Mental health/wellness – Page 8 – Spirituality & Healing

The love of trees

Published on October 25, 2017October 23, 2017 by lindseybiggs2 Comments

There is something so wonderful about being in nature. Perhaps because it is a time when I delight in beauty.

I love getting to spend time each day in nature. For me, this means simply taking my dog and son to the park each afternoon as a family. We are fortunate enough to live near a park with beautiful trees and lovely wooded trails.

This “outside time”, as we call it, feeds our souls. The trees in this park are beautiful sugar maple and black walnut trees, surrounded by wooded hills, caves, mountain biking and hiking trails. It makes me want to go and plant more trees for our children’s children to enjoy for decades to come.

Trees are like quiet, uncomplaining sentinels, giving of their energy. They are familiar old friends. I am in awe and gratitude for trees. They are a spiritual symbol of home to me.

Studies show that average Americans spend 90% of their days indoors. This tells me that specific effort is needed to carve out time to spend in nature, to enjoy the stillness around us, to take deep breaths and slow walks, and to give space to notice the little wonders around us.

Nature is where I feel God’s presence. It is so beautiful and wonderful that it reminds me of how much She loves us. I believe divine Love is the creator of the universe, and I am in awe of Her majesty all around us. It is as though She is showing off Her beauty, grandeur, order, stillness, and harmony, whispering “I love you” in Her still, gentle ways.

Satisfaction, nature and being in awe

Published on August 5, 2017August 5, 2017 by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

Nature teaches grand lessons.

This summer I got the opportunity to sit in awe of the ocean, the beautiful sand, and tall trees. I felt like I was in heaven. Sand and water are so simple, yet their purity and consistency can entertain one for hours as you stare at the waves coming in and out, in and back out again.

I was reminded of a blog that a colleague wrote about the healing power of being in awe. Scientists have found there are healthy physical and mental effects from the state of being in awe. What gives us this profound sense of awe is as diverse as we are. For me it’s nature, the trees, moon, animals. There is something so spiritual about pausing for a moment to just be in awe of this wonderful creation.

I was reading an article about retails shops and malls closing down at a rapid rate across America. One town is looking to make up for the lost business by attracting people to stop for the hiking trails, state parks and a new whitewater rafting outfit.

Studies have found that as people consume more, they are less and less happy. Spending money can actually be an addiction, similar to drug addictions, because, as studies show, spending can give people the same temporary high that drugs can.

So how do we break these cycles of addiction? Through knowing that man (more than just human beings) — men, women and children — are the spiritual manifestation of God. A friend once told me that she thinks of the word “man” as short for “manifestation.” I like that. We are much more than the flesh and bones that we see. We are actually each the image and likeness of God; the reflection of the one creative Spirit. Getting to know God and expressing this infinite wonderful being is the way to satisfy.

Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man... The senses confer no real enjoyment.

What can we enjoy then? I find that thinking in terms of qualities helps. The Bible says:

God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful…

So true enjoyment comes from our spiritual sense. Spiritual sense is actually how we perceive beauty, peace, love, satisfaction, comfort, joy. It’s how we feel safe. It’s how we give generously. It helps us make the right decisions. In fact, it is our constant connection to the Divine, to our real, native being.

God’s being is infinity, freedom, harmony, and boundless bliss.

So it makes sense that as we become conscious of God, we are becoming more aware of infinity, freedom, harmony and boundless bliss and can be truly satisfied.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Mary Baker Eddy, Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 60:31
Galatians 5:22 CEV
Science & Health, p. 481:2-4
Matthew 5:6 NIV

Messages of worth and love

Published on April 28, 2017 by lindseybiggsLeave a comment

You are loved.

You are needed.

You have a holy origin.

You are made in the image and likeness of God, good.

You are special. God delights in you. She rejoices that She made you.

These are the messages that matter.

Wouldn’t it be great if instead of advertisements of sexuality, violence, and disease that run rampant in today’s media that we are instead reminded of our inherent worth as God’s image and likeness? Wouldn’t it be nice to receive reminders and affirmations to love one another and see the child of God in each of us? Just as we treat children with such tenderness, we can also nurture the child within each of us that hopes for and desires the eternal love of an all good Mom/Dad, that Jesus called “Abba”, Daddy.

You are sinless, you are eternal. Reminding ourselves of how our Creator makes us and sees us enables us to be a healer everyday, whether we are participating in larger actions of restorative justice or simply being faithful over the little things we can do each day.

We are made to heal because we reflect the heart of God. We are made to bind up the brokenhearted. We are made to wash each others feet with our tears.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Isaiah 61:1 ESV