@Linnea Butler, MS, LMFT - This piece is breathtaking. You’ve beautifully articulated something I've known in my body but haven’t put into language quite this way: that nature isn’t merely soothing, it’s also relational. An active participant in our healing.
Your integration of polyvagal theory, indigenous wisdom and lived experience creates a compelling invitation, not just to visit nature but to be with it in reciprocity, humility and reverence. To me this is something quite sacred.
These lines especially move me: “The oak tree doesn’t need me to explain myself. The river doesn’t interpret my tears.” There’s something life giving in being held by something that asks nothing and still offers everything. Thank you for reminding us that healing is not solely a cognitive act but a full-bodied experience and that some of our most profound teachers are the ones who don’t speak in words at all.
I am so deeply honored Bronce. 💜 Breathtaking is a powerful word to describe this essay, and I gratefully accept it even though I feel unworthy. I find it so amazing to find writers here on Substack that put something into words that I had not been able to do myself, and now to so hear you say that my essay did that for you is indeed a high honor. Thank you. 🙏
Linnea - To know something in one’s bones and carry it intuitively and then find that experience named by someone else in words that resonate… that can be breathtaking, some might even say life changing. It’s a moment of recognition that often reaches beneath language itself.
So I’m grateful you’ve accepted my words in return. To me this is a type of sacred exchange that affirms the deeper knowing and being we’re both attuned to.
We are, each in our own way, students of how healing happens. And we are both wholly worthy of participating in that spirit of its unfolding, not just as observers, but as contributors shaping the language, holding space for the sacred within all of us and walking each other home. And for that, I too, am extremely grateful.
Absolutely resonated with this, Linnea. I feel this truth in my bones. Nature doesn’t just surround us, it holds us. Thank you for capturing that so beautifully.
Linnea, What a gorgeous essay!! The deep medicine of the wilds is real. I love how you address not just the call for reciprocity in our relationship with the natural world but also the need to recognize both light and shadow. 💫🩵
You expressed this beautifully. While you understand these concepts, explaining them is a different challenge. Your unique ability to convey how nature can be healing is not only soothing but also reassuring. As you methodically walk through each important aspect, I can visualise it, and that is truly a gift. Thank you! 🙏
This is stunning. You’ve captured something so primal, so deeply human, yet often overlooked: that healing isn’t just about us, it’s about reconnecting with the world that’s been holding us all along. The way you weave polyvagal theory with the wisdom of nature? Genius. Thanks for reminding us that the Earth isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a partner in our healing. And that line about the oak tree not needing explanations is such a powerful reminder to just be. Thank you for this, Linnea. It’s not just an article, it’s an invitation to remember who we are.
Linnea, that means a lot, thank you! Nature really does have a way of cutting through the noise and bringing us back to ourselves. And listening to you transmitting its essence in your words lands on fertile soil. Keep leaning into that, it’s an unusual gift.
I love this post, Linnea! I read this yesterday but was interrupted and unable to comment. How wonderful to come back and reread it again.
I am an animist at heart. I see everything as animate, sentient. An aliveness that runs through all of it! The web of life. SO, you are so speaking my language. Nature has amazing ways to resettle the nervous system. There is a wisdom there far beyond what I might think or know in the moment. Yet by connecting, dropping, grounding, sensing into... there she is, right there, ready to hold me and breathe with me. We are never separate from her. She is our body; we speak the same language, just as you said! And why posts like yours are so important, to remember!
And we connect yet again! I've been exploring both animism and panpsychism and I agree with you, everything is animate and sentient. Our little minds cannot begin to comprehend the infinite wisdom of the complex system systems of nature. We do speak the language and it's the first language that we ever knew, long before we began to use our vocal cords.
This post makes my Forest Therapy Guide heart so happy!!! Thanks for spreading the word. My favorite part of being in nature is the BEing. I can just be.
I love this post, Linnea. It really resonates. I feel so much emotion when I touch a tree. Something that can’t be explained easily in words, but is magical. Like it reaches my soul. I explained this to my grandson when he was 4 and we were in the forest. He touched the tree then put his ear to it and told me it was speaking to him 🥰
I love the sea too. When my brother died, I sat by the sea for hours. The waves carried away my grief. Connection with nature has always been part of my life. Thank you so much for the reminder 💕
What an absolutely lovely story about your grandson! Little ones know the language of nature.
Thank you so much Sue for sharing those lovely memories of how nature has healed you. 💜 This piece has been percolating for a while and it felt good to finally put it to paper… or rather to a post. 😉 I’m so deeply grateful that it resonated.
@Linnea Butler, MS, LMFT - This piece is breathtaking. You’ve beautifully articulated something I've known in my body but haven’t put into language quite this way: that nature isn’t merely soothing, it’s also relational. An active participant in our healing.
Your integration of polyvagal theory, indigenous wisdom and lived experience creates a compelling invitation, not just to visit nature but to be with it in reciprocity, humility and reverence. To me this is something quite sacred.
