Somatic Healing for Wellness-Focused Women

(#80) Nature as Medicine: Nervous System Healing, Energy Work & Mental Clarity While Outdoors

• Rae The Somatic Coach • Episode 80

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In this episode, we’re exploring the deep healing power of nature and what it means to be in relationship with the Earth. 

I’ll share my personal story, from walking the Camino de Santiago, to how long hikes and time in nature continue to shape my healing journey, creativity, and nervous system regulation.

You’ll learn:
 🌿 How nature supports the nervous system—shifting from sympathetic stress to parasympathetic calm
🌿 How your body stores and releases energy, emotion, and memory while walking, hiking, and connecting to the land
🌿 The meaning of nature signs and what they may be inviting you into
🌿 Flower essence as an energetic tool for healing and why I incorporate it into my practice
🌿 How gardening and slowing down outdoors reminds us of our true, whole selves

📣 Retreat Announcement: The Return to Soul Retreat is happening this October!

📩 Sign up for the monthly newsletter to receive somatic tools, journal prompts, and updates straight to your inbox.

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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Somatic Healing for Wellness-Focused Women, a podcast for the sensitive, soulful, high-achieving woman ready to come home to herself. I'm your host, rae. I'm a somatic coach and breathwork facilitator here to guide you back to your body, your truth and your power. Each week we'll explore nervous system healing, somatics, breathwork, embodied living, creativity, self-expression and soul-led personal growth. If you are ready to soften the pressure, release perfectionism and live with more presence, more pleasure and more purpose, you're in the right place. Let's take a deep breath and let's dive in. Welcome back to the podcast. If you are new here, I'm Rae. I'm a somatic coach and breathwork facilitator. And if you aren't new here, welcome back. I'm so glad that you're tuning into today's episode. So before we dive into today's topic, just a few front desk items for us. So we do have a retreat that I am hosting. It is coming up in October and there are four spots available. The door is closed to sign up for the retreat on August 31st, and it is a retreat that is all about being in nature, being in community and being with yourself. So those are the kind of like three aspects of the retreat and I'm really excited to be hosting it. It is a weekend long. It's on October 2nd to October 5th and it's in upstate New York, so I am excited to bring you that opportunity. And then our second front desk item there are quite a few new listeners here, so welcome if you are new since the rebrand of the name of the podcast, and if that is the case, I definitely invite you to listen to episode 76, where I kind of go into more of my personal story and how I got to where I am today and how I can support you and all of these other wonderful things. So, yeah, I'm excited that you're tuning in here today as well. And for today's topic, we're going to be talking all about being in relationship with nature, and this is a topic that I am passionate about.

Speaker 1:

I feel very connected to nature. I love to incorporate it into my work. I think it's super supportive for nervous system regulation, regulating with the body, getting into the body, quieting the mind, understanding the mind so many different benefits of really feeling connected to nature, and there are so many different ways that we can do that as well. So for me personally, I know that when I was very young, I was always outside. I was a competitive athlete, so I spent a lot of time competing outside, just playing actual sports outside in general. But even when I wasn't competing, I was always running around. I lived on a it's called like a dead-end block, where there's no, the cars can only come down one way, and I had a lot of friends on the block that I grew up on, a lot of childhood friends, and we all would just, I have so many memories of us like running around, playing manhunt and sitting on our front porches and just talking and playing on the lawn, and so I was outside a lot from a very young age and I've always felt, since I was a child, just very connected to nature in general, and the irony with that is that I am terrified of bugs. So I don't know where that comes from, but it's still with me to this day. I do not like bees, spiders, ants oh, it gives me like the heebie-jeebies. So I don't. I don't know, but you can still love nature even if bugs aren't your thing.

Speaker 1:

And as I was growing up when I was a junior in high school so how old is that? Probably like 16, 15 or 16 years old my Spanish teacher who was awesome, miss Reese, she went on a. Who was awesome, miss Reese. She went on a like for one of the holiday breaks. She went on a trip with some of her family and friends and when she came back from her trip she showed us like a PowerPoint presentation of her trip. And she had gone on a week long hike on this trail in Spain called the Camino de Santiago, and I could probably do a podcast episode just on my experience with the Camino de Santiago. But when she presented us and like shared with us about her experience, I said to myself immediately this is so cool, this is something I absolutely needed to do.

Speaker 1:

And I decided when I was a junior in high school that when I graduated from undergrad, from college, I would go and hike the Camino de Santiago. And so it is a 500 mile or 600 mile hike across northern Spain. It starts in southern France and then you hike all the way across northern Spain and it ends in Santiago de Compostela. And then I continued on afterwards a few I think it was a hundred more miles to Finicera, which is like the water. So I walked to the coast. So I followed this call to go on this journey and hike 600 miles across Spain by myself, and I really did not really know what I was doing. I just I remember getting off of the bus.

