Connecting to Nature with Cacao – Mental Health Awareness Week

Next week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the theme this year is “Connecting to Nature”.  As we come out of a locked-down season in the UK, recent research has shown that our mental health has suffered, including this UCL Social Survey. 

At Ritual Cacao, our aim is to support and improve physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing using the powerful plant medicine, Cacao, revered for centuries as a potent and essential plant for humans.  

To understand more of how the plant can help our wellbeing, last year, we conducted a National Health Study that showed just how powerful cacao can be for helping to alleviate stress and anxiety, especially when used ritually, and as part of a daily practise. 

This year, our  21 Day Cacao Challenge “From Stress & Anxiety, to Peace & Harmony“ begins on Sunday with an Opening Ceremony led by Rebekah Shaman. It provides this support and guidance, with daily email support, mindfulness exercises, rituals, tips and guidance for connecting to cacao, as a plant medicine, nature, and your own inner nature. 

We set up this 21 Day Cacao Challenge because in the urban jungle especially, it is easy to forget that we are a part of nature, and not apart from it. We have lost sense of ‘sacred space and time,’ and the importance of ritual for us to integrate and connect to ourselves, and our inner wisdom.

At Ritual Cacao we also understand that all living things are interconnected, and are of equal importance to maintain the stability of our environment. Everything on this planet feeds off another living thing in order to sustain life. Every bee that pollinates a flower, every animal, bird, insect and reptile, is an essential part of our incredibly intricate web of life. 

When we lose a species of animal, plant, tree or flower to extinction, we lose a vital link in our biological chain, the delicate balance of our eco-system is affected, and we sense it energetically. 

This disconnection is causing extreme and unprecedented levels of depression, stress and anxiety, as we feel disempowered, isolated and unfulfilled. It is causing unconscious feelings of eco-anxiety, as we wake up to the impact that our actions have on the planet and all living things that we share it with. 

When we take time to connect to nature, and ourselves, we remember we are a part of, and responsible for, this living ecosystem. It helps us to shift our values and principles to protect and support life, as the guardians and stewards of planet Earth. 

Instead, of our behaviour being solely for personal gain, we understand that even our smallest actions affect the whole, including politically (with our vote), economically (with our buying decisions), ecologically (with our lifestyle decisions), abundantly (with our giving decisions), & emotionally (with our attitude towards ourself & others). 

When we reconnect to nature we remember that the power is within us. We act in accordance to the natural laws that all living things instinctively abide by, and automatically feel happier, peaceful and more harmonious. 

If you have been feeling depressed, anxious, or stuck and unsure of the next steps, then our 21 Day Cacao Challenge is the perfect opportunity to create sacred time and space, to explore your relationship with nature and yourself, and transform your stress and anxiety into peace and harmony.

Happy Mental Health Awareness Week, Cacao Lovers!

The Cacao Challenge, “From Stress & Anxiety to Peace and Harmony” starts this weekend, with an opening ceremony at 7:00pm BST on Sunday 9th May  Join the 21 Day Cacao Challenge here