Selva Healing Therapies

Ecotherapy in the field...or forest

Mental health practitioners are hiking, camping and braving the elements with their clients — all in an effort to help them connect with the Earth, and with themselves. https://nyti.ms/3w3MbcL

"Winter presents an opportunity to see the stark stillness of the land as a mirror for our own practice, to turn that guidance inward and allow the cloak of liminal time to still our minds." ~Kristen Roderick

Join us this Saturday, January 27th for a beautiful half-day virtual retreat, called Tending the Winter Garden, where we will explore themes on stillness, silence, rest and wisdom. Details here: journey.spiritmoving.org/wintergarden

Only 4 spots left!!

Artwork by Jeanie Tomanek The website link for the artist didn't work
Not sure why, looks the same as this one which does work.
https://www.jeanietomanek.com/

"There is so much that fills me: plants, animals, clouds, day and night, and the eternal in man. The more uncertain I have felt about myself, the more there has grown up in me a feeling of kinship with all things".~C. G. Jung - Memories, Dreams, Reflections

There is nothing more incredible than watching life living. I found this little Costa Rican Tropical Night Lizard stuck in my empty bathtub, tired and dehydrated. I kept the handling to a minimum so as not to stress her out, but the moment I got to share with her was sweet. (Here in CR all of the individuals of this species are female, they don't need males to reproduce; the females self-fertilize their eggs). Wow!

The opportunity we have to connect with and appreciate all life is ever present for us to choose, and is a gift. Shared moments with creatures (whether in observation or interaction) always fills me with wonder and awe. This deep sense of awe is a valuable element in our lives to tap into and is a precious piece of the work within Ecotherapy.

What calls out the awe within you? Where do you witness the kinship you have with all of life?

“Our elders say that ceremonies are the way we "remember to remember".
Robin Wall Kimmerer

“In times of struggle, don’t forget the earth.
She is always there offering a warm shoulder to lay your head upon. All that we are and all we will ever need arises from her body.

Walking over the land I can see my body in hers; solid, curved, at times liquid, sensual, intricately detailed.

The beauty of the land helps me see my own beauty.

Loving the land helps me to love myself.”

Words and Art by Sofia Jain-Schlaepfer - WiseArt
IG: .art.sofia
wiseart.net

Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul
- and sings the tunes without the words
- and never stops at all.

—Emily Dickinson

Image: Wood Witch, Nadia Turner

Please follow me at my new page: The Wild Remembering

the light looks good on you
but do not forget
that it is often through
gritty confrontation
and honest navigation through
dark butterflies & their shadow wings
that transformation,
true transformation
carries the greatest depth
and oomph oomph pa pa.

words: stasha ginsburg
the wild Matryoshka

image: alexandra dronikova

Connecticut to Offer Legal M**A and Psilocybin Therapy as Early as Next Year Ahead of federal approval, Connecticut seeks to lay the groundwork for psychedelic treatments in the state.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

[ Art • “MOONLESS NIGHT- # # -V-MMXVIII” by Orphné Achéron ]

"A recognition of the spiritual essences inherent in nature is basic to the worldview of indigenous people, as it was for our ancestors and pre-industrial societies". ~Ralph Metzner, PhD, Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca

"Inasmuch as the serpent leads into the shadows, it has the function of the anima; it leads you into the depths, it connects the above and the below". ~Carl Jung

Deep bows to the power of the serpent, and how much she stirs in so many. What a gift it was to share time with this gentle & curious beauty, and catch a glimmer into her world and my own.

(This very docile tree boa was found on the land where I live. Grateful to share the space with her although she's unfortunately rarely seen).

try not to keep beating yourself up over what your past self did. they didn’t know what you’ve learned now.

