Nature-based Therapy

We are biologically wired to be in relationship with the natural world. It's a primal connection, going back to our beginning as a species. Our modern, technological environment builds barriers to this essential human-nature connection. Many people spend the majority of their days using digital devices that keep them living in a virtual reality, disconnected from the present moment and unaware of the variety of life forms and nature surrounding them.

Through nature-based therapy, we explore how you can reconnect with the living earth. We live in relationship with each other and with our environments. One way to rebuild healthy relationships with others and with our self involves rebuilding relationships with nature.

Spending time connecting with nature in new ways helps calm anxiety and heal depression. Nature-based therapy can help re-set the nervous system and calm fight or flight. Nature brings us back to the present moment and teaches the brain how to problem-solve differently. Nature-based therapy teaches techniques and tools that transfer over into everyday life.

 

Nature-based Services

Nature-based services facilitate building the person-nature relationship. Northern Colorado’s idyllic setting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains provides a breathtaking and supportive natural setting for helping you reconnect with wildlife, flora and fauna. Combining outdoor settings with therapeutic methods brings individuals empowering, liberating experiences.

To build relationships with nature, we use experiential exercises that include trees, rocks, plants and animals. Sometimes, nature can reflect back to us feelings, thoughts and memories, and these reflections are affirmed using metaphors with natural objects to help you come to a state of acceptance and healing.

For example, coming upon trees or bushes burnt from a forest fire might bring up thoughts of troubling past relationships or experiences. But seeing new life growing within a burn area could symbolize rebirth from the ashes of painful experiences, grief and depression. Through guided exercises, children, adolescents and adults often uncover their own unique symbolism. By reconnecting with nature, you help yourself to heal cognitive, behavioral, spiritual and emotional injuries.

Forest and nature bathing are other experiences we may utilize. The power of simply "being" in nature and opening  up the senses cannot be overestimated.  We'll practice partnering with and listening to different aspects of nature as well as learning about and experiencing how interconnected we are with trees and other "Nature Beings." 

Appropriate experiences for each client are based on the individual’s personal circumstances, and treatment plans are developed keeping safety at the forefront. Nature-based therapy experiences might take place in a Fort Collins park or at Wilder-Nest Retreats located on 100 acres and set against the idyllic foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Loveland near Masonville, Colorado.

Ritual, Ceremony and Rites of Passage

  • Medicine Walks

  • Day Wander (Day Quest)

  • Customized Ceremonies (for individuals and/or groups)

  • Mindfulness Hikes and/or Walks