![The Art of Connection The Art of Connection](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/The-Art-of-Connection-panorama.png)
The Author Wants You to Know...
Name: Nadine El-Hage
Instagram: @twoforjoy_life
Integrative Holistic Health & Longevity Practitioner, Herbalist, Tea Industry Specialist & Educator, Tarot Reader & Reiki practitioner at Two For Joy.
Having spent the last ten years working with and around natural health & wellbeing, Nadine is a trauma-informed & experienced space-holder who is passionate about sharing the gifts of nature & the healing arts.
![Bio_Image_Requested Bio_Image_Requested](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Bio_Image_Requested-portrait.jpg)
To connect to nature - is to connect to self.
In an ever fast-paced digital and challenging world, the importance of connection cannot be underestimated. Connection provides a sense of steadiness, an anchor through difficult times.
Having a dependable practice to help ground and reconnect us is not a luxury, it is a must.
To feel truly connected by heart, by soul and to the ether (not as in the internet …the two are very different and at this time, the former is so important…) is something that can help heal us in these times. To drop out of the hubbub and drop into being.
Practice and ritual help us to do this and take many different forms from journaling on one's own as a way of connecting to your precious internal world; to joining a women’s / men’s circle and connecting with others with intention; or meditation and tea ceremonies. These practices are ones that have been carried out since the dawn of man in some cases, and so have stood the test of time.
Many of us now are finding the medicine in connecting back to these things which our ancestors regarded as important and sacred.
![IMG_1168 IMG_1168](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_1168-scaled.jpg)
![IMG_1992 IMG_1992](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_1992.jpeg)
Meditation and Tea Ceremonies
Let’s look at the practice of meditation for example - it requires that we take some time, to sit and settle ourselves; to disconnect from the external world, its noise, its chatter, its distractions; and to turn inwards - to self, to stillness, to observing rather than reacting and simply breathing. Connecting to breath - this is one of the most powerful ways to connect to our source, ourselves, and by doing this regularly we strengthen our relationship to self. In turn, this can help us feel more grounded and connected to all of life.
When you attend a tea ceremony, there is a unification - everyone being present but in silence, with an intention, connecting to each other and the elements - fire, water, plant, air. A steeping not only in the sacredness of the moment, but also connecting to the very essence of nature and taking in the essence of the herb, the tea - the plant wisdom.
![DSC09901-2 (1) DSC09901-2 (1)](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DSC09901-2-1.jpeg)
Nature and the Breath
We are in fact nature. We are not separate from it, but part of it - intertwined since the beginning of time. The cycles, the seasons, the tides, the sun in the sky and the moon…as above, so below.
Connecting to nature’s cycles and rhythms - the ebb and flow - is a great way to develop a regular practice of appreciation.
The trees are beautiful creatures and a vital part of our ecosystem. Our in-breath that fills our lungs with oxygen is created by the trees and plant kingdom as their own exhalation. While our out-breath is a breath in for the green world. It is the ultimate process of divine interconnected reciprocity.
To immerse ourselves in nature, breathing in and absorbing all it is, should never be underestimated… It is one of the most profoundly grounding and healing things we can do for both our mental and physical wellbeing.
The seasons themselves echo our own internal cycles, such as the trees losing their leaves in autumn, not needed for the season ahead, just as we are encouraged to do the same in our lives; reviewing, shedding, letting go and then too like the natural world around us we draw our precious energy and reserves inwards to our core - to our trunks preserving lifeforce over the cold winter months. Again, we are divinely connected - we are nature.
We have so much to be grateful for that mother earth provides for us and teaches us, all around us, every day.
![DSC01815 DSC01815](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/DSC01815-scaled-portrait.jpg)
![CA9B58CD-9146-4324-BD33-F3E9D9375C1B CA9B58CD-9146-4324-BD33-F3E9D9375C1B](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/CA9B58CD-9146-4324-BD33-F3E9D9375C1B-scaled-portrait.jpg)
Did You Know?
Connecting with nature
- Reduces stress - the main root cause of imbalance and illness.
- Downregulates and balances our nervous system.
- Recalibrates and grounds our energy system (so important to counteract the effects of technology)
- Increases our natural feel good hormones such as Dopamine.
- Strengthens our immune system.
- Can help deal with chronic pain.
So whenever you can, even if it’s for a short while - get out there into some green space, infuse in nature, soak up the energies, feel the earth on your feet, with your hands, breathe it all in & observe life in its realest sense.
![IMG_6342 IMG_6342](https://celebrationofself.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_6342-scaled.jpg)
If you enjoyed this article, why not read...
Your online magazine showcasing a collection of personal stories intended to empower, inspire & celebrate. If you've enjoyed reading...
Celebration of Self Magazine is property of WAGMAG LTD 2023