Ecotherapy

What is Ecotherapy?

It is well known that the first and perhaps the major symptoms of stress or mental illness is the breakdown between a person and the people around them. The effect of this can be seen in the home and the work place leading to erratic behaviour, strained relationships and social isolation. There is also an ecological element to this condition, we as humans suffer these problems because we have the ability to think and reason, therefore we may see ourselves as being apart and perhaps superior to the natural world. However, despite this air of superiority we still retain primal animal instincts that manifest themselves when we become mentally ill, are under stress or a perceived threat. Some people advocate that ecotherapy is about mending this rift between people and nature in order to become whole, reconnect with the natural world around us, and put an end to a vicious circle of abuse through direct experience of wild nature. Incorporated within ecotherapy is the awareness of current ecological issues and the sustainability of our life style with regard to the damage it does to planet Earth.

What is Colour Therapy?

Colour therapy is a complementary medicine combining colour psychology and spiritual healing that has its roots in ancient Egypt and India.

Colour Psychology

Colour affects us physically and psychologically, directly and indirectly and from a combined psychological, physiological, and spiritual perspective. From both the psychological and physiological perspective colour affects us directly when it enters the eye and is transmitted to the emotional centre of the brain the hypothalamus that in turn affects the pituitary gland that controls the entire endocrine system the network of glands including the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal, as well as the pancreas, ovaries, and testes. The thymus and pineal glands, and kidney are sometimes considered endocrine organs. The endocrine system can affect moods and could account for Seasonal Affective disorder or S.A.D, it also affects sex drive, energy levels, and weight gain to name a few.

Spiritual Healing

An aura is an envelope of vital energy, which radiates from everything in nature including minerals, plants, animals and humans. The aura is often described as a multi coloured mist that has an assortment of boundaries and properties. The aura binds our physical bodies to our spirituality; it is not in anyway separate from our physical body but they combine as one unit that makes up the whole person. The aura acts as a prism to divide white light into its component colours that are sent to different coloured layers around our bodies, these auric layers correspond to chakras or energy centres which in turn relate to major organs in our bodies. We need a balance of all the colours in white light to remain healthy, an imbalance can affect our psychological well-being and cause physical illness; it is the task of the colour therapist to correct any imbalance present in the auric layers.

Ecotherapy and Colour Therapy

The basis for combining these two therapies is that while we are highly evolved animals we still respond to the colours in nature in an instinctive way the same as other species. Generally, this instinct is based upon the need to look and feel good in order to attract a mate, it also relates to the need for sunlight to regulate our body clock; we need to connect with nature to keep fit and healthy. Therefore, colour therapy as part of ecotherapy addresses our primal needs and instincts that allow us to work in the environment that we have created. Once these needs have been met we as humans can move on to talk about these issues on the thinking and talking level of psychology and therapy, in order to bring about a positive change in our lives and the world around us.

For example, simply connecting with nature and getting out into green open spaces for a bit of ecotherapy is for some people an achievement; the green grass will help calm frayed nerves and bring harmony with the people around you. The blue sky and natural sunlight will help suppress daytime production of melatonin and help you sleep at night; it has been proven that the exercise is also good for your mental welfare. Given this is an instinctive reaction to nature all you have to do is get out of the house and take a look at it.

© Trevor Mayes

Qualified Colour Therapist