All the pain caused by infidelity trauma can be healed in the outdoors. Nature provides many opportunities to recover your calm and health. Ecotherapy is how we use mother nature to heal the overwhelm and pain infidelity caused us.
Have you heard of forest bathing? Well, as I have often mentioned, I live in a forest here on my little island. If I can find a way to reduce infidelity pain, even a little bit, I will embrace it. Infidelity healing can happen in nature; ecotherapy lessens infidelity pain.
Who wants to be drowning in pain when straws are floating all around us. Because if we grab enough straws, then perhaps we will fashion a lifeboat! Keep reading...
The Infidelity Healing Series
The Infidelity Healing Series is a source of hope for betrayed wives everywhere. Over the course of several posts, The Betrayed Wife offers practical and effective tools to help heal from the pain of infidelity. This series is her way of extending a compassionate hand to other wives struggling with the same heartache she once endured.
The Betrayed Wife knows all too well the devastating impact of discovering a husband's infidelity. The anxiety and betrayal pain can consume us, leaving us feeling lost and alone. It's a constant reminder of the trust and faith in ourselves that we've lost.
However, this Infidelity Healing Series provides the support and guidance needed to begin the healing process. The self-healing techniques offered are simple to implement and can bring a sense of peace and restoration to our emotional and physical well-being. Take the time to read and apply each one, and you'll be on your way to reclaiming your life after infidelity.
Begin your infidelity healing now:
I love nature and take every opportunity to bring it into my healing routines.
Forest bathing, the Japanese art of seeking good health and mental wellness by connecting with nature, has greatly supported me after infidelity.
The name, forest bathing, sounds pretty woo-woo. It's not about taking a bath in the forest. (Although that does sound pretty amazing!) The term means taking the time to stroll through or sit with nature and mindfully absorb its calming and healing benefits.
We don't need to go to a forest to get the benefits of connecting with the healing qualities of nature.
We can bring nature into our homes. I have potted plants all around me as I sit here at my computer. But if you don't have a green thumb, buy yourself some flowers to enjoy.
Flowers have been used for centuries as a way of empathizing with those experiencing loss. We, as betrayed wives, certainly deserve to honor our losses with flowers too. And we can use them as a way to mindfully heal our pain and grieve our losses through the gifts nature brings us.
Perhaps planning a trip to a national park might be too much for you. But visiting a local nature reserve, garden, or even a stroll down a tree-lined street are all ways to connect with the healing capacity nature brings.
One of my favorite self-care activities is to visit plant nurseries, just to be surrounded by trees, shrubs, and flowers. The air feels richer around plants, and the atmosphere calms and centers me.
And when I pass flower shops, I pause to enjoy the delights nature has gifted us. I do this even when I go to my local supermarket, as it sells both plants and flowers. Ecotherapy can be found all around us.
At the end of the day, even looking at pictures of nature online can calm our anxiety. It can transport us back to our roots. And grounds us with a peaceful invitation to heal and be whole.
How does mother nature heal our stress?
Connecting with nature is an opportunity for restoration, engage with our five senses, and pause our stress. And the benefits of forest bathing or being with nature have been proven to lessen pain and anxiety. We all want less pain in our lives and nature holds that key for us.
Our blood pressure drops when we engage with ecotherapy, our breathing slows, and our immunity increases (very important with covid). It improves our sleep, helps halt our racing thoughts, and counters our depression and anxiety. These are all essential things we want to happen in our lives and are free gifts from mother nature.
The therapeutic experience involves us slowing down. As we engage with nature, we need to move gently and thoughtfully as we smell the soil and the plants, and breathe in the richness of the air. It has us looking at the plants' patterns, feeling their textures, and observing their color variations.
The greens and blues in nature are the most relaxing colors there are. Taking the time to see the complex shapes and patterns in plants stills our ruminations. Pausing to smell and slowly breathe signals to our brain that we are in a safe place.
When our body feels safe, it can transition out of fear into its natural state of being calm.
Our amygdala, the fear center of our brain, has a role to play in our lives to keep us safe. But infidelity can hijack our amygdala, and this puts us on a roller coaster ride of constant fear. If we don't get off the roller coaster, then we risk our health. Our bodies are not designed to live in fear day in and day out.
When we pause and breathe slowly, our bodies enter a state of rest and peace.
Then our prefrontal cortex, the calming part of our brain, can tell our amygdala to stand down. The more we do things like forest bathing or mindfully connecting with nature, the more we take our lives back. Living from a place of calm is how we heal and process the infidelity pain.
What is frightening is that the longer we remain in a state of fear, with a triggered amygdala, the weaker the connection becomes between our prefrontal cortex and our amygdala. Over time this weakening connection makes it harder for us to calm down and to think clearly.
If you are struggling with finding the safety to calm down, please reach out.
Getting the support to heal is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Learn the steps to care for yourself, so your world becomes less threatening and your life less overwhelming.
Maybe it’s time to plan a trip into mother natures arms. Or to consider buying yourself a boutique of flowers or a new potted plant. Because now you know that the more you do to bring self-care and calm into your life, the more you heal through improved brain function.
According to the bible, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Let's focus on the wonderful today!
Much love,