These lines especially move me: “The oak tree doesn’t need me to explain myself. The river doesn’t interpret my tears.” There’s something life giving in being held by something that asks nothing and still offers everything. Thank you for reminding us that healing is not solely a cognitive act but a full-bodied experience and that some of our most profound teachers are the ones who don’t speak in words at all.
I am so deeply honored Bronce. 💜 Breathtaking is a powerful word to describe this essay, and I gratefully accept it even though I feel unworthy. I find it so amazing to find writers here on Substack that put something into words that I had not been able to do myself, and now to so hear you say that my essay did that for you is indeed a high honor. Thank you. 🙏
Linnea - To know something in one’s bones and carry it intuitively and then find that experience named by someone else in words that resonate… that can be breathtaking, some might even say life changing. It’s a moment of recognition that often reaches beneath language itself.
So I’m grateful you’ve accepted my words in return. To me this is a type of sacred exchange that affirms the deeper knowing and being we’re both attuned to.
We are, each in our own way, students of how healing happens. And we are both wholly worthy of participating in that spirit of its unfolding, not just as observers, but as contributors shaping the language, holding space for the sacred within all of us and walking each other home. And for that, I too, am extremely grateful.
Absolutely resonated with this, Linnea. I feel this truth in my bones. Nature doesn’t just surround us, it holds us. Thank you for capturing that so beautifully.
She holds us and gifts us so very much. We need to hold her as well, with our awe, our love and our protection.
Thank you Sara
🌿🙏🌿
Linnea, What a gorgeous essay!! The deep medicine of the wilds is real. I love how you address not just the call for reciprocity in our relationship with the natural world but also the need to recognize both light and shadow. 💫🩵
Thank you! I felt pretty good about this one, and the truth of it resonates deeply within me. You are I are aligned in this belief and understanding.
There is beauty and truth in the decay and the shadow just as there is in the sunlight and the bloom.
You are welcome. Yes, we are aligned here. 🩵
Decay is the fuel for regeneration!
Exactly!!!
You expressed this beautifully. While you understand these concepts, explaining them is a different challenge. Your unique ability to convey how nature can be healing is not only soothing but also reassuring. As you methodically walk through each important aspect, I can visualise it, and that is truly a gift. Thank you! 🙏
Thank you so much Alyson. It’s a gift to have the essay so generously received. 🙏
This is stunning. You’ve captured something so primal, so deeply human, yet often overlooked: that healing isn’t just about us, it’s about reconnecting with the world that’s been holding us all along. The way you weave polyvagal theory with the wisdom of nature? Genius. Thanks for reminding us that the Earth isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a partner in our healing. And that line about the oak tree not needing explanations is such a powerful reminder to just be. Thank you for this, Linnea. It’s not just an article, it’s an invitation to remember who we are.
Thank you Andy, truly. I have come to admire your writing and your perspective so this really means a lot.
I still work daily on allowing myself to just BE. Nature is the best reminder of that I have found.
Linnea, that means a lot, thank you! Nature really does have a way of cutting through the noise and bringing us back to ourselves. And listening to you transmitting its essence in your words lands on fertile soil. Keep leaning into that, it’s an unusual gift.
🙏💜🙏💜🙏
Linnea. What a gift.
💜🌿💜
I love this post, Linnea! I read this yesterday but was interrupted and unable to comment. How wonderful to come back and reread it again.
I am an animist at heart. I see everything as animate, sentient. An aliveness that runs through all of it! The web of life. SO, you are so speaking my language. Nature has amazing ways to resettle the nervous system. There is a wisdom there far beyond what I might think or know in the moment. Yet by connecting, dropping, grounding, sensing into... there she is, right there, ready to hold me and breathe with me. We are never separate from her. She is our body; we speak the same language, just as you said! And why posts like yours are so important, to remember!
And we connect yet again! I've been exploring both animism and panpsychism and I agree with you, everything is animate and sentient. Our little minds cannot begin to comprehend the infinite wisdom of the complex system systems of nature. We do speak the language and it's the first language that we ever knew, long before we began to use our vocal cords.
This post makes my Forest Therapy Guide heart so happy!!! Thanks for spreading the word. My favorite part of being in nature is the BEing. I can just be.
Yay! Thank you Sam. A forest therapy guide - that sounds amazing. 💜🌿💜
I love this post, Linnea. It really resonates. I feel so much emotion when I touch a tree. Something that can’t be explained easily in words, but is magical. Like it reaches my soul. I explained this to my grandson when he was 4 and we were in the forest. He touched the tree then put his ear to it and told me it was speaking to him 🥰
I love the sea too. When my brother died, I sat by the sea for hours. The waves carried away my grief. Connection with nature has always been part of my life. Thank you so much for the reminder 💕
What an absolutely lovely story about your grandson! Little ones know the language of nature.
Thank you so much Sue for sharing those lovely memories of how nature has healed you. 💜 This piece has been percolating for a while and it felt good to finally put it to paper… or rather to a post. 😉 I’m so deeply grateful that it resonated.
It did, very much 💕