Experience Biophilia — from the inside out

You love Nature, you feel good in Nature, you want more Nature in your life. Of course you do — you’re human! According to E.O. Wilson, humans have an innate love of and desire to connect with other living things, with Nature — this is called biophilia. Experiencing biophilia has been shown to provide numerous physiological and neurological benefits. 

Most of us seek to experience biophilia by spending time in Nature, gardening, growing plants indoors, and cooking with fresh produce, herbs, and spices. We may also use natural products and patterns to adorn and care for our homes and ourselves.  

Biophilic design invokes the experience of biophilia in the built environment. This may take shape as a living wall, undulating surfaces, views of nature, or something more subtle like changes in indoor air and lighting throughout the day. Biophilic design has been shown to increase everything from productivity and test scores to creativity and healing.

I believe there is yet another way for us to experience biophilia — we can intentionally express our Natural Paradigm [ https://www.wildhazel.net/blog/what-is-natures-paradigm ].  

Most of us spend most of our time in the “real world” where we experience and express the Conventional Paradigm: scarcity, individuality, competition, greed, resistance, and fear.  Living in this paradigm leads us to feeling too busy, too stressed, too consumptive — and too disconnected from Nature. 

Most of us only express and experience our Natural Paradigm in our personal time, when we have a chance to engage with the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of Nature. This is when we view the world with a sense of abundance, systems, synergies, trust, resilience, and curiosity. It’s a wonderful, expansive feeling that is curiously both calming and exciting. 

Learning to intentionally shift your mindset — and associated behaviors and decisions — from the Conventional Paradigm to the Natural Paradigm allows you to experience the benefits of biophilia any time, from the inside out.

What might that look like? 

I’m guessing you walk around with a sense of scarcity — that you never have enough time or money. That feeling, that assumption, is stressful and makes you act greedy and selfish (though you wouldn’t characterize yourself that way). 

What if instead you walked around with a sense of abundance? What if you realized that you have enough, probably more than enough? What if your day-to-day goal was to seek more love and beauty, joy and delight, imagination and inspiration — rather than more time and money? 

If you’re curious, I also invite you to request your [free] Tiny Transformation Workbook [ https://www.wildhazel.net/resources.html ]. 

If you want more, please explore the on-demand course Re-Aligning with Nature, Re-Discovering the Power of Your Natural Inspiration, Creativity, and Wisdom [ https://www.wildhazel.net/programs.html ] >> Use the coupon code SUMMER-50 to get the course for 50% off, if you register by the end of August. 

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