Welcome,
Today we are going on a walk in the Australian bush.
First I want to acknowledge the Awapikal people,
The traditional custodians on the land on which I have been lucky enough to spend much of my life.
I respect and honour elders past,
Present and future.
I would like to thank this land for giving me the connection to country and spirit and showing me the beauty in nature and what is important in life.
Before we start,
Let us become more mindful of our body and mind,
We will begin by taking a few breaths to calm and relax.
Take a slow deep breath,
Pause,
Then slowly exhale.
As you exhale,
Feel your body relax,
Releasing stress.
Let us pause in silence and pay attention to our thoughts.
What are you thinking about?
Is it about work?
What about home?
Is there one thing you are focusing on?
Is your mind jumping from one thought to another?
When you are thinking too much,
Get out into nature,
Or focus on your breath to quieten the mind.
We will now conduct a body scan,
We will start at the top of your head,
And as we move down,
Imagine healing energy moving down as we become aware of the different parts of the body.
Relax the top of your head,
Relax your forehead,
Eyes,
Mouth,
Neck,
Relax your shoulders,
Back,
Chest,
Arm,
And stomach,
Move down to your thighs,
Knees,
Shins,
And finally feet.
Close your eyes,
Get into the most comfortable position for you as we begin the guided meditation.
You are going on a journey into the bush.
As you walk up a path,
You see trees and the bushland all around you.
You breathe in the crisp,
Fresh air.
The smell of wattle drifts into your direction.
You look over and see the bright yellow flowers in full blue.
You see bees buzzing around the flowers.
You hear a whip bird in the distance.
Feelings of peace and relaxation wash over you as you walk into the bush.
You see a golden sun clear in the horizon,
In a sky where the few fluffy clouds seem to be arrayed to emphasise the perfection of the day.
You watch the clouds lazily drifting by you.
You feel the sun warming your body and energising your spirit.
You keep walking and start to become aware of each step you take.
It becomes a mindfulness practice.
You feel the connection of your feet with each step.
You feel the earth discharge your stress energy away.
Your body is being grounded.
You notice your breath slowly coming in and out.
You reach out your awareness.
You start to feel the sacred energy of this land.
You hear water bubbling over rocks and you move towards the sound.
It's a small creek and you walk slowly along its banks.
You see a sandpaper fig and reach out and touch one of the rough leaves.
You slowly rub your fingers over the leaves.
The tactile sensation is nice and brings more awareness to your body.
The creek is so beautiful you want to grab your phone and take a photo.
It's an unconscious reaction and takes effort to just enjoy and be aware of the beauty of the bush.
You must be present in each moment.
All thoughts of technology drift away.
As you walk along the creek you come to where the water runs into a large body of water.
There is weed floating along the surface.
Brushes and reeds dot the edges of the water.
You see a water hen and her chicks walking among the reeds.
Ducks are lazily drifting over the surface.
As you move closer to the edge you see turtles.
Just one or two but a dozen or more just swimming around looking for food.
As you become more aware you notice that some even have moss growing on their backs.
You see a large black eel.
It's just slowly swimming around.
It's in total harmony with all the other animals.
It's so relaxing here.
You have an urge to sit there and enjoy it.
As you sit there you become aware of your breath.
You centre yourself and slow your thoughts.
As you do this and as you become calmer you feel a connection with country that you have never felt before.
Feeling recharged you get up and continue walking.
You're in no rush and take slow mindful steps.
You take slow mindful breaths.
You hear a gentle rustling.
You look over.
For a second you are unsure what you are looking at.
It's a ball of spikes and you realise it's an echidna.
It pays you no attention.
It slowly walks across your path.
You crouch down and watch it.
It's snuffling and digging around a tree stump.
You sit down and lean back against the tree.
As you watch the echidna you become aware of your breath again.
As you sit there you realise life all around you.
Ants are building a nest near you.
Florakeets are drinking nectar from a local eucalypt.
A small native violet is poking up amongst the leaves on the ground.
You notice the delicate white and purple flowers.
A small rock wallaby up on a high bank is sunning himself.
You even notice cave paintings on some of the rocks.
A dragonfly is flicking past you.
It rests on a nearby leaf.
You notice its delicate light blue colourings.
None of the animals notice you are there.
You are one with the nature around you.
A gentle caress of the wind blows on your face.
You take a deep heart centering breath.
You get up and continue walking.
You lose track of time.
All your worries drift away.
From a place of greater awareness you wonder why you get so stressed about the little things.
They don't seem to matter now.
You just need to let go.
You must live in the moment.
Everything can't be controlled.
You know you just need to trust your intuition more and go with the flow.
Moment needs to be enjoyed with the people around you.
Equally you need to appreciate the times by yourself or take the time to be by yourself.
This alone time will centre your feelings and emotions.
You must learn to be happy and comfortable with your thoughts and feelings.
Don't judge,
Just watch them as an observer.
It all seems so simple.
You just need to slow down and become more mindful.
And most importantly you must get out into nature and connect with country.
This connection is like a missing part of you.
It's like going back home.
You are supposed to be in this country right now.
Wherever you are,
You just need to take the time to go to nature and recharge body,
Mind and spirit.
You suddenly become aware of what is in front of you.
It dominates your whole field of vision.
You look up and in front of you is a massive tree.
It blocks out the sun and sky.
You walk around the tree.
The base trunk is enormous.
You try to identify it.
It looks like a eucalypt.
You then notice the burnt black base from a bushfire.
You realise it's an enormous black butt tree.
It's ancient.
It's like a portal into the past.
You can feel the ancient wisdom and energy reaching out to you.
You get flashes of generations who have walked past.
Families who have hunted and gathered in this location.
Ceremonies that have taken place here.
You can almost smell the smoke.
Hear the music.
Feel that connection.
All of the history is locked inside of the land and the tree.
The tree remembers the past.
The wind in the branches is its voice celebrating the connection that people have with the land.
The urge is strong to sit there and let this energy become a part of your consciousness.
You sit down and lean against the tree.
As you sit there in this state of peace and relaxation,
You once again notice your breath.
Slowly let your breath relax and become normal.
Just watch your breath slowly coming in and out of your nose.
Do not try to change the breath in any way.
Just be aware of it.
If your mind wanders,
Gently bring it back to watching the breath gently coming in and out of your nose.
Let us sit here for a few more minutes connected to this land in a state of peace and relaxation.
Be grateful for all that has been given to you.
