Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Gorres.
Shannon, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
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. I shifted from social work to interfaith chaplaincy, and I spent 5 years managing my nervous system as I worked in a hospital supporting children through crisis and sometimes death. I became determined to help others find inner peace and joy through the most stressful times. I gained skill after skill in supporting myself and others around me in creating a grounded and purposeful life. Two graduate degrees later, I started a private practice called Divine Nature Therapy to help adults who struggle with existential dilemmas around the meaning of their life, work and relationships. As a Master of Divinity and Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, I empower people who are still recovering from childhood wounds find deep healing and growth.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road of life is never smooth! It’s natural and hilly. One struggle is that while scientific research on the healing effects of nature therapy is substantial, many people haven’t heard about it. Part of my work is to educate people on what nature therapy involves and how it helps psychologically, physically, and emotionally. These are some aspects I love to share:
Health Benefits of Intentional time in nature,
especially with a trained guide, can:
~regulate blood pressure, lower cortisol, and lower stress.
~increase immunity (from increased NK cells and improved mood).
~show higher scores on Quality of Life measurements.
~decrease reports of Chronic Widespread Pain.
~alleviate anxiety and depression symptoms.
~improve confidence and self-esteem.
~reduce symptoms associated with ADHD, trauma, psychosis, addiction.
~increase sense of gratitude and generosity.
~increase patience, life satisfaction and motivation.
~and more.
(Research studies and evidence at https://www.doseofnature.org.uk/the-evidence2)
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I support nature lovers who are stymied by angst, anger, or anxiety. They are already self-aware and frustrated by reactivity to interpersonal conflict.
People feel like they might break down or blow up, and they look out the window & yearn for meaningful connection, or look in the mirror and see exasperation, but want to shine.
I often help people who’ve tried talk therapy and still feel stressed.
We go deeper— with attentive, juicy transformation aligned with your dreams and values.
Sometimes what’s holding us back from a meaningful life stems from childhood conditioning. Many people who had underaffirming parents (absent, hyper critical, real difficult), want to experience 100% self-love and trust.
We transform stagnant patterns from childhood trauma, or from living in an oppressive world, by tuning into and retuning the nervous system. We do embodied meditative work, that has room for bawling or cussing, and finds wisdom from deep within.
Transformation happens outside with Nature Therapy, inside with Emotional Counseling, and in either setting I can add Sacred Listening for the vast, tender, and numinous in your life.
Each person has their own way of processing, but here is a very brief introduction to some common ways I integrate nature:
a.) help relaxing to reduce stress, so insights naturally emerge. When I guide meditative attention to nature’s gifts, it activates our parasympathetic nervous system (rest, digest, and heal mode), so our tightly wound thoughts also relax and new solutions to problematic patterns arise.
b.) talking directly to plants to externalize our thoughts, which helps us hear ourselves differently. or listening to the sounds of birds or wind and sensing messages. For example, someone is debating what’s really right for them in their relationship, listing off the considerations, and a crow flies overhead. It caws loudly after a specific sentence, and the person cries, feeling struck by the response and realizing what they really want. Another example: someone’s eyes are drawn to a half-dead tree, and they feel less alone because they connect with the inter-species experience of living with a dead part. I invite them to ask the tree for tips and listen to what ideas arise.
c.) engaging plants as metaphors or symbols representing our human experiences. For example, I asked a man who was stressed out by his work but scared to start a new career to choose 2 trees, one to represent the current job and one to represent the new career. We stood by each while he shared how the tree’s shape, color, and lifestage represented aspects of the job, and he realized more about what was really at the crux for him. Then we walked between the trees s-l-o-w-l-y so he could identify the fears and grief holding him back from making the transition.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People who aren’t currently in an existential quandary but who still want to alleviate the stress of daily living can attend a Group Nature Therapy session. We mindfully “bathe” in the healing atmosphere of the woods, prairie, and ecosystems we inhabit, akin to Japanese shinrin-yoku, Forest Bathing. It includes:
-20 minute guided meditation to de-stress,
-activities that engage dozens of our senses to deepen our relationship with ourselves and nature,
-medicinal tea, locally harvested.
-opportunities to process in compassionate Listening circles.
We walk less than 1/2 mile.
We walk away with renewed connection to our purpose for living on Earth.
Group options:
~Join an upcoming public workshop of Sunfilled or Moonful Forest Bathing
~Schedule a Private Group
just for your nonprofit organization, friends or family. Forest Bathing Sessions make fantastic retreat days, wellness incentives, and meaningful gifts.
~Book a Business Group Session.
It can be a full forest bathing session or shorter nature meditation workshop. We can highly tailor it to your focus. Nature-Connected Wellness Programs are great for your employees. You’re awesome to provide rejuvenation!
Find me at www.DivineNatureTherapy.com
Pricing:
- available to see at: https://www.divinenaturetherapy.com/book-online
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.divinenaturetherapy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divinenaturetherapy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivineNatureTherapy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-clare-gorres-247714109/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@divinenaturetherapy
- Other: You can download Photos here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oySydyMECB0QK7fWs75BB0nMcbbiXbM2?usp=sharing
