A Nature-Inspired Approach to Healing Using Biomimicry

Biomimicry is a design framework that studies how biological organisms, processes, and systems functioning on Earth today have adapted strategies to solve problems related to those we experience in our human designs. It’s a methodological approach to understanding the current context of a situation and replicating the time-tested strategies nature has evolved to function not just sustainably but in a regenerative form of reciprocity to the environment in which it exists. Biomimicry is also a philosophy, a way of perceiving the world around us and our collective interconnectedness.

Before we dig in deeper to the design methodology and framework, as well as the philosophy that backs it, it would be remiss of me to not acknowledge how this is not inherently a new practice. The term biomimicry was popularized by biologist Janine Benyus in the 1997 seminal book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, but this in itself could be seen as a package for the Western world—synthesizing complex ideas and association from the ill-respected Indigenous peoples communities to integrate into an “acceptable” academic practice. Indigenous sciences have been more qualitative than quantitative, relational rather than data-specific. To honor and respect the land, air, and water is to live fully integrated with one’s natural existence, and many sacred ecological practices have embodied this perspective. Permaculture is one example that originated from Indigenous knowledge and was packaged into a practice that no doubt has benefits on improving the commonly destructive agricultural practice, however education and certificates offered for this perspective give no recognition or financial support to the originators of the vision. This has caused many Indigenous tribes to question whether sharing their knowledge would serve them and/or the greater population.

I’m grateful to have had the concept of biomimicry introduced to the academic and design communities as it provided a structure to follow a formula for solving complex problems, but I am not sure yet what greater implications the concept will have if Indigenous science, leaders, and creators are not invited as key stakeholders and influencers.

As the formal practice was taught to me, and I thus teach others, to be truly biomimetic, a form, process, or system must 1) emulate a functional strategy learned from biological life; 2) embody an ethos that considers the moral responsibility to respect every element of the design process and effects it will have on the surrounding environment’s ecosystem processes, inhabitants, and collective balance of Earth’s operating needs (i.e. how life has been able to survive, thrive, and evolve to support a plethora of biodiverse, niche systems); and 3) offer an element of (re)connection to the natural world, i.e. paying gratitude to the organism that inspired the solution, encouraging an education about an organism’s way of life, or inviting a deep connection to land, water, and air. The (re) is indicated as it signals that we are all already connected to the natural world from our origins, and some people who live today (including many Indigenous peoples tribes and cultures) still practice this honoring and interconnectedness. It is in returning to this truth that we reconnect with our birthright as organisms living in the Animal Kingdom.

There are many approaches to integrating biomimicry as a critical thinking and problem solving technique, and I was personally trained through the Biomimicry DesignLens Thinking process led by Dayna Baumeister at the Biomimicry Center from Arizona State University in the Master of Science program. There are also similar approaches like the Biomimicry Design Spiral offered by the Biomimicry Institute that help us work through this process. While traditional practice of biomimicry, Janine Benyus, the co-founder of both organizations, points to looking at biology specifically (hence the root “bio”), I take my approach a step beyond the illustrious lines defined by the academic community and more aligned with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), also known as Indigenous Sciences.

I align with the belief that each aspect of this existence is energy. All gradients, laws of physics, geological formation, water and air molecules, and everything in-between and beyond is in relation to everything else—it’s all “Life” on a spectrum. This is not a new theory, as it is deeply embedded in many of the Indigenous Sciences that are observed today. A rock is alive just as a tree is, and everything is both one and separate. Whether you believe this to be true or not doesn’t change the approach to healing in any way, but it’s worth noting here as I make no distinction from where we can gain inspiration for learning. As you’ll notice, when I use the word “nature,” I am referring to all of these contexts—from the human body’s and our fellow planet-mates’ adaptations to the energy not capable of scientific measurement (yet), but that is felt when immersed in a forest or staring into the eyes of a puppy. We are nature—all of it is nature, but the ideal set here is the adaptations that allow for a diverse, thriving, fair ecosystem to exist (i.e. not one species dominating and suffocating the others and the physical environment in which they live).

Perhaps one day this expansion beyond biology will be referred to as: “Naturamimicry” and mean design that mimics nature in all its forms. In this approach we would bring in the truest full systems perspective beyond how it relates to biological life—including geology, astronomy, quantum physics, even astrology, and more experiential sciences. Or perhaps, we can actually just call it sacred living, incorporating intentional behavior, reciprocity, and beneficial design that considers all the elements that should be inherently considered from the get-go.

