With International Forest Day fast approaching I wanted to celebrate these enchanting sacred places and share the incredible health benefits of taking a walk in the forest.
Watch the video:
The Healing Powers of Nature
Nature as Teacher, Healer and Inspiration
I love walking and walking through these enchanting forests on Vancouver Island, you enter a land that time forgot. The towering trees, draped in moss, welcome you with their powerful calming energy. Instantly all my worries and stress evaporate as I find myself spellbound by the beauty and wonder, the music and poetry of the wild, vibrant forest. Walking in a forest can help with depression, lowers blood pressure. reduces stress. improves mood and increases ability to focus and makes you more creative.
Just 20 minutes among the trees can boost your immune system.
While we breathe in the fresh air, we breathe in phytoncides, airborne chemicals that plants give off to protect themselves from insects. Phytoncides have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease. When people breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by increasing the number and activity of a type of white blood cell called natural killer cells or NK. These cells kill tumor- and virus-infected cells in our bodies. Ref: Dept Environmental conservation
Spending time in nature is a powerful, natural medicine during these stage and bewildering times. My walks in the forest brings harmony and balance back into my life. I always feel stronger, more relaxed and more focused after a walk among my friends, the trees. Nature’s beauty cultivates gratitude and I am truly grateful for all the earthly gifts I receive. Mother Nature is a constant inspiration for my work as an artist and educator.
The Magical World of Moss
The moss plants are like miniature forests - so tiny, making them the ideal place for fairies to hang out.
Fairy dwellings are abundant in the enchanting moss covered forest
What is moss?
Mosses are non-vascular plants in the land plant division Bryophyta. They are small (a few centimeters tall) herbaceous (non-woody) plants that absorb water and nutrients mainly through their leaves and harvest carbon dioxide and sunlight to create food by photosynthesis. There are more than 10,000 species and have been around for over 300 million years. Both mosses and lichens play an important role in a healthy habitat, because they both absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air. I am so grateful to the forests for all her earthly gifts.
Imagination
I cannot take the moss home with me, I can however, think of imaginative ways to capture the beauty and whimsical essence of the moss through creative adventures such as painting and crafting. It was spending time, among the moss in the enchanting forest in my video that gave birth to my latest little earth being.
My little Moss Being - handmade with love
Heart to Heart - Soul to Soul
In my latest painting “The Moss Dancers” I wanted to capture the aliveness of the moss and celebrate these amazing miniature forests and how sacred they are and how we are deeply connected not just to the large forests but the tiny moss forests too - to all life.
We Are One
This week I really enjoyed listening to Robin Well Kimmerer - author of Braiding Sweetgrass interview on “Why is the world so beautiful” She mentions how resilient mosses are and have this ability, rather than demanding a lot from the world, they're very creative in using what they have, rather than reaching for what they don't have” (read link below).
The Moss Dancers - Charcoal and Watercolour
Inspired By Nature
For this painting I used charcoal and watercolour - over the coming months I will be exploring how to make inks from nature and will share what I discover along the way - stay tuned!
I hope your inspired to go for a walk in the forest and if you are unable to get out to the wilder parts, maybe you can visit a local park or wooded area or pause my video at your favourite part of the forest and put on some natural sounds, take a few deep breaths and imagine you are there in the enchanting forest. Enjoy!
I invite you to subscribe to my channel for more inspiring videos. You can also find out more about my Soulful Nature Art Program here: NATURE ART PROGRAM
FOREST DAY CAN BE EVERY DAY
Together we can celebrate our forests, our interconnectedness and in doing so we can inspire others to rediscover their deep rooted connection with natural world.
Full of Gratitude
Grateful to my husband David for filming and producing this new series of videos, you can view more of his creative storytelling here: davidhughescreative
We would like to acknowledge and thank the Lkwungen People, also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations communities, for allowing us to live, work and play on their lands.
Thank you for watching, see you next week, until then, wishing you a beautiful and creative week, with love and gratitude Marghanita x
References:
Robin Wall Kimmerer is the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants. She is a member of the Potawatomi First Nation and she teaches at the State University of New York in Syracuse. (Dale Kakkak) - Listen to interview here: Why Is The World So Beautiful
Dept Environmental conservation (https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/90720.html)