Speaker 1:

Once I got to the trailhead, the city in southern France, saint-jean-pierre-de-port, and I really I don't I did not know like where to go or what to do. I ended up I found like a really big group of other hikers. They're called pilgrims when you're doing the Camino, so I found a big group of pilgrims that were also hiking. You could tell they looked. It was just very obvious that they were also hikers and it wasn't an organized group. They all had just come off of like another public bus that came in from Germany. So I was like I'm just gonna like join this group. Clearly they know where they're going and hopefully, hopefully, no one will notice. And that's exactly what I did.

Speaker 1:

And I ended up finding basically a hostel, what they call albergues, and I found an albergue and one of the groups of people from that group was this woman, enya, who was my age, and they sat us next to each other at dinner it was a communal style dinner and they said you two sit next to each other. You're the same age because I was the, you know, one of the youngest ones there and, uh, you two be friends and like, immediately we hit it off. We became, uh, really good friends. We bonded over American prom and she was asking me all these questions about America and I'm asking her about Germany and we're in France, but we're hiking through Spain. The whole experience was just absolutely surreal and I hiked through every terrain. So you know, we start. I hiked with her and her family. She was traveling with her mom and her aunt and I hiked with them for the first seven days and then eventually we parted ways, which was super heartbreaking.

Speaker 1:

And, yeah, I could talk about this story at length, maybe in another podcast episode, but the point of what I'm sharing is that I walk through every terrain. I walk through mountains, cities, desert, more cities and then all the way to the coast, and really, how I ended my trip. The whole experience in itself was pretty incredible, but how I ended my trip was this really strong connection with being in nature and connected to like the earth and connected to really, really the present moment. I've never felt so present, because all I was doing for almost two months was hiking on this trail and I was like I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this I'm going, I decided after that trip. I felt like I had seen so much of so much beauty in Spain. I was like I want to see this where I live in the States, in the US, and so one of the many things that I brought home with me was this desire to see more of nature and deepen that connection, and it led me to going to many national parks.

Speaker 1:

Every time I travel I'm always finding a park close by or a hike or something to just get a sense of the energy of where I am, and today it also looks like a lot of hiking in my local area. I live in New York, so in the tri-state area I have a few hikes that I absolutely love, going for long walks. A lot of my creativity and ideation comes from spending this time outside and being in nature and going on these long walks. So you don't have to, you know, hike across Spain to feel connected to nature. You absolutely can. If that's inspiring to you, you don't have to. And even when I go for long walks around where I live, I'm at the beach, so I don't. Sometimes I feel like I don't get that strong connection to like earth, like trees, because where I am is more sand and water and beach, but there's, of course, a connection. I can see, you know, dolphins and whales and so many amazing things, but I've been seeing actually a lot of red cardinals, which I find absolutely fascinating because I don't know where they're living there's not many trees at the beach but they're coming and they're finding me and I accept it and I welcome it.

Speaker 1:

So being in nature can support you in so many different ways. It can support you in feeling that stronger connection to the universe, regulating your nervous system. So, being in the body what happens in the body while you are going for a long walk or spending time in nature or hiking whatever kind of language you want to use is your body is slowly coming into that parasympathetic state. So a lot of times we can be in that stressful state in the body where we are in a heightened state of anxiety or we're processing challenging emotions or stress. And when you go on and spend time outside, you're shifting your nervous system into that rest and digest state and your body is what remember, is in stores past experience, past trauma, uh it, it holds on to it and so you can heal and release and move energy in the body through a movement practice like hiking or walking, or. Um. Yeah, like I said, it doesn't have to be 500 miles across spain, but it can be if that's your jam. But being in nature and spending time in nature will shift your energy and depending on where you're located.

Speaker 1:

Actually fun fact, I did did recently look up the location of where some listeners are and shout out to Australia, because apparently there's a lot of people that tune in from Australia, which is really cool. I'm in New York, but welcome, and the reason why I mentioned that is because here in New York we're moving slowly from spring into summer. We just had Memorial Day weekend, which is basically the unofficial weekend kickoff to the summer, even though the summer solstice is in June. The weather is getting much warmer. We are going to be spending much more time outside. The invitation to is there at least, and so, yeah, I think that's why I'm feeling part of why I'm feeling inspired to talk about this connection with nature, because, yeah, we're getting that invitation to step outside more and go to the beach and go hiking, and be outside and go to the park and go for a walk after work and all of these wonderful things. So, if you are feeling that invitation as well. Hopefully you're finding this episode supportive.

Speaker 1:

Another aspect of being outside and in nature that I really love and I talked about it a little bit already is that connection with universal energy and elements. So something that I receive a lot from in nature are signs from loved ones who have passed. I love seeing, you know, red cardinals, butterflies, dimes are big for me, big signs for me. But there are, you know. You can see feathers. There are specific birds, animals. I love seeing an animal outside and looking up like the symbolism of it. That's one of my favorite things to do. A few weeks ago I saw a monk parakeet. I thought that was fascinating. Who even knew there was wild monk parakeets on Long Island? I definitely didn't, until I saw one, so it was really interesting.

