In dry academic language, “The immersion experience in nature stimulates the five sensory systems which increase activities in one’s parasympathetic nervous system and leads to heightened awareness, eventually resulting in a state of relaxation.” (A Guide to Nature Immersion: Psychological and Physiological Benefits cited by https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
By Rina Tripathi
Yesterday I was like a singing bird, soaring freely here and there in the fields. Today I am a slave to fickle wealth, society’s rules, and city’s customs, and purchased friends, pleasing the people by conforming to the strange and narrow laws of man. I was born to be free and enjoy the bounty of life, but I find myself like a beast of burden so heavily laden with gold that his back is breaking.
Where are the spacious plains, the singing brooks, the pure breeze, the closeness of Nature?
-Kahlil Gibran
With cities corrupted by concrete, pollution and greed, infested with new viruses and fear, humans are now longing for nature and its succor more than ever. Living off-grid is a dream many are pursuing. Social media is adding to the longing through constant reminders as beauty and serenity of nature pour through travel photographs.
Mountains, brooks, oceans and the silence of wilderness is like a soothing balm to frayed senses. After the trauma of Covid, many people are questioning the race for comfort and luxury. Immersing in nature is a therapy for the tired senses and jaded souls. Azure waters and moss covered rocks stretched across mountains absorb all thoughts, and meditative silence descends, healing gently.
Peace descends. In the absence of thoughts, all the struggles stop. Behold an unobtrusive rainbow stretching across the peaks, a deer bounding about in the wilderness… Moments holding immense healing.
Clouds, rivers, flowers, seashores and valleys call us. The silent call asks us to drop distractions and turn inwards to rest in self. Nature immersion promises the joy of thoughtless awareness to just be.
Rina Tripathi is Advisor, Disaster Management at Indian Red Cross Society in Delhi, India. A spiritual seeker, she often retreats to the mountains.
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