The only constant in all of this existence is change. Matter appears solid, but it's actually two electromagnetic fields coming together—everything is energy in a constant state of change. The human body itself is more microbe than human. We emit heat that dissipates into the air around us—which in itself is not without fields of molecules and waves that we cannot see with the naked eye. Our bodies are constantly sloughing off dead skin cells in constant exchange and renewal. DNA itself is an illusion, and while that arrangement determines difference, it's all just information. Everything is a construct, even blood serves as a superhighway of nutrients. Information itself is a construct. So what do we do with this knowledge?

We learn about this moment right here, right now. We look at this environment, the context of the gravity, presence of sunlight, water, and air. We see the intricate parts that make the whole and the whole as an intricate system reliant on the parts. Practicing biomimicry in design can look like designing a city to function like a forest, creating colors as bright as butterflies that aren’t toxic, or using shape to optimize fluid flow. It’s studying how palm trees withstand high winds, how coral creates hard structures without heat, beat, and treat methods, and how dolphins can detect vibrations and sounds in turbulent waters. Naturally, I began to see how the practice of biomimicry could help create a nature-inspired model for reprocessing our brain’s behaviors, instincts, and patterns in order to more effectively heal. And while there are a lot of psychological practices and therapeutic techniques available, I couldn’t find a process that would help others find which one would best serve them in their unique lives. So I decided to create one that helped me structure my own journey.

I began to ask: How does nature heal? How does nature process signals in its environment? How does nature change behavior? How does nature cope? Adapt? Rest? Balance? Perceive? Connect with the environment? Change memories? Rewire brain chemistry? Understanding how the human brain functions is a great place to observe, but I’ve also studied how other organisms change their brains’ functioning and processing of their environment to adapt and learn.

In Biomimicry Life’s Principles as laid out by Biomimicry 3.8, we aspire to align with tried and true patterns that nature has demonstrated that create conditions conducive to life. One deep pattern is that life replicates strategies that work. If nature has figured out an ingenious solution to a problem, we need not try and reinvent it—so rather than replicating the entire biomimicry thinking methodology, I incorporate it into a wider approach to this healing process, which I've been dubbed the AM·ORE Method and serves as a framework for working with clients.

The AM·ORE Method

Thousands of people have used a myriad of psychological, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional reprocessing methods to eliminate their pain or distress, and you can too. Based on my own journey, professional training, and work with people suffering from many different ailments, the AM·ORE Method is designed to help you find the pathway to your own healing needs. I want to help you through this process so you don’t have to do it alone as I did for many years. If at the end of this article you’d like more guidance and help, you’ll find information on my coaching programs at healwithamore.com.

Why this approach is different: I integrate solutions that emulate nature, utilizing millions of years of research and development to solve the same problems we face today, while adapting them to modern society. While not religious in teaching, this approach can incorporate some spiritual practices or be applied to your existing faith. This concept is open to all, whether you’re firm in the study of academic science, to a specific religious practice, or to believing that all is energy, Gaia, Universe, spirit, Brahman, Atman, God—whatever you want to call it. This is a functional approach to applying a dynamic shift to change your life so you can heal yourself.

Let this be a starting place, a guide, an exploration—where you can gain the tools, experiences, and confidence in knowing reality is ever-changing, complex, and all up to your current perspective. This is your life—what do you choose to value? How do you want to live? Combining techniques for pain understanding and reconfiguring, mindfulness, mindbody healing, integrated nutrition, and a connection to the environment, relationships, and community for which an individual is a part offers a full approach to healing and reconnecting with the natural world, coming home, and finding purpose and meaning in existence.

The AM·ORE Method is actually a process that can be adapted and applied to any scenario, and it is approached in sections. We look at AM as being alive and awake and ORE as a wellspring of abundant resources that ultimately come from within. It serves as a guide to help you use the many incredible healing modalities that are available to apply them to your own life, where you can practice problem-solving with intention.

The first step is Asking or Acknowledging. If you know what it is that you need to heal, you acknowledge. There are tools available for asking if you’re unsure—such as through inner child work, body scanning, Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), and more that I offer clients.

Next, we Mimic nature. Essentially we’re asking: what would nature do here? Using a biomimetic process and retraining the mind, we’ll explore and incorporate unique aspects of healing approaches that directly resonate with your journey. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or journaling may work for some, while others may need to use a combination of dietary changes, medications, breathing techniques to manage stress, or increase movement in the day. This is the place where we integrate healing modes and approaches that are directly tailored to what you need, while grounding ourselves back into the reconnection to the natural world and our home on Earth.

The · separating the AM and ORE represents the starting point for you as a special individual and a pause to explore. We experiment, learn, and are curious about what we seek to integrate for that moment, that problem, or that situation. And when we’re ready, we move into the next phase.

