How to Develop your Nature Intuition for Infinite Guidance and Support

At the darkest point of my life, I found salvation in the voice of mother nature.

My mid-life transition (also known as “crisis”) emerged fast and strong. I lost my business, relocated my home, changed careers and lost much of my financial savings, all among familial strife. The space I found myself wandering adrift within felt empty, hopeless, and confusing. I wondered why the universe failed to support me on my path, always bringing me trouble instead of ease. I cried everyday with feelings of despair. I felt disconnected from the life I had known, the people I called friends, and the person I used to be. I know that sounds dramatic, and it felt dramatic at the time too. Truly desperate.

My solace during this time was long walks through the desert in the lands behind my house where I live off the grid in New Mexico. Every day I found an opportunity to roam through the sagebrush, along mud trails, up steep cerros, and into the juniper and piñon forests. Each walk was a surrender to my pain and discomfort. I was scraping the sides of my heavy heart of all the remaining gunk—my worries, fears, doubts and questioning. Sometimes, in my exhaustion, I sat by a tree and let it hold me in the bend of its ancient branch or the curve of its lanky trunk.

I spoke aloud my frustrations with a desire to be heard and understood. At the time, I believed I was speaking into the ether, and that no one was listening. But one day, I heard a voice back. “You are not these worries. You are so much more.” It wasn’t just a voice, but also a feeling like a warm sensation of love and support. It arrived with a knowing that this voice came from the tree, even though the voice was my own. The voice sounded like me, but it did not feel like me. Nor was the wisdom it held my own. It arrived unexpectedly as if from someone else and I knew it was truth.

I held these words like a precious jewel because they landed with so much certainty, which I was deeply craving. I returned to the tree many times after to converse and listen. And time and again, I heard its wisdom. Sometimes the messages came from the sagebrush or a raven or a flower or the earth and sometimes it came in words or feelings, validation or a deep knowing. From then on, my emptiness filled with a longing to connect more deeply with the natural world and develop my nature intuition.

Years later, I am a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide and I teach other people how to cultivate a reciprocal relationship with the natural world and to discover their birthright as nature intuitives. It’s easier than you think, and it does not require a midlife crisis.

Shift Your Mindset

Our dominant western culture has perpetuated a philosophy of human separation with nature that has its roots in reductive science, Cartesian duality and even Genesis in the bible. The truth is that humans are not separate from nature. We are nature. This way of perceiving nature as separate has caused us to disconnect from the natural world and from ourselves. It has also created a culture of domination and exploitation over nature. Once you realize that you are nature and hence, not in a position of dominance, you become aware that you are intrinsically connected to all the nature beings around you.

Next time you go for a walk in nature, imagine that all the beings you perceive are also perceiving you. Although it might be a challenge to alter your thinking in this way, it is essential to recall the little you who once believed that they could see fairies, converse with ladybugs and wish on stones. This little you was wise. But the world tamed you. Return to who you were when you still believed in the magic of nature.

Open Your Intuition

Intuition is a muscle that needs to be exercised. We all use our intuition every day in a myriad of ways without even realizing it. Your natural strengths will guide you to your intuitive gifts. If you are naturally musical, your intuitive strengths most likely reside in sound. If you are naturally aesthetic, your intuitive strengths most likely reside in visions. Examine which form of perception you might be strongest in, and most likely this is the source of your extra sensory perception as well.

Next time you are out in nature, talk aloud to all the nature beings around you as if you were old friends. “Listen” for a response. Use your full body with all senses awake. You may feel, hear, see or simply know a response. It is important not to second guess your intuition. Allow what comes to come. Be at ease and without expectations. The quieter your mind, the easier it will be to receive.

Spend Time in Nature

The more time you spend in the natural world, the more you will be able to tune in to the nature beings all around you. Nature beings want to be in relationship with you. However, they do not expect it. Centuries of being ignored and they no longer expect humans to reach out and communicate with them. The more you set the intention to be in relationship with the land you live on, the more the land will respond to you.

A reciprocal relationship means that you ask permission before picking a flower or berries or before hugging a tree, just as you would with a human. It also means giving thanks to the nature beings for the love and support they provide you. You may gift them with a song, a special rock or a strand of your hair. It is truly the thought that counts.

Takeaway

These days, I live in communion with the natural world around me. I honor the cycles and harmonious ways of nature. Being in a relationship with the nature beings around me, means that I never feel alone. I always feel a sense of love, support, ease and belonging. I trust that the universe unfolds as it is meant to, just as all things in nature do. Anyone can develop their nature intuition and be in relationship with the natural world once you realize that you are not separate from nature. You are nature.

If you want to dive even deeper into this topic and learn more about developing your nature intuition you might be interested in my premiere course Earth Sensory Perception. This is a 5 week online asynchronous course in which I teach my signature comprehensive method for developing your ability to communicate with the natural world around you. This also includes support from me and an online community where you can go to ask questions and share insights anytime.