Ecotherapy - The Prescribed Walk in the Park Part II

This article was originally published on PH Online March 2009 Issue 156 - http://www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=2558

In Part I featured in Issue 153 of PH Online Positive Health, I described the benefits of colour therapy with exercise together with the concept of ecotherapy mainly with regard to stress. While there are different definitions of what ecotherapy means we can accept them as being valid with any broad definition of therapeutic interaction with the environment.

‘The term ecology or oekologie was coined by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866, when he defined it as "the comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment’.

It is my contention that our relationship with nature has broken down on a physical level leading to psychological problems that can adversely affect our mental welfare. In that respect the most important issues are the colour green and ultra violet light within full spectrum sunlight. I will explain the reasons why from a psychological and spiritual healing perspective, to make the connection of people as organisms to the environment having evolved walking in green fields under open skies. This also explains our disconnection from nature from the philosophical perspective of spiritual healing, and how a lack of green and ultra violet light can cause a dis-ease within ourselves and adversely affect our relationships with others.

On returning to London suburbia after an absence of over thirty years, I was struck by the amount of greenery that had been removed from the environment especially in the streets. Just about all of the front gardens had been ripped out to make way for a parking space, this meant that the usual greenery associated with front gardens such as the hedge, flowers, plants, and the small piece of lawn had gone to make way for the car. The back gardens where they do exist they are generally covered in paving, gravel or decking for the patio very few are covered in grass.

Gone too is the psychological barrier that front gardens presented of personal space between you and the outside world, much has been written on the issue of personal rather than communal space in front of ones house as being essential for community living and harmony with neighbours. People come out the house and straight onto part of the highway, patrolled by small cars with periscopes labelled violation control.

I was reminded of the 70’s song Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell and the line ‘Took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum/And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em’

The Prescribed Walk in the Park Part II

I realised they seemed to have done something similar with the grass as the only place you can go and see some green is at the local park, and how long would it be before they charged you an entrance fee or find a way of imposing a fine. It was only the larger gardens in the more affluent areas that retained some green in their front garden, and personal space between themselves and the outside world.

Colour therapy like many other forms of energy or spiritual healing is based upon the ancient Indian philosophy of the human body having an aura in the seven colours of the rainbow which in turn interrelate with coloured energy centers called chakras. No belief or faith in any religion or God is necessary for spiritual healing to work. Some people can see the chakras as a spinning vortex that penetrates the body. Any blockage of energy in the chakras, can result in physical symptoms called a dis-ease, clear the blockage and the dis-ease having no reason to exist goes away.

We adopt, suppress or reject the personalities associated with colours according to the pressures we are under and can change according to circumstances. A blockage of green energy can also block or suppress the behaviour and traits associated with green personalities. This can affect us all irrespective of our personality type; the most important aspect of the colour green is to maintain a sense of balance especially when under pressure.

Generally, green personalities are nurturers, they wish to help, heal, or mother others, which is why many of these people can be found in the medical profession or social work. Others view them as good listeners and trustworthy as they keep their thoughts to themselves. As natural observers, they make excellent guidance counsellors, human resource people, psychologists and psychiatrists; they can see all sides to issues and respect all positions.

Green personalities treat others as they wish to be treated and can put others at ease with no effort. Loving harmony makes them born peacemakers; their homes reflect this by being comfortable and warm for visitors. Overall, green personalities make excellent friends because they are happy, caring and trustworthy; they are natural gardeners and pet lovers.

Green is the colour associated with the heart chakra, our heart and lung health is directly related to green energy, it relieves blood clots, and hardening of cells. Green has a mild astringent effect and aids in the elimination of toxic material from our body, it assists in the building of muscles, skin and tissues. Green is particularly beneficial for the sympathetic nervous system and is useful for general balancing and cell restoration. Physical symptoms of blocked green energy are lung disease, cysts, growths, claustrophobia, diseases of connective tissue and muscle, heart disease, tumours, angina, and chronic bronchitis.

In addition to the seven major chakras, there are minor chakras including some recent discoveries of an ultra violet energy centre on the scalp at the twirl of the hair and a magnetic ultra violet at the back of the head. Both these colours are invisible to the human eye but can be seen by some birds and animals. Little is known about these chakras so I am going to explain in philosophical terms the possible effect blocked energy can have on human behaviour based upon the ‘triune brain theory’ developed by Paul MacLean the former director of the Laboratory of the Brain and Behaviour at the United States National Institute of Mental Health.

This theory considers the brain to be three layers that were developed in response to our evolutionary needs; they are the reptilian system, or R-complex, the limbic system, and the neocortex. All three layers have separate functions but they must interact successfully in order to function as a whole to accommodate sophisticated human behaviour. While this theory has been updated and somewhat controversial, it is still basically relevant to my hypothesis.

The magnetic ultra violet chakra relates to an area of the brain called the R-complex that comprises the cerebellum and brain stem, sometimes referred to as the primal area of the brain as it was the first to evolve. The human behaviour associated with this area of the brain is similar to those of animal survival as creatures of habit, territoriality, reproduction, and our place in the pecking order. The cerebellum coordinates basic bodily functions such as movement, feeding, breathing, and circulation. The brain stem also governs some of these functions and together with the limbic system controls the automatic fight or flight response to stress.

