By Mara Bishop, MA

When we use the word “genius” today, we usually refer to intelligence or aptitude, but the original meaning is “spirit.” You have a unique spirit or genius. Understanding your genius, what makes you quintessentially you, can make a huge difference in how you live, work, and relate to others.

We also have distinctive roles in the world. Some feel a clear calling and an understanding of how to fulfill those roles. Others struggle with identifying and expressing their true nature and genius in life, work, and relationships.

Learn Your Genius by Learning the Genius of the Land

How can you learn more about your genius? One of the best ways is by communion with the nature around you, the beings with which you share your local environments. Those places and beings also have genius.

Enatured(R) is a simple but profound meditative method to commune with the land and the beings of the land, wherever you are. It draws from mindfulness, scientific research about nature, shamanism and animism, and psychology. It can be learned wherever you are, regardless of your ability to move around or the availability of private green space. You do not need to have any particular spiritual beliefs. Your focus can be on the aspects of the environment that you feel drawn to. Whether you spend a lot of time in nature already or want to deepen your connection, this meditative practice provides a gentle structure, like a trellis or scaffold, for your personal relationship to grow and strengthen organically.

Research Shows this Communion Helps us Heal

An increasing body of evidence demonstrates that being in nature is beneficial to humans. Studies show nature’s positive physical and emotional effects. It lowers blood pressure, pulse rates, and cortisol levels, and helps restore mental clarity and improve mood. Additional research demonstrates that simply looking out a window at nature helps patients heal faster after surgery, with fewer complications and pain medications.

These studies generally take a one-sided approach, looking at nature as a resource, a commodity for humans’ benefit, without considering the environment itself. Enatured(R) helps us form more balanced and reciprocal relationships within the ecosystems where we live, work, and visit.

Feel Your Spirit by Feeling the Spirits of Nature

Enatured(R) recognizes, protects, and fosters the complex relationships between humans, animals, plants, elements, and land. Based on what you are seeking on the day you practice, you will have an opportunity to receive and give in a deeply personal way.

I’ve led many individuals and groups in the practice of Enatured(R), at universities, animal sanctuaries, and retreat centers, both in person and online. What people report back is fascinating.

• Yesterday, I slept through the night for the first time in weeks. That’s wholly attributable to the experience you created. 
• A hawk came and sat right in front of me.
• I felt greeted by the spirit of the land.
• I practice (in nature) on a daily basis, but the uniqueness is the structure. So much stuff happened I could write an entire book about the 20-30 minute experience. It was so profound.
• I felt my whole body relax and go quiet.
• I felt very relaxed. I have seasonal affective disorder and get very wound up. It felt very good to have a level, peaceful mental state and the rest of my body felt well-oiled.
• I felt the spirits of people who lived here before in more connection to the land.
• I was asking for equanimity and calm. I got equanimity and calm in spades.
• I feel like I reengaged with my true inner backbone and sense of strength.

Find Your True Nature Through Nature

The Enatured(R) method helps us return to our true natures by experiencing interconnection with nature all around us. For more information about how to experience Enatured(R) one-on-one, with a group, or to arrange for Mara to work with your organization, visit WholeSpirit.com.