The ORE begins with an Offer. By offering the need we seek, we understand what that actually means. To give first is to know how to Receive, which could be an offering to oneself or another. Receiving is then next as an invitation to accept your worthiness of the offering. And eventually, with repetition, practice, and continued work, it becomes a way of life and you begin to Embody the reality. This ORE can also become a mantra for daily repetition and confidence building.

This is a special approach, because sometimes it’s not as easy as talking in therapy to release a trauma, to want to change a behavior, to hop into an exercise routine, or inspire creativity, motivation, or organization toward that next project. AM·ORE is a framework that incorporates many schools of thoughts as designed to apply a bio-individual approach tailored to a single person's unique pain, experience, or support needed for their healing journey. And it’s designed to be continually adapted as your needs and the situation change.

Let’s play this out in an example. Emily is having a hard time connecting and making friends. She feels like it’s hard to trust others, is continually anxious, and as much as she tries to show up at gatherings and talk to people, she never feels like she can truly let anyone in and feels on-guard at all hours of the day. First we Acknowledge that she has an inability to trust others, and she seeks safety in a relationship (this is the perceived need), and that her body is in protector mode, enough to create some debilitating anxiety. What strategies are available to Emily to explore?

In working with a Health Coach, she explores some of the issues she experienced growing up. Her mother was an addict and left her and her little brother alone for most of the time, and her father blamed her mother for the dismantling of their family and finances. Emily felt like she had to be the protector of her brother and never could rely on anyone else. She and her coach decide that working through Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) would help her release some anger, fear, and sadness stored in her body and reprocess the learned behavior being instinctually triggered in her brain. Integrating a mindfulness and journaling practice allows her to unpack her feelings better as emotions arise. She starts to open up about her experience, learns how to find safety in herself, and slowly starts to connect with others in an Al-Anon support group. In deciding these unique plans and inquiry of how nature would both understand the behavior and retrain her known experience using the tools available, she continually stops to pause, reflect, adapt, and explore her internal dialogue. At different parts she may integrate the ORE as a mantra approach, repeating to herself at times of the day “I offer safety. I receive safety. I embody safety.” She seeks to Offer safety to herself, Receive safety from the coach she’s working with, and eventually Embody safety from within. Same can be said for trust. She offers trust to her coach, receives trust from a friend, and focuses on embodying trust in her thoughts and behaviors. This may not completely dissolve the issue of anxiety, but that too can be applied in a similar sense—becoming aware, recognizing what is the cause behind the anxiety (what is missing, lacking, instilling fear, or feeling unfulfilled?) and becoming curious enough to inquire what modes and methods can help to change, learn, grow, or be accepted in meeting this need.

In another example, if Sebastian is having a pain that comes and goes in their right leg and doctors have ruled out any structural cause, they may ask what their body is trying to tell them. There are approaches to this as well, and by mimicking successful practices that have worked for others, they can explore different modalities available to them. In this case, they try craniosacral therapy, a gentle technique that can guide a different understanding of one’s current state of being through reflective inquiry and mindful connection to the body. In a session, Sebastian realizes that the pain is triggered every time they talk to their parents, who have voiced disapproval of their chosen lifestyle and gender transition. From here, Sebastian explores different therapies and chooses to work with a psychotherapist to understand the triggers better and get to the root of the core issue. They decide they want to focus on offering love to themselves, wanting to believe and accept that they are enough and don’t need the approval of their parents. They then make a conscious effort to be open to receiving love from their partner. With a daily practice of repetition, practice, and acknowledgement, they focus on embodying love. Eventually the pain in their leg subsides as they coax the brain into knowing they are safe.

It’s not a quick fake-it-till-you-make it approach, but it does follow the notion that where we put our energy, what we choose to believe, and how we decide to behave shapes our reality. You can't fake authentic energy, which is honestly what made me decide to transition from the career that I've built for over a decade to help others heal themselves. That's where my passion is now. I want to connect with individuals, hear their stories, and help be a mirror of love and worthiness for more to find healing. Whatever we focus on, becomes our truth. In this way, we transition from being a victim to a survivor to an empowered being of our choosing. The ORE becomes your healing mantra, your intention, your wellspring of abundance. Put together with AM, you can be an abundant resource of amore, which means love.

This practice is also explored in physical ailments that can be changed, such as in the case of obesity. By acknowledging the need for better health, it’s not enough to say exercise more and eat better. What does that really mean, and how can it be tailored personally to a unique individual? And what if motivation, knowledge of safe exercise, or knowing what “healthy foods” are is an obstacle? Changing association and connection to jogging may help one person, but not another. Learning that a group of friends or a harmful relationship is actually the obstruction to changing eating habits wouldn’t be noticed if we didn’t look at the full human experience for each individual. While this process can absolutely be taken on your own, working with a coach or therapist can help you explore concepts in a deeper way.