Second in the evolution of our brain is the limbic system that includes the amygdala, however, there is controversy over the use of this term and the parts of the brain that it influences. This controversy is around the inclusion of the hippocampus within the limbic system as it deals with long-term memory storage and recall. Recent discoveries have shown that early reptiles and mammals also had a well-developed limbic system. This does not change the associated effect of the chakra on the amygdala and while it is deep inside the skull, it is still affected by its energy and vibration.

The amygdala controls the primary centres of emotion that includes, anger, disgust, and negative emotions. The amygdala generates negative emotions so in order to be happy then it must be suppressed which is why doing non emotional tasks and keeping yourself busy by walking in the park can give you a lift when you are feeling a bit down. The limbic system also relates to primal activities such as fear, food, sex, smell, it inhibits the R-complex in its conditioned habitual and ritualistic responses to situations as creatures of habit, enabling us to re-learn from our experience and mistakes.

Third in the evolutionary area of the brain is the neocortex which is sometimes called the cerebral cortex. This is the outer area of the brain that contains out higher brain functions such as speech, movement, sense of balance, language, reading and writing, logical and reasoning allowing us to think and plan ahead for the future instead of living from hand to mouth. All the processing of movement, sensory and emotional information is carried out within 100 billion brain cells with approximately 100 million meters of wiring arranged within six layers.

How these three areas of the brain inter-relate is uncertain, and while it is not possible for them to disconnect or for one area of the brain to stop functioning. There is the assumption that conditions may influence a focus on some parts of the brain which may be dominant and other parts less effective or influential, for instance the intellectual reasoning of the neocortex is lost during fight or flight triggered by the brain stem and limbic system and only returns after the danger has past.

Therefore, in keeping with the philosophy of spiritual healing an imbalance or blockage of energy in the ultraviolet and magnetic ultraviolet chakras could cause a focus on the R-complex and limbic areas of the brain, as a result the intellectual and emotional functions of the neocortex may be impaired. This in turn could lead to a melancholy associated with S.A.D., and the first signs of psychological stress or depression and mental illness. This includes the ability to communicate; people can become obsessive, isolated and insular. Normal logical reason is lost, people become very difficult to talk to, communication and social skills start to deteriorate, and the ability to relate to others becomes impaired leading to a breakdown in relationships with partners family and friends.

The combined psychological problems associated with the absence of green and ultra violet light can have a multiple detrimental effect on our mental welfare exacerbated by other environmental and personal factors. Colour therapy is not a treatment or cure for mental illness; it is a complementary medicine to support the medical treatment given by a doctor. In that respect the diagnosis and treatment for blocked green energy is quite simple and straight forward, it entails balancing and clearing any blockage in the chakra. Healing includes counselling on the issues causing the problem to prevent further damage, and the introduction of the colour green into a person’s life by means of clothing, rainbow diet and solarised water, aroma, and home decoration and of course green fields. This would also need to be balanced with a smaller proportion of the complementary colour to green, which is red.

The diagnosis and balancing of the ultra violet chakras is a bit more difficult as these frequencies of light are off the visible colour spectrum. Radiesthesia is the ability by means of an instrument to detect radiation or electro-magnetic energy within the human body; one such device is a universal pendulum developed from a discovery in an Egyptian tomb in the mid nineteen thirties. The universal pendulum can automatically diagnose and correct any imbalance in the ultra violet chakras; this would also be an indication that somebody is not getting enough full spectrum sunlight.

The Prescribed Walk in the Park Part II

There lies the problem, we are warned with good reason about the dangers of ultra violet light, getting out in the midday sun wearing polarised shades and blocking out any penetration of UV light is a waste of time. It is a danger that has always been there, but it is getting worse because of the deletion of the ozone layer. Weather forecasts are based on the negative and warn of the risk of sunburn by means of a UV index, perhaps they could also advise us on when it is safe to go out to get our required amount of UV light.

We are in a situation whereby total protection from ultraviolet light can affect us with regard to our mental welfare, as it gets worse and we have to protect ourselves for longer periods during the day. We may start to suffer from a milder form of S.A.D. during the summer months unless we make the effort to get out into the sun when it is safe to do so. This more that anything brings home the reality of our disconnection with nature and the consequences of global warming.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Yellow_Taxi

Bibliography

1. http://www.universal-pendulum.com
2. http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/vollarj/Anatomical terms and Organization.doc
3. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=25283
4. When Fear Is Near: Threat Imminence Elicits Prefrontal-Periaqueductal Gray Shifts in Humans.
Dean Mobbs, Predrag Petrovic, Jennifer L. Marchant, Demis Hassabis, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Ben Seymour, Raymond J. Dolan, Christopher D. Frith
Science 24 August 2007: Vol. 317. no. 5841, pp. 1079 – 1083
DOI: 10.1126/science. 1144298
Available online at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;317/5841/1079
5. http://www.colour-counselling-therapy-healing.com/
6. http://www.rainbow-diet.com/