Mindfulness Based Ecotherapy Program
Reconnect with Nature, Reconnect with Yourself
Do you love the outdoors?
Have you ever been camping, hiking, or kayaking?
Do you enjoy bird watching, wild swimming or nature walks?
If so, you already know the calming and healing power of nature. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) blends mindfulness with nature’s wisdom, offering a path to deeper self-awareness, connection, and well-being.
Program Highlights:
• Mindful Awareness & Living in the Now
• Letting Go & Radical Acceptance
• Nature as Healer, Teacher, and Nurturer
• Discovering Your True Self
Step outside, breathe deeply, and find your balance.
This is a program designed by Charlton Hall, MMFT, PhD through The Mindful Ecotherapy Center that meets once a week for 90 minutes for twelve weeks. Ecopsychology is the study of nature’s ability to heal. Ecotherapy is the application of ecopsychology in a therapeutic setting. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) is a blending of Mindfulness and Ecopsychology. MBE is a framework for helping individuals and families to find deeper connections in their own lives, and to give more meaning and enjoyment to the activities of daily living. The program uses the Mind- fulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook (provided). Participants commit to the full twelve week program.
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Session 1: Mindful Awareness
Mindful Awareness is a way of tuning in to what is happening right now, at this moment. Mindful Awareness involves the skills of Observing, Describing, Fully Participating, Being Non-Judgmental, Focusing on One Thing at a Time, and the Power of Intention. The Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Program (MBE) teaches you these skills.
Session 2: Living in the Now
Living in the Now means leaving Doing Mode and entering Being Mode. In Being Mode we learn that there is only this present moment. Living in the Now means allowing yourself to be in this moment...here and now. The Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Pro- gram (MBE) teaches you the skills of Living in the Now.
Session 3: Letting Go
The art of Mindful Acceptance can best be de- scribed as the Art of Letting Go. The Mindfulness- Based Ecotherapy Program (MBE) teaches us how to let go through the power of radical acceptance.
Session 4: Radical Acceptance
Acceptance teaches us that we are not our thoughts, and that we are not our emotions. The Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Program (MBE) teaches you the art of Radical Acceptance.
Session 5: Wise Mind and Wise Body
In reality there is no line between mind and body. When we realize this we are able to move beyond the duality that implies that mind and body are sepa- rate entities. From there we see that the body can change the mind, and the mind can change the body.
Session 6: Centering
Centering yourself is allowing yourself to get in touch with and being open to your True Self. It is allowing yourself to realize that you are perfect just as you are, even with your imperfections, because those feelings and desires are also a part of who you really are. If you accept your imperfections and integrate them into your way of thinking and feeling about yourself, you will obtain peace of mind, and you will be centered. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) teaches you how to Center.
Session 7: Connecting
Suppose you could take all the spiritual paths prac- ticed worldwide, put them into a cauldron, and boil them down to their essence. What would remain? I believe that the common thread to all spiritual practices is a feeling of connection. In this sense, spirituality means connection to others, or connection to the divine, or simply connection to nature and to ourselves. In short: spirituality is connectedness. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) can be one of the paths you use to re-connect to spirit.
Session 8: Nature as Metaphor
We create our own personal myths by choosing which things to focus on in our own lives. The good news about the myth of our lives is that we are the authors. So if we don’t like the way the story is going, we have the power to do a rewrite at any time. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) teaches you how to pay attention to those stories.
Session 9: Nature as Teacher
Our ancestors knew hundreds of medicinal uses of local plants and herbs. They knew the seasons, when to plant, when to harvest, how to forecast the weather by the behavior of plants and animals, and a host of other things based on their observations of nature. The lessons our ancestors learned haven’t gone away. They’re still there, waiting in the forest like an open book. All we have to do is to learn how to read it. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) teaches us the language of nature so that we may read its “book.”
Session 10: Nature as Nurture
A large and growing body of research has demon- strated that nature has incredible healing and nur- turing powers. People who go into the woods be- come calmer, more relaxed, less stressful, and healthier. Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) can be used to tap into the nurturing power of nature.
Session 11: Nature as Healer
Research continues to demonstrate the healing power of nature. People in hospital rooms that have windows overlooking a garden recover faster than those who do not. People who swim with dolphins recover from depression more quickly than people who take antidepressants. Children with ADHD who play outdoors regularly display fewer symptoms than those who do not. These are just a few examples of the many beneficial effects of the healing power of nature. Mindfulness -Based Ecotherapy (MBE) helps you to connect to this healing power.
Session 12: Living in True Self
Do you remember a time when you knew exactly who you were, what you wanted to be, and where your life was going? When you do something that isn’t healthy for you, or make a mistake, which part of you is it that recognizes the mistake? What part of you is it that holds the highest dreams and aspirations for your life? Mindfulness-Based Eco- therapy (MBE) recognizes that part of you as your True Self.
The ultimate goal of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) is to realize your True Self, and to live in it. Doing so allows you the opportunity to re- connect in positive ways with nature, with others, and with yourself. This is the ultimate goal of the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) Program. www.mindfulecotherapy.org