artwork by instagram.com/aolanow

My DNA results came in.
Just as I suspected,
my great great grandfather
was a monarch butterfly.
Much of who I am is still
wriggling under a stone.
I am part larva, but
part hummingbird too.
There is dinosaur tar in
my bone marrow.
My golden hair sprang out
of a meadow in Palestine.
Genghis Khan is my fourth cousin,
but I didn't get his dimples.
My loins are loaded with
banyan seeds from Sri Lanka,
but I descended from Ravanna,
not Ram.
My uncle is a mastodon.
There are traces of white people
in my saliva.
3.7 billion years ago I swirled
in hydrogen dust,
dreaming of a planet overgrown
with lingams and yonis.
More recently, say 60,000 B.C.
I walked on hairy paws
across a land bridge
joining Sweden to Botswana.
I am the bastard of the sun and moon.
I can no longer hide my heritage of
raindrops and cougar s**t.
My mud was molded with your grandmother's tears.
I was the brother
who marched you to the sea
and sold you.
I was the merchant from Savannah
and the cargo of blackness.
I was the chain.
Admit it, you have wings,
vast and crystal,
like mine, like mine.
You have sweat, dark and salty,
like mine, like mine.
You have secrets silently
singing in your blood,
like mine, like mine.
Don't pretend that earth
is not one family.
Don't pretend we never hung
from the same branch.
Don't pretend we do not ripen
on each other's breath.
Don't pretend we didn't
come here to forgive.

Poem "Ancestry" by Fred LaMotte

Painting by Lobsang Melendez Ahuanari
https://www.lobsangsecretart.com/gallery
___________
"Ancestry" has been published in The Tiferet Journal, the anthology "Inspiring Forgiveness," and Fred’s own book "Fire of Darkness."

"As we come to understand the symmetry between the outer landscape and the inner wilderness, we can’t help but grieve the ways in which our own nature has been tampered with, denigrated, broken into obedience, and in many cases eradicated from memory. We begin to face the ways in which we are complicit in the slow apocalypse, within and without. Only from this place of loss and longing, can we begin remembering ourselves home." -Toko-pa Turner

"....if you move them....sinking them into the ground, you send care signs to the deepest part of you and your soul lights up because you're paying attention to it". 🌱✨

“Grandma, how do you cope with pain?”

“With your hands, honey. If you do it with your mind instead of relieving the pain, it toughens even harder.”

“With your hands grandma?”

“Yes, our hands are the antennae of our soul. If you move them; knitting, cooking, painting, playing or sinking them into the ground, you send care signs to the deepest part of you and your soul lights up because you’re paying attention to it. Then signs of pain will no longer be necessary.”

“Hands are really that important?”

“Yes my daughter. Think of babies: they start to know the world through the touch of their hands. If you look at the hands of old people, they tell you more about their life then any body part. Everything that is done by hand is said to be done with the heart. Because it’s really like this: hands and heart are connected. Masseurs know well: when they touch someone with their hands, they create a deep connection. It is precisely from this connection that healing comes. Think of lovers: when they touch their hands, they make love in a more sublime way.”

“My hands grandma.... how long I haven’t used them like this!”

“Move them, my love. Begin to create with them and everything within you will begin to move. The pain will not pass away. And instead what you do with them will become the most beautiful masterpiece and it won’t hurt anymore. Because you have been able to transform its essence.”

~Elena Bernabe
Shared and translated by Takiruna

Right now there’s a “great resignation” or people quitting their jobs in record numbers. My belief is that this is actually tied to people wanting to be more emotionally healthy. Things that used to be tolerated in work spaces (like lack of boundaries + toxic interactions).

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this + if you’re up for sharing I’d love to hear about the EMOTIONAL environment at your work

"Magic mushroom dispensaries operating openly in Vancouver"
CBC News reports.

"In a development reminiscent of its first unlicensed pot cafés, the city has seen a recent shroom boom with at least four new dispensaries openly setting up shop.

One dispensary offers psilocybin mushroom products both in sub-hallucinogenic micro-doses, and for higher doses, the filling out of a medical form.

'The demand for psilocybin is real. The number of Canadians out there who are seeing this research, who are fed up with the treatment options that aren't working and realize they don't have alternatives, they're looking for support.'

Hawkswell (CEO of TheraPsil) warns there are inherent dangers when people are forced to find a product illegally.

But the City of Vancouver says there are currently no regulations federally, provincially, or municipally that allow for the recreational sale of magic mushrooms.

'The truth is that prohibition doesn't work and when people are forced underground, we don't know how safe the substances they're accessing are' he said."

