Ecotherapy is when someone feels a therapeutic relationship with nature to nurture wellness.
I include my own wellness practices on this blog because I have a long and resolute history of overworking, pushing myself hard, being a grueling self-manager, putting WAY too much on my plate (I call this the Wonder Woman complex), and having a lack of balance in my life. For me, carving out time for recreation is actually a big deal because I don't do a lot of it and I'm trying to do more. I work so hard that I battle feelings of guilt that I should be doing other productive things when I am resting, recreating, or 'being'.
I've just finished 8 years of formal education, 7 of those years were full-time education. 4 of those years were also working full-time (often working more than full-time, especially through the pandemic), all of those years included my part time photography business. I finished raising three kids during those 8 years, managed the heartbreak and tasks that come with a separation and divorce for three of the last 6 years (after being married for 25 years), and completed a total home renovation during the last 2 of those 8 years. That is a lot.
This was a camping trip to Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. If you have the opportunity to go to Waterton, go. Camping brings me back to the Earth. I love camp cooking and continuing to eat healthy wherever I am, through the flexibility of the tools that are available today. I tend to walk a lot and I sleep really well while camping. Maybe it's the extra oxygen in the air.
The pine dish (pictured) was made out of charred pine from the 2017 Kenow wildfire that roared through most of Waterton. It represents renewal, repurposing, and reframing trauma. The elements of nature help me feel rejuvenated, just like the pine dish. The Earth renews and we are part of the Earth.
I've also included a few pictures from the natural areas of Waterton; of course I took my camera. It is such a beautiful place to visit, hike, paddleboard, and swim. The natural world always has ways to renew itself, and when we tap into that power, we can feel peace and renewal as well.
As an aside, I would recommend the Crypt Lake trail, or the Carthew-Alderson trail in Waterton. I didn't hike this trip, but I have done them before. They are spectacular.
It was on this camping trip in August that I looked for a Wifi source to make the final minor changes to my Master of Nursing report before it went to the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. I was finishing the requirements on a camping table, borrowing their Wifi, swatting bugs, by a community centre hoping that it wouldn't rain while I was making the final changes. Also later on this same camping trip, I received notification that the Dean approved my project report and that I was finally DONE. All of the requirements for this Master of Nursing degree were done. I stood up in my camp-kitchen shelter and cheered. I feel like I've been holding my breath the last two years and I could finally exhale when I saw that final approval email come in.
I can do hard things, and I'm also learning to rest, relax, repair, and rejuvenate. I am proud of myself for getting through the difficulties and the heaviness, the "muchness" of the last 8 years. I packed a lot of life-stuff in. It's how I roll.
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