Finding Peace in the Wild (and in Your Own Skin)

How nature-based somatic work leads us home

Dear Nature lover,

Is there a peace in the wild that you crave to find inside?

Perhaps you are stymied by conflict in your work or family relationships. Maybe it’s daily arguments in your mind, or maybe it comes out in reactivity.​ Do you:

• Break down or blow up when things get heavy?

• Look out the window and yearn to escape?

• See exasperation in the mirror, but want to shine?

If you struggle with angst, I get you. If you want more meaningfulness, I get you.

From the Banks of the Kaw River

I used to bawl on the banks of the Kaw River, pleading for help. I prayed for transformation, confused by how I could be so peaceful one moment and burning mad the next. I kept berating the Universe: What the heck is happening in my life?!

For decades I worked to understand my intense emotions, integrate challenging experiences, and wade through transitions— including a narcissistic ex, a postpartum nightmare, and my mother’s death. All the while I knew there was something sacred about my life path.

Through two graduate degrees and several certifications, I gained cutting-edge techniques to support myself and others. As my inner compass grew stronger, I realized many folks are missing three essential skills:

regulation, meditation, and liberation.

Why Isn’t Talking Enough?

​Many people who try talk therapy still feel stressed. Often, they talk in a stressed-out state (dysregulated nervous system) and don’t experience enough shift into a calmer body state (regulated nervous system). We need regulation. When we’re stressed, our minds loop the same thoughts, even if they’re not working. But when we feel resourced and held in safety, something shifts. New insight becomes possible.

The western medical industrial complex (within neo-capitalist patriarchal culture) has taught us that mind and body are separate. It leaves out the influence of the nervous system, body memory, and the earth. However:

Embodiment is a key resource for transformation.

As a Master of Divinity and ANFT Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, I look at the underbelly of healing. Here is what I see:

A high-strung nervous system and negative subconscious beliefs can block our intellect from implementing what we know would help. First, we need to regulate (calm) our nervous system. The ground of the earth is here for us, and we can ground in the depths of our inner being.

Then we need access to creative, juicy explorations aligned with our values and strong enough to rewire the embedded paradigms holding us back. This requires an observational mind, which we cultivate through meditative practices. So, along with regulation, we need some form of meditation.

The Power of “Ground-First” Methods

Often, we’re stuck in problems because our baseline stress levels are too high for us to think our way around them. Even moderate stress that is ongoing keeps the mind in reactive patterns, ready to jump further into the fight, flight, or freeze mode of the sympathetic nervous system. Since our minds and our bodies are one unit, interconnected by millions of cells and the powerful vagus nerve, when we calm the body, we open the mind to responding differently. By activating the parasympathetic nervous system - the rest, digest, and heal mode - inner wisdom can naturally arise.

I call this the “Ground-first method.” We ground our bodies either literally by connecting with the ground of the earth (or through self-calming techniques). Contemplative nature immersion easily reduces our stress and enables the calming process.

Furthermore, our spiritual energy is interwoven throughout this system, and many ancient spiritual practices address the whole system. Whether we look to eastern practices (ex. Metta meditation, which lowers anxiety and PTSD) or versions of them that western science has researched and secularized (ex. Emotional Freedom Technique, which lower cortisol levels and calms the amygdala),

the truth is the same:

We heal best when we heal the whole.

Heal the Echoes, Embody the Future

My mission is to help you align your inner truth with how you show up in your relationships, communities, and everyday lives.

If you long for clarity, calm, and purpose but are hindered by echoes of childhood conditioning, you’ll likely find help here. We explore how frequent anxiety, anger, or existential woes are signals ​​pointing toward patterns that need attentive care.

You can learn to process somatically (with the body) and liminally (in imaginative spaces and energetic places) to incorporate the wisdom of all parts of your being.​ Sometimes it’s the nature outside your window, and sometimes it’s the nature of your own body.

Let’s move out of stress patterns and cultivate caring, authentic connections. Freedom from past patterns is our liberation for the future.

What to Expect Every Other Sunday

This Substack is for self-aware, meaning-seeking people dedicated to peace and justice.

Every other Sunday, I’ll share one of:

• DIY Techniques: how to apply nature therapy and sacred listening to your own life.

• Real Stories: how this work looks in practice.

• Growth Edges: reflections from my own ongoing inner work.

• Resources: prompts, poetry, or occasional surprises.

You’re welcome to comment, ask questions, and share resonant material.

Together, let’s carve deeper love & liberating inner peace.

If enough of us reconnect to our true nature, we can co-create webs of woven empathy, fun, and light. I invite you to access the deeper currents, release what constricts, and cultivate the presence, resilience, and compassion to thrive.

Join the Conversation

It’s a process, and we’ll start with one question today:

Where is one place in nature that makes you feel truly yourself?

Please share your answer in the comments below.

With gratitude,

Shannon Gorres
Divine Nature Therapy

PS. To see my upcoming classes and retreats, check out my website.