The Essential Healing Ingredient I'd Been Missing: From Exhausted to Replenished in 15 Minutes

Fluttering back into consciousness, my senses first tuned into the gentle lapping of the Mississippi River only yards away. Without opening my eyes, I smelled the freshness of the earth and crisp autumn air. Tuning into my sense of sound once more before coming fully to, I heard the bright little voices of our children making observations as they played in the sand. This was the same soft sand supporting my lower body as I rested against an fallen tree trunk, wood worn soft and smooth from the river. This was the essential healing ingredient I'd been missing.

I awoke completely refreshed and rejuvenated, despite it only being a mere ten or fifteen minutes of dozing. A far cry from how I'd felt the previous few days... exhausted and completely depleted of energy.

The kids had been sleeping poorly again, a cycle I'd dealt with often since our daughter was born. Our neurospicy little nuggets were night owls who rarely went a full night without waking (and trust me, I've tried ALL of the sleep routine ideas). I, however, was in the phase of my cycle where a woman doesn't just desire extra rest... her body NEEDS it. Managing the additional stresses of the week on less sleep than I needed on a normal day, much less a luteal into menstrual kind of day, was challenging to say the least.

I'd found myself morphing like a werewolf shifts at night, except I was changing from a gentle and intentional parent into a short-tempered creature I hardly recognized who despised the sounds of her children and was prone to losing patience and yelling. My vibrant life felt dim and my hormones did their best to convince my mind that I was terrible at everything.

Having experienced these feelings (those curious of a formal diagnosis may recognize PMDD) I followed the regimen of care, though the much needed ingredient of rest was nowhere to be found. I drank extra water, applied my heating pad, and enjoyed cozy teas of raspberry leaf and chamomile to calm my reproductive system and ease anxiety. I put down the scroll in exchange for a good book before bed. I took my magnesium, iron, vitamins D + K, and recognized that my diet hadn't been as supportive as I might have chosen. I tried to ease sensory input, but the sounds of my curious, jabbering, and seemingly LOUD children were putting me over the edge... paired with the constant inquiries of "Mom, Mom, MOM!" and inability to have a bathroom visit uninterrupted.

Why wasn't I feeling like myself again?!

It wasn't until my husband coaxed my sassy self into the car for a little Saturday road trip that I began to realize, with how busy the week had been our usual hours outside connecting with the earth had been replaced with helping out at the automotive shop.

Crossing the Mississippi River, I began to feel my spirits lift... a little. But when Adam parked our car at a special little riverside spot we'd found on our last adventure this direction, I knew relief was in sight. I slipped my boots back over my cozy socks, wrapped my blanket around my grumpy self, and trudged myself right down to the beach. The sand felt like velvet to run my hands through, and I found myself exhaling the entire week from my body. The trunk, though likely fallen long ago, soothed me with soft mumblings of comfort. The warm sun on my face, the twinkling patterns of the water, and soft sounds of the river rushing through a dam in the distance began to lull me into relaxation like a baby. The kids began collecting unique rocks, shells, and driftwood and joined Adam in picking up trash.

I cozied myself into this magical space where I was able to just be, and fell asleep.

Often we think of nature as just being a part of our environment. We rush from our homes to our vehicles, and into buildings of work or school and back again, occasionally noticing bits and pieces of our natural surroundings. Yet this little moment of rest in such a peaceful nature setting was more than just time spent outdoors.

It is essential to the body, mind, and spirit.

I was reminded that quality time both disconnecting (with our devices, our stresses, and too much noise) and reconnecting (with ourselves, our natural home, and one another) is not just a pleasure, but a necessity. What if we thought about time resting upon the earth as being just as essential as supplying our bodies with food, water, and oxygen? Just as needed as sleep, and even more important than obtaining currency.

The greatest spiritual teachers had little to no possessions, and kept to the most simple of food and drink consumption. Yet every day they would settle on the earth and meditate, pray, or sleep upon it. For they knew that the Divine is not found only within the walls of a church or temple, but alive within every living being and energy of our natural world... including ourselves.

If we remain disconnected from nature, we remain disconnected from ourselves. If we abuse and only wish to take from nature, we are abusing the connection we have with our very selves. But if we embrace the reminder that we ARE nature, and care for both ourselves and our natural surroundings accordingly, we bring our world back into balance.

And balanced I felt, upon fully waking and stretching my body like the animal she is. I smiled at my husband, who was likely relieved not to see the exhausted scowl that had previously inhabited my face. Observing my children, their sounds no longer felt piercing to my overstimulated nervous system and I was able to rejoice in the gratitude of this beautiful day together.

Most of all, I felt I was one again. My body, mind, and spirit were no longer at odds with one another, and they blended into a blissful harmony.

As the seasons shift, this time in connection with Mother Earth may require more intention. May we choose to refresh our spirits in nature with as much dedication and regularity as we feed ourselves or settle in for a nightly sleep.

Healing & Peace,

Ashley