Moderator’s Note: This appeared recently on the site the Cuyumungue Institute, now called the Cuyu Institute (see below for more information). You can see the original here.
Have you ever noticed that in certain natural environments your body begins to change before your thoughts do?
For me, my breathing deepens and something in my system settles – often before I’ve even fully registered where I am.
It’s not something I’m doing consciously. In fact, it seems to happen more fully when I’m not trying at all.
I’ve come to feel that it goes beyond the idea that nature helps us relax. It’s that our bodies are responding to something – something deeply organized, consistent, and connected to a quiet intelligence.
It’s easy to say that nature is calming, but that doesn’t quite capture what is happening. What I’ve come to feel is that nature is not simply soothing… it is regulating. It carries a kind of inherent intelligence, a living order that the body recognizes and responds to without needing instruction.
Continue reading “Nature as a Regulating Intelligence by Paul Robear”
Feminism and Religion 