#34 Matthew Fogarty, MA, SEP, HMIP: Orientation & re-orientation (aka Rites of Passage) to nature & self to remedy anxiety and kindle lifelong growth

Another nature talk! This time, ecopsychology therapist, author and outdoor mentor, Matthew Fogarty, discusses orientation and re-orientation as primordial remedies to anxiety and feelings of being lost in our modern society. By starting with our awareness to the place in which we are, we become the ‘place’ itself instead of trying to go somewhere else or be something else. We only have power in this moment, with this body, in this place of the soft animal of our body, to impact our future as well as process our past. All of this occurs in a real world- not within social media, not within a screen. Our first step is letting our eyes wander, even to the moon perhaps (so far can our senses sense!) and find ourselves in the natural world. Subsequent steps throughout our lives are reiterations of finding and losing ourselves. In the lost-ness, we can let go of previous identities that no longer fit. Find-ness is through rites of passage which have been present since time immemorial of human evolution to take on the new self. In this way, we, like plants, trees, stars and all other animals, continue to grow our awareness and power throughout our lifetimes.

Matthew Fogarty's website: https://www.truenaturecounseling.com/
Matthew Fogarty's book, A Place-Based Guide to Wonder:  https://www.truenaturecounseling.com/a-placebased-guide-to-wonder