What Is Nature-Based Chaplaincy?

Author: Anne-Marie Chmielewski

Nature-based chaplaincy is the practice of tending to the human spirit through our living connection with the more-than-human world. It recognizes that our deepest belonging is not only with one another, or with a deity (or many deities), but also with the Earth. In this framework, spirituality is not abstract; it is lived, embodied, often spontaneous & quirky, and place based. It looks different for everyone. There is no set doctrine. 

I am a Nature-based chaplain and clinical pastoral education intern at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute, and the first chaplain to join the team. As such, I often get asked, “What is Nature-based Chaplaincy?”  This blog post is an attempt to answer that question by offering a glimpse into my daily practice. 

Rooted in Place and Belonging

My chaplaincy practice is rooted in connection to Place. I am a daughter of the American Rocky Mountain West and have spent my life living in, wandering around, and learning about Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.  The geology, water, plants and animals of this region have had a profound impact on my spirituality.  They have held me, taught me, fed me and been my Anam Caras, my Soul Friends, in every sense. 

Practicing Chaplaincy in Daily Life

Rituals of Connection in Arizona

I am composing this post from Arizona in early September. It’s hot. 95 degrees in the late afternoon. My writing desk overlooks hot pink bougainvilleas, tall palms and a bright blue sky. I am a visitor here, supporting a loved one through a very difficult moment with cancer. I am an integral part of her support team, and I am happy to be here.  And…. I need to dig into my own practice to stay resourced. 

Fortunately, I have a long history with this place, this home where I am staying. I have visited and tended its gardens for 27 years. I know these bougainvilleas. I planted the mesquite trees in the back yard. The heart shaped stone in the center of the garden was a gift from me and my partner at the time- many, many years ago. I am grateful for this foundation of relationship. It grounds and sustains me in my role of caregiver. 

Simple Offerings: Cornmeal and Rose Petals

My practice here is simple, constrained by my caregiving responsibilities, but it is alive. Each morning, I watch the sun rise and wash myself in the light of a new day. Sunrises here are a spectacle, a kaleidoscope of peach, pink and lavender and so over the top that my sadness and grief are absorbed in the joy of a new day. This carries me - mostly. And, my time here is heavy. I crave deep, rooted sustenance. 

I carry a pouch of cornmeal and dried rose petals with me - everywhere. My little daily ritual is to offer a pinch or a good handful to any plant, animal, or rock that “calls” me. It serves as my conversation starter, my icebreaker. I offer the cornmeal and roses and then I just let my heart do what it needs to do. Sometimes I talk or make things. Sometimes, I sit still and listen. 

Creating an Altar of Relationship

Today, I made a small altar on the heart rock in the center of the garden. It told the story of my relationship with this home. I placed my cornmeal and roses, a few mesquite pods, a cutting from the massive aloe plant I planted years ago and that has now grown wild and unruly,  and shells I brought over long ago when I was a graduate student living on the beach in CA. Years of tending and holding and shifting and growing brought me to this moment: a hot afternoon in the garden, my hands on this small altar, gathering in the energy of this place and letting it hold me while I hold on to a loved one struggling with cancer. 

 It was too hot to be out for too long, my simple ritual took just a few minutes, but I was nourished, refreshed and ready to return to the caregiving role. There is reciprocity here, a back and forth of tending and holding. This is what nature based chaplaincy looks like for me during this busy time: simple practices of being present and in relationship with the natural world in between moments of caregiving. 

Chaplaincy at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute

As a Clinical Pastoral Education intern at the Somatic Nature Therapy Institute, I have the privilege of supporting nature quests and other rites of passage work, creating community rituals and meeting individually to explore and deepen connection to nature, spirit (or spirituality,) and the more than human world. 

An Invitation to Explore Your Own Connection

My practice of chaplaincy is an invitation to others to explore their own soulful, nurturing connection to Place- whatever that looks like- in ways big and small.

If you are interested in scheduling an individual appointment, you can reach out to me via email or schedule below.