At its core, this is a biomimetic approach to reintroducing human healing in the natural environment—that is to say we are coming home to the idea that we are intricately interconnected to the Animal Kingdom, despite what behavior has taken place over the last few hundred years that signals differently. Each approach can look at one specific issue, but taken as a whole, it’s about fitting into the larger system from which you are very much apart.

We model process and system in this approach—process for how nature learns, and what better model than the human brain in this scenario, integrating psychology and psychotherapy approaches to behavior conditioning and reprogramming—and system in looking at the whole body system of one's own life and that ecosystem in which they are part of. The goal is to seek balance in overall health and wellbeing, relationships and service, and better fit in on this planet.

I realize when I learn about something I do everything I can to achieve and then shame myself for not being perfect or able to meet my own unrealistic expectations. I want to emphasize that you do NOT have to go all in. You just need to start somewhere. Choose one habit, one issue to focus on to help your situation, and go from there. Making it easy to achieve, small wins each day will feed feelings of success, which will empower you to keep going.

This integrated approach to living (aiming to create a dynamic, ever-changing pathway to balancing mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of one’s own experience) is a form of preventative care and a pathway to healing. I encourage you to become an active designer of your own life. Rather than wearing assumptions from someone else’s closet, try them on first to see if they resonate with you. We’ve been seduced to believe that everything has been figured out, but in reality, the only truths in this life are that change is constant and death is inevitable—its timing uncertain. Therefore, question everything and use your personal experience and exploration to shape your perspective, your story, your reality.

This is a problem-solving perspective rather than an attempt to give you all the answers. There’s no way I could really do that anyway—only you know what will be best for you, and even that wisdom will change as you change. In this process, my hope is that you’ll be better equipped to grow empathy for yourself, for others, and the entirety of the natural world. When the problems seem too large or wicked to solve, we can start with one step, one aspect of our impact that we have available to us right here and now. When I started this journey, I was out of hope, out of solutions, and ready to check out. I learned that healing is a spiral of evolution with no final destination. Many will experience immediate relief through this work, but there will also need to be patience and compassion in moving through this process knowing there is no end goal, there is only life. We’re here to live as long, as healthy, and as connected as we can.

You may have heard it many times before: we create our own reality; and more and more, the progressing sciences of the world seem to resonate with this sentiment. Buddhism calls it karma, and when we find our own dharma, our purpose, we serve ourselves and others to the best of our ability. So, what does your reality look like? Why are you here? What is your purpose?

I invite you to regain a childlike curiosity and a fresh perspective. It takes intentional dedication and courage to strip away the social conditioning you’ve been programmed to believe. By working together, we can explore the benefits of techniques like yoga, mindful movement, body connection, and environmental aspects, and we’ll ultimately get to the root cause of what prevents you from living your best life, rather than trying to cover up the symptoms. Consider what could go wrong here—what’s the worst that could happen if you approached this journey with respect, curiosity, self compassion, and exploration? The best case scenario is you tune in, become awake to the root cause of your pain and suffering, and learn how to heal yourself. Change your story, change your life.

One final important note: I fully realize people right now don’t have access to clean water, are struggling to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, or have enough strength to get out of bed in the morning. How could they possibly extend themselves to research the farms where their food comes from, the chemistry in their products, where their energy is sourced, or find a therapist that they can afford? How could they begin to process their impact on the rest of the ecosystem if basic needs and functioning are nearly impossible to meet?

This work will be limited in some ways, because of the structure society is built upon. Our ancestors were programmed to wake in a state of fear because of real life-threatening dangers. Many of us don't have to live that way anymore, but at the same time, many do. Some of the systemic issues we face in society continue to exist depending on your own socioeconomic background, religion, or color of your skin. No one is free yet to experience the true luxury of equality if they are paying attention. It's up to each of us to redesign society to evolve in this way. And that begins with conscious, intentional conversations we have to have with ourselves and in our relationships.

In my journey, I spent years turning climate anxiety and grief into action to make personal sustainable choices, and then everything had to pause, because I had to address my own physical health and survival. When you’re unable to feel safe walking down the street because you look a certain way or continue to have to fight for equal access to basic nutrients for survival, this work is going to be even harder for you, but I truly hope it can help meet you somewhere on your journey. At the very least, if you can walk away knowing you are loved, I’ve served my purpose.

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