How Nature-Based Therapy Can Ease Postpartum Isolation

Postpartum can feel like you're walking through fog. One moment you're holding something brand new, something you’ve waited for, and the next you’re not sure who you are anymore. There’s so much change happening all at once, and even when you’re surrounded by people, it’s easy to feel completely alone.

There’s a kind of loneliness that doesn’t get talked about enough after birth. It’s not just the quiet hours of the night or the endless cycle of feedings. It’s the disconnection from the parts of yourself you used to know, the relationships that shift, and the new rhythm of life that hasn’t quite settled.

When I work with people in the postpartum period, what I often see is that this isolation doesn’t just come from a lack of support. It comes from being unrooted. From feeling like everything that once felt familiar is now just out of reach.

For some, coming back to the land can be a way through.

Nature-based therapy is what it sounds like:

therapy that happens outside, in relationship with the land. That might mean sitting under a tree, walking a trail, or just noticing what’s alive around us. It’s not about giving advice or fixing anything. It’s about slowing down enough to listen. Not just to each other, but to the world that holds us.

There’s a steadiness in nature that’s hard to find in postpartum. A tree doesn’t mind if you cry under it. The ocean doesn’t care if you haven’t slept. These aren’t metaphors. This is real support. Being outside can help calm an overwhelmed nervous system. It can soften the edges when everything feels too much. It can bring breath back into a body that’s been holding too much for too long.

For people who’ve had medicalized or disconnected birth experiences, nature-based work can also be a way to return to the body. Not in a forced or clinical way, but gently. With curiosity and care. The land reminds us we’re part of something. That our rhythms matter. That it’s okay to move slowly.

My approach is always relational. I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all healing. What helps one person might not help another. But I do know that being outside, in a space that doesn’t ask you to be anything other than exactly as you are, can be a relief.

I’m a mother too. And a doula. And a therapist who spends a lot of time outside because that’s where I feel most myself. If postpartum has felt heavy, or disconnected, or just not what you expected, I’d be honoured to sit with you in that.

You don’t need to figure it out alone.
You don’t need to pretend it’s all okay.

If you’re curious about working together, I offer a free 20-minute consult to see if it’s a fit. You can reach me at hello@shapeshiftcounselling.ca

Let’s find a space where you can land.