Ruth Wilson, Ph.D., is a retired educator who now works with the Children and Nature Network as curator of the Research Library. She also devotes her time to writing and consu…

Magnets attract you to a place and anchors keep you there. What are your magnets and anchors?

Eating with mindfulness and awareness may be one of the clearest pathways to understanding the soul/mind/body connection and can help strengthen our bond to the rest of the natural world.

“I turned 77 on my last birthday and now recognize some of the effects of aging. I can’t wiggle my body in quite the same way as I did when I was 7 or 17, among many other things I can’t do quite as well now.”

I was fortunate to grow up in a family where sensitivity to nature was nurtured. We lived on a farm with daily interactions with the natural world. I got to know nature as somethin…

I was only fourteen years old when I left home to become a Catholic nun. I thought the “religious life” is what I needed to satisfy a holy longing within me – a longing to be conne…

Relationship building beyond our own homes.

If you’re thirsty, you crave water. If you’re hungry, you want food. If you’re lonely, you yearn for companionship. Once our basic needs are met, we sometimes strive for perfection…

How deathbed singers infuse comfort and a sense of the sacred to the dying

When it comes to my relationship with the Earth, I sometimes ask, “Should I save it or savor it?” There’s no doubt that Earth is in need of saving, and I know I have a role to play…

Turn everyday activities into a mindful practice

I remember my mother saying, “It’s a sin to worry.” When pressed to explain what she meant, she would often respond, “It’s all in God’s hands.” I think my mother used these sayings…

Do the items on your list reflect your true self?

Caretaking gives this writer an opportunity to enter a new kind of sacred space – not a place of solitude, but a place of wholeness and holiness.

Walking can be a path to a better understanding and appreciation of each other.

Clean eating can be more than a health practice; it can be a spiritual practice.

Discover what’s in your heart, rather than what’s in your head.

Having a mindful lunch is not the same as eating lunch.

Here are 5 suggestions on how you might look to nature to enhance your own creativity.

A lesson learned: be true to yourself and to be grateful for who you are.

How to create deeper connections in a virtual workplace.

If you’re interested in starting a meditation group, here are several tips you might find helpful.

Identify and understand your strengths as a path toward self-discovery.

If you’d like to develop a Zen garden of your own, follow these suggestions.

Two questions to ask yourself for leading a simpler life.

Have you found your theme?

Intentionally smiling can be part of your spiritual practice.

Philosophy isn't just for professors. Embracing a philosophical attitude can make you healthier, happier, and (of course) wiser.

Do you have a relationship with Planet Earth—your home? Taking time to focus on and appreciate the place you live creates a feeling of connection and health.

“A true celebration is never passive. Celebrations aren’t about being amused or entertained. A true celebration is an active response to the wonders and blessings of life.”

Look to innovative thinkers like Walt Disney’s Imagineers to revitalize your spirit.

Intuitive ways of knowing go beyond conscious thinking and guide us to truths that are difficult to prove or even explain.

Just by occasionally focusing on the natural world, you can bring more joy, peace, and wisdom into your life.

“I’m in awe of the way coyotes practice mindfulness in their day-to-day lives. They display a calm awareness of everything that’s going on around them and give complete attention to what they’re experiencing on a moment-to-moment basis.”

“Are we freer when we let go of the need to own, to control, and, sometimes, even to know, especially when the path to knowledge violates the spirit of other living things?”

Puppies can teach us a lot about how to respond to frustrating and difficult situations in positive and productive ways.

If we dig deep, we can unearth wonder(ful) ways to survive and even thrive through this stressful time.

“Prayer, to me, is more about silence than words—or as Jefferies says—it’s about being ‘rapt in the fullness of the moment.’”

“As your circle of concern becomes larger, the field of loneliness for yourself and others will become smaller.”

“Learning about and trying to practice a form of restorative justice can help you work toward self-forgiveness.”

Expectations can lead you astray, and hanging on to them can lead to disappointment and angst. The author learned three lessons from her peach trees about unmet expectations—and how letting go of expected outcomes can lead to a better life.

Keeping a spiritual journal may seem like a good way to record your spiritual progress. But what if the pages stay blank?

Rating your pain can help you brush off the little stuff and focus on what truly matters. “While this rating system doesn’t take the pain or hurt away, it helps me put it in perspective.”

The gift-giving season is almost here, but that doesn't mean purchasing more “stuff” for your loved ones. “I’ll be focusing more on relationships than commodities, more on longings than belongings.”

Taking time to engage with nature is as close to a cure-all as you’ll find. Ecotherapy can make you feel happier, less fatigued, and more at peace.

Breath action into everyday words. “You might be surprised at how many nouns in the English language can be used as verbs.”

