Hello,
I'm Penelope Mather,
Founder of EarthConverse,
Helping you best serve people and planet.
And this is part of the EarthConverse invitation to you,
To commit to a daily conscious practice of visualising the futures you want to serve.
A chance to exercise your potential and responsibility of co-creating the future you want,
For yourself,
Others and the earth that is at home.
At EarthConverse I am visualising people all around the world doing it,
Joining in daily at 7pm CET or whenever you can,
Knowing others are energetically engaging in this with you.
By future visualisation I mean by engaging your imagination and feeling into it with all your senses.
Like a sports athlete visualising a race before they do it,
They create the neural pathways and physiological state as if it was happening in the present.
And on the sports metaphor,
Like the 4 minute mile,
Until it was done it was believed by many to be impossible.
These future visualisations are a practice of an open heart and open mind.
A practice of suspending disbelief for a moment.
They are a practice of observing our thoughts with awareness and compassion.
And in knowing that we can focus our energy and thoughts in the direction we want.
And they are a practice in feeling into the future that is already here.
It is in the field already.
The caterpillar holds the imago of the butterfly.
The acorn longs to be an oak.
If you prefer guidance you can use these EarthConverse future visualisations which offer prompts as stimuli.
I know the prompts may come too dense,
Too fast,
Too slow,
That they may or may not fit you.
But may they stir your own visions,
Dreams,
Longings and truth.
Work with them in a way which feels right for you.
This visualisation takes us back to basics about our nature connectedness.
We are nature,
But for many this is not how life is experienced.
So this visualisation aims to bring alive the pathways to nature connectedness research led by Miles Richardson and his team.
Research that identifies five pathways to help that human nature relationship and connection.
The senses,
Emotions,
Beauty,
Meaning and compassion.
Research that also shows,
As our hearts know,
The more connected with nature we feel,
The greater our life satisfaction and wellbeing and the more likely we are to take actions which care for the planet.
So let's take some moments to visualise our pathways to nature connectedness from a place of calm and connectedness.
I invite you to get comfortable.
Maybe take a few long deep breaths.
Invigorating on the in breath,
Relaxing on the out breath.
Breathing as all beings do.
Coming to your natural breath.
Connect to,
As the poet Mary Oliver would say,
With your soft animal body.
Let it relax.
Maybe soften your brow a little bit more.
And clench your jaw a little bit more.
Drop your shoulders a little bit more.
Unclench your buttocks a little bit more.
Surrender a little bit more.
In connecting with your senses,
What can you feel right now?
What can you see?
What can you taste?
What can you smell?
What can you hear?
Closing your eyes now if that feels right.
What emotions are stirring within you?
Can you bathe in your own beauty right now?
Putting your hand on your heart,
Feel into your own meaningful life.
Give yourself compassion and feel it ripple out to the wider world.
What is your connection with wider nature?
What being or non-being or what place comes to mind and heart for you?
Activating your sense pathway,
What does nurturing that nature connection look like,
Sound,
Taste,
Smell and feel like to you?
Visualize yourself looking closely at moss,
Listening to birds,
Smelling flowers,
Feeling your own skin and the textures of different leaves,
Tasting plums from a tree.
Bring alive your senses.
Activate the emotions pathway to recall those moments of awe,
Wonder,
Joy,
Calm and delight you have experienced in nature.
Visualize yourself actively seeking,
Noticing and reflecting on the moments and feelings that nature offers.
Feel the aliveness in your own body as you access those positive emotions you experience when you are with nature.
Visualize being in awe or calm in nature,
Noticing how nature makes you feel and finding joy in watching wildlife.
Feel the intelligence of your emotions.
Seeing the beauty pathway bring to mind nature's beauty.
Marinate in the memory or image which comes up for you.
Visualize the ways you can experience,
Notice,
Appreciate and celebrate nature's beauty.
Visualize yourself taking a photo of a tree,
Drawing a majestic mountain,
Exploring the beauty of wildflowers,
Looking into a mirror at your own reflection and sitting in a place with a view.
Bathe in beauty.
Activate the meaning pathway by contemplating what nature means to you.
Access the double meaning universe as you recall the powerful symbols and signs that nature's reflected back to you about your own life.
Visualize yourself sharing myths and folklore about certain plants or animals,
Celebrating natural events,
Reflecting on your stories and experiences and those in literature,
Poetry,
Songs and art.
Visualize celebrating the moon cycles,
Solstices and equinoxes,
Telling someone about your favorite tree,
Listening deeply to your intuition and being open to what nature is communicating in signs and symbols.
Marvel at your meaning making.
Activate the compassion pathway by immersing yourself in your love of nature and listening to your heart about what you can do to look after it even more.
Visualize yourself taking actions that come from a deep sense of love and care.
Whether that be amplifying indigenous voices,
Facilitating truth and justice,
Reducing your consumption,
Caring for riverbeds,
Rewilding,
Restoring land,
Collecting litter,
Whatever it is for you.
Luxuriate in love.
Visualize yourself noticing,
Seeking out and feeling happy in wider nature.
Where you feel in relationship with it as you do your friends and family.
Where you are in deep and intimate communication.
Where you notice and understand passing moods,
Expressions and quirks.
Where you notice how they stir feelings from great joy to deep grief.
And where you know your fate is bound together,
What happens to nature happens to you,
Happens to us.
Breathe into your nature connection.
Breathe into the possible pathways you can take to deepen it every day.
Breathe into them with every cell of your body.
Coming back to your senses,
Open your eyes and carry this nature connection in your service for the wellbeing of yourself,
Each other and the earth that is our home.