(link to the article in the comments)
_________________
Follow Dennis McKenna and McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy on social media for more related news:
(IG)
(Twitter)academy (IG)
(Twitter)

—Mental Health Check—

There may be lots of things happening around you or going through your mind right now—so let's take a deep breath in. And slowly exhale.

Feel what is present in your heart.

Let's pause for a moment and acknowledge our emotions, without judgement, whatever they may be.

Leave a comment below this post with the corresponding heart emoji for how you are feeling today:⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
❤️ - I’m doing great⁣⁣⁣⁣
🤍 - I'm healing
💜 - I’m doing only okay⁣⁣⁣⁣
💚 - I’m starting to struggle⁣
💙 - I’m having a hard time ⁣⁣⁣⁣
🖤 - I don’t know what I’m feeling⁣
💛 - I need someone to talk to⁣⁣⁣⁣
🧡 - My DMs are open for anyone⁣

artwork by instagram.com/hayleemorice

“I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom.

By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.”

~ Mary Oliver, “Sleeping in the Forest”
www.maryoliver.beacon.org

Art by Moki Mioki
www.mioke.de

Today's convo 🙏🏽💙💛

"We did not wake up in a different world today — we woke up in the same world that continues to place profit over planet, destruction over humanity and violence over empathy and compassion. We need global systems change to end the continuous suffering of both people and planet. Our hearts are broken and we will continue to fight to dismantle systems of oppression. We appeal to leaders across the globe to stop senseless violence + war." —instagram.com/intersectionalenvironmentalist

"As we pray for Ukraine and the world, check on those around you.

Check on you.

These were already tumultuous and traumatizing times, with many struggling with anxiety and depression. And there were already humans facing grave inhumanity and militarism.

'War is hell.'"
—Be A King

artwork by instagram.com/ana_godis

"Psilocybin Treatment for Major Depression Effective for up to a Year for Most Patients." says the recent research conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

"Participants had stable rates of response to the treatment and remission of symptoms throughout the follow-up period, with 75% response and 58% remission at 12 months.

'Psilocybin not only produces significant and immediate effects, it also has a long duration, which suggests that it may be a uniquely useful new treatment for depression,' says Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., the Oliver Lee McCabe III, Ph.D., Professor in the Neuropsychopharmacology of Consciousness at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research.

'Compared to standard antidepressants, which must be taken for long stretches of time, psilocybin has the potential to enduringly relieve the symptoms of depression with one or two treatments.'"

Source Neuroscience News and Research
(Link to the research in the comments)
_________________
Follow Dennis McKenna and McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy on social media for more related news:
(IG)
(Twitter)academy (IG)
(Twitter)

“But why are trees such social beings? Why do they share food with their own species and sometimes even go so far as to nourish their competitors?

The reasons are the same as for human communities: there are advantages to working together. A tree is not a forest. On its own, a tree cannot establish a consistent local climate. It is at the mercy of wind and weather. But together, many trees create an ecosystem that moderates extremes of heat and cold, stores a great deal of water, and generates a great deal of humidity. And in this protected environment, trees can live to be very old.

To get to this point, the community must remain intact no matter what. If every tree were looking out only for itself, then quite a few of them would never reach old age. Regular fatalities would result in many large gaps in the tree canopy, which would make it easier for storms to get inside the forest and uproot more trees. The heat of summer would reach the forest floor and dry it out. Every tree would suffer. Every tree, therefore, is valuable to the community and worth keeping around for as long as possible.

And that is why even sick individuals are supported and nourished until they recover. Next time, perhaps it will be the other way round, and the supporting tree might be the one in need of assistance. When thick silver-gray beeches behave like this, they remind me of a herd of elephants. Like the herd, they, too, look after their own, and they help their sick and weak back up onto their feet. They are even reluctant to abandon their dead.”
—Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate

artwork by instagram.com/seanislewis

“do not be misled
into thinking
you should be doing more.

rest.
feed.
heal.
hold.
feel.

these are the seeds.
the beginning.
be gentle with it all.”
—Vicki Rivard, holy days

artwork by instagram.com/om3lette

Heartbroken? There's a scientific reason why breaking up feels so rotten Science writer Florence Williams experienced what felt like a brain injury when her husband left her after more than 25 years. Her new book is Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey.