for our lives. That can be a scary place to be for those of us who have never done it before. When we take responsibility for our own lives we have nobody else to blame if we fail. What we sometimes forget, though, is that if we take responsibility for our own lives, then we are the only ones who can take credit for our successes.

Taking the leap of faith required to trust ourselves is a major step in answering the Call to Adventure. Sometimes it helps to have a little Supernatural Aid. We’ll talk about what this aid might look like in future posts and how it might help you to move from doing mode to being mode.

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Creating Your Reality

creating your reality

Creating your reality is a process that happens on a day-to-day basis. We all create our own reality through our assumptions and our perceptions. Our assumptions about life influence our perceptions. Taken as a whole, all our perceptions add up to our own version of reality.

If your assumption is that the world is flat, how would that influence your daily perceptions and your daily reality? What if your assumption is that the world is round? Each of these choices comes with perceptions about the way the world works. If you assume the world is flat, how would you feel about sailing in a ship to the ends of the earth? If you assume that the world is round, would you feel the same way? What reality would you create for yourself in each of the scenarios above?

You create your reality through your assumptions and perceptions. To illustrate how this process works, consider for a moment that you have an assumption that “Everybody is out to get me.”

If your assumption is, “Everybody is out to get me,” then that assumption is going to set your perception filter in a certain way. With this assumption, your perception filter is set so that you only notice instances of behavior that confirm your assumption. If your perception filter has been set by the assumption that “Everybody is out to get me,” then you’re only going to notice when people act in a way that confirms your assumption, and you will ignore any behavior to the contrary.

If this is how your perception filter is set, then you are going to ignore it when people act in such a way that they demonstrate that they are not out to get you. Not only that but when people act in such a way, you’re going to take it as evidence that they are out to get you because you’ll think that the only reason they’re being nice is that they’re trying to get something from you.

Now this assumption and this perception will work together to create your reality for you. Here’s how it works: If you assume that “Everybody is out to get me,” and your perception filter is set only to see examples that confirm your assumption, how are you likely to treat people who aren’t out to get you? If I’m a person who’s not out to get you, and I’m doing nice things for you because I like you and want to be your friend, yet every time I do something nice for you, you treat me as if I’m up to something, how long do you think I’ll stay around?

If you treat everyone as if they’re out to get you, even when they’re not, you will eventually drive away anyone who’s not out to get you. At that point, the only people who are still in your life are people who are out to get you. So by choosing your assumptions and your perceptions about the way the world works, and by acting upon those assumptions and perceptions, you create a reality based on those assumptions and perceptions.

Let’s look at another example. If you are seeking to follow the path of ecospirituality, you are seeking to walk the path of an ecospiritual shaman. To walk in the path of a shaman is to interact on a regular basis with the Otherworld. Therefore to be a shaman, you have to have some concept of the Otherworld. It can be a real place, or it can be a psychological place, but it is a necessary place for shamanism to exist and work its magic. So if you seek to walk the path of the shaman, but your first assumption is, “The Otherworld does not exist,” then you are going to set your perception filter to only notice things that confirm your assumption that the Otherworld does not exist. As you continue to ignore all evidence for the existence of the Otherworld, it will retreat further and further away from you, until, for you, it does not exist.

On the other hand, if you assume the Otherworld does exist, even if it’s just the collection of archetypes that Jung called the ‘collective unconscious,’ then your perception filter is set to look for evidence that confirms this assumption. The more evidence you find to support this assumption, the more you make the Otherworld real in your own mind.

When considering the Otherworld, don’t forget that just because something is happening in your own mind, that doesn’t mean it’s not real. The Otherworld might be a real place, or it might just be a place of psychological processes lying between the conscious and subconscious worlds. In either case, if you experience the Otherworld, then it has become real for you.

I prefer to focus on the utility of these experiences instead of whether or not they’re happening in a “real” place. The more I use my assumptions and perceptions to create my own reality, the more real the Otherworld becomes for me.

In the coming weeks we’ll be exploring the concept of creating your own reality by visiting the Otherworld of the collective unconscious.