What is beauty? Why is it important? “Perhaps we should think of beauty not only as something that we should have but as something we should be.”

Resilience is even more important when aging. Luckily, it’s a skill that can be strengthened.

Relying on your dependable strength allows you to live a happier and fuller life—take it from a 78-year-old expert on living better.

Think of yourself as a leaf on a tree. Contributing what we can while realizing we’re not indispensable releases us to appreciate our own life cycle.

Creativity and play go hand in hand. Cultivating both of these natural instincts later in life is key to wellbeing.

Kahlil Gibran said, “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” As we age, thinking about the relationship between joy and sorrow can help us deal with some of the heavier disappointments in life.

A legacy project or spiritual will allows you to pass on your values to loved ones and record what you prized in life. There’s value in the process as well as the outcome.

What is spiritual health and how can you improve yours? Try this spiritual health assessment tool as a starting point.

Create your own labyrinth, finding the trees amidst the cactuses and bushes.

Beyond “knowing best,” wisdom is a process one must tap into.

Ecstatic memories are “radioactive jewels buried within us, emitting energy across the years of our life.”

Should we worship something that isn’t perfect or can harm us, or are we missing the point of dendrolatry altogether?

Dealing with a difficult friend or family member? See them in a new light.

AS LONG AS WE’RE LIVING, we’re aging. For some, this is cause for concern, and as we get older, we may look for strategies to fight against it. Dr. Susan Sands, in her book The Ins…

While researchers are still exploring the mechanism of sound medicine, studies show that sound therapy boosts spiritual wellbeing and reduces anxiety and pain.

Jo Dunbar’s holistic approach combines herbal medicine with hypnotherapy, diagnostic tests, nutritional supplements, and dietary advice.

“Not letting ourselves age is a way of not letting ourselves live.”

From the title, you might think Secrets From a Herbalist’s Garden is about gardening. From the subtitle, “A Magical Year of Plant Remedies,” you might think the book is about medic…

Matt Kahn’s new book, All for Love, is both poetic and practical. The poetic part appears in definitions and descriptions. For example, conversation is defined as “a dance of shari…

Want to be more loving and caring, with better health and enhanced wellbeing? Try awe narratives.

What does it mean to truly love other people, and how can we transform pain into compassion? Author Matt Kahn shares his wisdom.

Sometimes the path to peace is through a struggle with self. This was so for Chief Robert Joseph, a survivor of a residential school for Indigenous children in Canada. For him, t…

Reading Koshersoul can make you hungry—not just because it talks about food, but because it also discusses other nourishing aspects of life, including spirituality, community, belo…

Unity and healing are at the center of Chief Dr. Robert Joseph's teachings. We spoke to him about universal values, his own elders, and Indigenous languages as "languages of the land."

Beautiful Trauma by Rebecca Fogg is rich in philosophical insights, humorous surprises, bizarre happenings, and amazing feats. Readers will quickly be drawn into Fogg’s personal st…

Take a moment to envision the core of the Earth as a cauldron bubbling over a fire. What would happen if this fire were extinguished? This sobering question is raised by Rev. Wendy…

Annabelle Sharman—an Aboriginal woman of the Mutti Mutti tribe—describes herself as a Spirit Weaver, helping guide people in the practice of YUMA: a “Dreaming to live in Oneness.” …

How can we become future ancestors and utilize the power of hope and ceremony to heal ourselves? Aboriginal teacher and healer Annabelle Sharman shares.

We chatted with interspiritual minister Rev. Wendy Van Allen about how the perspective of Nature Spirituality can help heal the earth.

“It’s a tense time to be alive,” says Susan Bauer-Wu in A Future We Can Love. We feel this tension because the climate is changing, and the future is uncertain. Yet, that’s not the…

How can we learn from our traumatic experiences, and what can be gleaned from the process of recovery? Author Rebecca Fogg shares.

The first few pages of How to Live in a Chaotic Climate may seem ominous: You’ll find the words funeral, uncertainty, and grieve in the Table of Contents. Though these words might …

Meditation teacher Light Watkins’ new book Travel Light is no repeat of the self-help books we’ve seen on simple living and minimalism over the past 25 years. None of the seven pri…

Clinical scientist and mindfulness teacher Susan Bauer-Wu shares her thoughts on how to create a future we can love through both social action and optimism.

We spoke with author LaUra Schmidt about climate grief, healing personal trauma, and how spirituality and climate awareness are connected.

More…

New S&H Managing Editor Tequia Burt shares her top picks from 2019.

Sally Anderson is transforming preschool age students into “treeschoolers” with a nature and place-based approach to learning with SOL Forest School.

For this year’s gift guide, we asked S&H contributors and readers for some of their favorite gifts—gifts they’ve given or received, or even gifts they wish had been exchanged.