Reunion with Nature School

Reunion with Nature School

Daily Practices for Healing

My name is Mark. My grandparents survived WW2 and were really traumatized. For a long time I didn't remember anything from that time, but flashbacks came back- like feelings and sensations- and showed me that something terrible had happened to me when I was a little boy. I didn't know what to do or how to handle it- my memory had been splintered and all I had was the broken pieces of my story, surrounding me.

My grandfather in the war
My grandfather in the war
My childhood trauma
My childhood trauma
Flying gliders with dad
Flying gliders with dad
Addicted to the computer
Addicted to the computer
Yoga Class
Bend Over Backwards Yoga Studio
Building a garden together
Building a garden together
Inside of us is Us That's why an injury to one Is an injury to All And so, to be kind in heart Steady in breath Modest in our use of fire Flowing with water Hands in soil And working together with community This is how we create a culture of healing
Altar
Breathing Rhythm
Stress Hormones
(Cortisol & Adrenaline)
Energy Regulation
(Glucose & Insulin)
Fat Imbalance
(Triglycerides Densely Packing Lipoproteins)
Trauma & Inflammation
(Oxidative Stress)

To heal, we have to join together with our communities in Love

And re-connect with the elements in Nature

To help restore balance both within ourselves

and in the ecologies around us.

We get sick because we grew in a culture that's sick. And to heal, we also need to work together in community. Healing is not optimization of individuals, but a fundamental change in our way of seeing the world— that all of life is Us, and therefore our work must serve the balance of life on Earth. We share in common the medicines of Nature, the elements that flow through all of us in measured harmony. We need to dissolve our ego to see clearly.

Healing is the will of the heart Healing requires willpower Willpower comes from the heart First, find our loving heart Then, pull air slowly through us Heal our relationship with fire How many firey horses do we need To pull our cart? Go to the water, bathe and swim Give thanks for the cool and maintain equilibrium. Put our hands in the Earth And turn the soil of Us. We exist in a delicate balance Forged by the elements together And so our balance always depends on love, air, fire, water and earth. And the order Is always important. Imagine eating dinner while holding your breath. Or cooking underwater. So with the help of the elements We find our own garbage Inside of us and out And we clean it up
Nature's Elements

We can discover that there is an order to the elements. Love and Breath are most primary, without which we cannot live for long. Then warmth, and water, and nourishment follow. These survival principles are also how we can approach the elements for healing.

Every element is an apprenticeship. Every element has its ways. Approach with respect. We are students.

1. Love

Love pervades all. To heal is to practice with Love, compassion and forgiveness in our hearts, as Love is our first gift.

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2. Breath

Return to the body, feel the breath, lengthen the exhale, bring the nervous system into balance, and build a steady rhythm.

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3. Fire

Practice keeping our fires small and in balance. In every cell burns a tiny furnace—our mitochondria. Work your body, build strength.

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4. Water

What flows through water connects all life. We can become stewards of our waterways by connecting every day.

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5. Earth

From sea and soil comes our nourishment. Study the plant families around us and connect with the ecologies we are part of.

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