Speaker 1:

But as you go and you spend more time in nature, you can might be end up seeing things differently, can shift your perspective. Things might be a bit brighter, things might feel more clear. It definitely brings me a lot of mental clarity and a lot of emotional relief. So, yeah, if you find yourself being pulled outside, like, what are the signs that you are receiving and what elements do you feel most connected to? Do you feel connected to, like the earth and the dirt? Do you feel more connected to water? Do you feel more connected to animals or insects like butterflies, like? How does nature speak to you personally? Because I think there will be a lot of nuance for each one of us and each one of our nervous systems and what feels really comforting and regulating for us.

Speaker 1:

One other aspect of nature that I really enjoy, that I find deepens my connection for myself and also for my clients, is using flower essence. And flower essence is a tincture. It's something that you ingest, you put it on your tongue a few times a day for a one month cycle and I use these different blends through Spirit Seed, lindsay Fauntleroy. I studied with her for about a year to learn all about five element theory and all the different elements and how those elements connect to the body and nature and how flower essence itself for anyone that doesn't know is like I mentioned. It's a tincture, where they take the flowers and they soak them in water and then the qualities of the flower are being absorbed into the water and then they take that water and they create a tincture of just that flower or there are some blends. So with spirit Lindsay Fowler. She creates blends depending on the different intentions that are present. So, depending on what your intention is and what season of life you're in, you could consider taking a flower essence if that speaks to you like a tincture or a blend, and then you would observe for one month how this blend is interacting, based on your intention. So I really enjoy using flower essence and I find it really powerful. It's very subtle, it's very gentle and it definitely helps me to feel more connected to nature in a different, more abstract way. I do have a few podcast episodes specifically on flower essence, so definitely, if that interests you, you can scroll back and kind of find one that jumps out to you.

Speaker 1:

And then the last aspect of connecting with nature that I'll highlight is gardening. Actually, that's something that I have, in the past few years, gotten more interested in. I do have like a very small outdoor space where I live at my house, so I discovered porch gardening, like container gardening basically, where you can grow things in these containers, and this is something that I find super like, fun and fascinating and something that I've been totally nerding out on for the past few years. So this is just my second year doing and planting my own garden. So this year I have a few different vegetables, um, tomatoes, cucumbers, uh, what else? Oh, potatoes I'm making potatoes, which is which is I find so cool uh. Some different herbs, uh, you know, basil, cilantro, all different herbs, and then I'm also gonna see how this one plays out. But I'm uh creating like a little tea garden. So I have all different uh herbs that can be used for tea, for making tea, and my plan is to, after it starts to grow, to dry it out and then, um, I'll have like dry uh tea and make them my own little tea bags and and send them to my friends and and gift people some sleepy, sleepy time tea.

Speaker 1:

So, uh, what I what I will mention is like I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to gardening. Honestly, it's it's very new to me, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. And I was talking to one of the guys at the store because I was asking him a lot of questions that probably were silly questions to ask, but he was very kind and we were just talking about the experience of gardening and he was even saying he's like, yeah, when you go out there and you're just. You know your hands are in the soil and you're planting something or you're taking care of something. He's like if anything's on your mind, it's just gone. He's like you, just you get lost in the moment of regulation.

Speaker 1:

It's a form of processing, of allowing yourself to shift your perspective, drop into a different place, feel more connected to the present moment, feel more connected to nature and really again working with the nervous system, regulating the nervous system. So if gardening speaks to you definitely another resource that you can use and totally send me a message too. I would love to hear more if you are planting something, like what you're planting, how it's going. Um, I just find it such a fun conversation, honestly. So this is all to say that nature really helps to bring a sense of wholeness. It helps us to remember who we really are. It helps us to move past various illusions that we experience in our day-to-day lives. It allows us to pause, it allows us to get present, it allows us to release and let go and connect. So I hope that you are able to make some time for yourself to get outside, be in nature, embrace this warmer weather, this transition, as we're moving slowly from spring into summer and if it is speaking to you and it is something that you really enjoy.

Speaker 1:

At the retreat the Return to Soul retreat we will be doing a few different hikes. So we are doing one of my all-time favorite hikes in the New York area, which I'm excited for, and then we're doing another hike that is a bit longer but less strenuous, so I will be also guiding you on the hike. So it will be, of course, like at your own pace always and, you know, moving in the way that feels good for you. But I'll be giving you some prompts to help you experience maybe the hike more mindfully, or help with integrating or receiving signs, you know, bringing more awareness into your experience. So if that interests you, definitely check out the show notes. There's a bunch of information on the return to soul retreat and any questions you just send me an email or a DMm. And, yeah, I'm I'm so glad that you're here and you're tuning into the podcast and I hope that you enjoyed today's episode. I hope that you have an incredible rest of your week, an incredible rest of your day, and I will talk to you soon.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for being here and tuning in to Somatic Healing for Wellness-Focused Women podcast. If you were moved or inspired by today's episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It truly helps the podcast grow and helps more people find me on their healing journey. Make sure to check out the show notes to sign up for the monthly newsletter. Links to more resources, opportunities to work with me and ways that we can stay connected. If we aren't already connected on social media, head over to Instagram to follow me at Ray the Somatic Coach. Send me a DM. I'd love to connect with you and I answer each note that comes in. I am so happy you're here and I cannot wait to talk with you on our next episode of the podcast.