Tree roots grow into the river: the spiritual healing power of water

Christian Schalling is a Certified Nature Therapy Guide. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and at his website. Christian lives mobily and will be in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina in 2025. The following is an excerpt from his final project.

A Nature Swim!

In my work as a nature therapy guide, I invite people to walk with me into nature. I love to bring people into the natural world–explaining, asking, showing and guiding them into this experience. We can also meditate together and even make offerings or a prayer to mother earth. Nature walks are wonderful. Here is the short story of my walk, which actually was a swim! The life-giving quality of water was with us throughout this experience.

Walking towards the place, I took my time to explain safety points. Every river has particularities and certain dangers. So does this one. A waterfall can drag you down, parts of dead trees and roots can hurt you, a current can carry you away. Making us aware is important, as sometimes enthusiasm can make you forget to mind these points. All in all, to swim in this river is not dangerous, and there are even two lifeguards present.

Tuning into Senses

And then starts our nature swim! At the beginning of this, I want to say that I was surprised from the profoundness of this nature-swim. Isn’t creativity great? I never thought before that I would do such a guided activity in my life!

We began sitting at the wooden steps and put our feet into the water. We began with an expression of gratitude to be here. This day, we could be alone, whereas the day before the place was flooded with crowds of people. Today, we could enjoy the silence and listen to nature, especially the sounds of the water.

I suggested we get in contact with the senses: to hear, see, touch, smell, and feel. And to listen to intuition. I said: “Take your time to find a place you like in the river. Take your time to get in touch with the river. Do it like a child, as it was the first time you come here. Try to experience this like a child: totally new, done for the first time. Get in contact with the flow of the river. See how this is for you.”

I put also some questions in front of us: Do you have a favourite place in the river? Is there anything you do not like? Do you like to swim against the flow or go with it?

First of all, I want to say what an amazing experience it is–to do a nature walk in water. Please note that we are in a tropical area. The air temperature is between 25 and 38° C and it is wonderful to enter cooling water of 20 to 23° C. You can stay more than an hour and not feel cold. It refreshes in a pleasant way.

Waterfalls and Butterflies

Betina’s reactions were these: “I went swimming to different places in the river. In the beginning, a local dog we know came to swim with us–how funny. The place about 10 meters below the water fall has some rocks where we can sit. I found my favorite place there; enjoying the peace and the freedom this gave to me. I felt great abundance and gratitude doing this ‘meditation’ for quite a while. The next focus was the bubbles in the stream coming from the waterfall. The place where water and air meet is magic. For a short time, I liked to swim there.”

We explored our way to two small waterfalls. The rocks are smooth but can be difficult to pass, as there are deep holes in the ground of the river. Very carefully, we did it. The place, the flora around was stunning.

Tree roots grow into the river, roots and full of green. Butterflies, birds, and dragonflies above our heads; soft but hot wind passing. Peace. Beauty and all in abundance.

A Natural Massage

Getting in contact with the river’s natural massage and allowing the healing properties of water to work was the next step. I must say that this was unexpected and brought much happiness. We were amazed what a power such a simple work with water has.

After that, we went downriver about 20 meters to find a place to rest and observe the fish. It was great to have a diving mask with us to be able to see what is under water. The big fish swim very near you, which is impressive. It is forbidden to fish here, and one can feel this respect in how the fish approach you. The small ones can bite a bit but are harmless. To be so near to fish is a lovely experience.

The Return

Coming towards the end, we stayed in a part where you can hold on to ropes crossing the river observing, relaxing, just being there in peace. After more than an hour, we came to an end of this nature swim-walk. A few steps away from the water and out of the forest, the sun and the heat were back, and we walked back.

I loved this nature walk. I was happy that I followed my feeling to do this one “in the water” and in this way. I cannot believe how much you can observe in a quite short part of river as we did. The experience is very profound. If you have a spiritual connection, it is a true gift to do this. To receive a soft massage from a natural whirlpool is fantastic.

Nature connects – nature brings peace – nature heals. Thank you Pachamama!

Connect with Christian’s services at SanandoPachamama.com.