Creation Heals: A Dose of Nature is Good for the Body and Soul of Young Men

Many of the young men who come to Beartooth MT Ascent needing help with substance abuse treatment, depression or a general lack of motivation for life suffer from what we call a nature-deficit disorder. Long hours spent in a dark room in front of a computer has a direct effect on their serotonin levels. The good news is that there's a quick fix for this problem: get the young men outdoors working with their hands in nature. We make sure that the struggling young adult has plenty of outdoor recreation time to experience the amazing healing magic of nature.

There is a tension between creating and being created. Seeing ourselves as a creature created by God helps us develop humility in the face of life’s challenges. So we need to be mindful of a partnership between us as servants of nature and God as our creator.

When we allow ourselves to see the nature more in its own terms, to reach beyond ourselves to experience God’s creation, we then become more one with it, and no longer standing outside and above it. To allow attunement to the processes of co-creation through nature, can help to understand better who we are and God’s Plan for our life. Through nature, God reminds us about the truth about being alive on this planet- that we are born, we live, we die as does the circle of all life on the earth- we are part of nature, and interdependent with it.

Probably most of us have been in a nature on a particular day and time and felt a rush of wellbeing- of joy, being recharged, uplifted, a sense of healing, being in tune with the infinite. We share this perspective on spirituality and wellbeing through nature with the struggling young men so as to assist them in clarifying your own relationship with their Creator.

Nature can clear away the fog of the noisy, fast, techno world, and the mindless focus on the clutter of trivia. This trivia hides us from what matters and what we need to be in relationship to each other, to being alive to our being and becoming present to God as our Creator. We all have our issues, our edges to expand or contract. And we need all the help we can get. Nature attunes us to life’s struggles for renewal, richness and balance. Dimensions of healing, psychological development and physical wellbeing are all part of the Gifts of Nature. For example, being in Nature every day and through the seasons keeps us in touch with the cycle of life- we can see the plants and animals each day through the seasons that are thriving, dying, seeding, bearing fruit, healthy and battling with disease.

Young men from a agriculture based family or with a ranching cultural heritage, or those who have experienced a ‘fall’, often know they need healing and are more likely to be open to the capacity of nature to cultivate their wellbeing. Those that have been running flat out in the fast lane, full of their own power and sense of autonomy are often blinded and disabled from spiritual attunement and growth that Nature offers.

To consciously cultivate wellbeing, rather than leave it to the unconscious or live in an unaware state, we challenge the young men to ask themselves these questions. What attitudes, values and assumptions do we bring to it? Why are we coming to be healed in nature? To work, to play, to listen, to rest, regenerate, for time out from the everyday world, for time with non-human nature, to give and receive? More important what do we bring? - How much time, how often, in what frame of mind? How open are we to learning, listening, observing? Do we come with an attitude of partnership with the rest of nature, to be of service to life or to control and dominate and demand returns? Are we there to have a quick visit, do some work or to lingeringly meditate, observe, create, touch, feel, and wonder?

At Beartooth Mt Ascent we teach that we should all live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.It is our expereince that nature heals in amazing ways!