I'd like to invite you to sit with a good posture,
Place your feet shoulder-width apart,
Make sure your knees are directly above your ankles,
Roll your shoulders back and then let them relax.
Sitting with a straight but relaxed spine in what I like to call a dignified posture.
You might like to gently lower your chin to elongate your neck and place the tip of your tongue gently against your hard palate.
Take a few deep breaths to relax and you may like to close your eyes or lower them.
This meditation is best done outside in nature or near a window where you can see the nature around you.
So let's explore our senses one at a time and attune our senses to the natural world,
Allowing ourselves to take in all the nature that surrounds us.
Beginning with your sense of touch,
Perhaps noticing the cool air on your skin,
The warmth of sunshine on your face,
Placing your feet on the cool damp earth and exploring your sensations and relationship with the earth through the sense of touch.
Bringing an attitude of curiosity,
Of non-judgment and allowing as you explore the sensations.
If you can,
If it's possible,
Touching the ground mindfully,
Feeling the sensation of the earth or perhaps a plant on your hands and just noticing the textures.
Not looking for anything in particular but just noticing what's there.
Expanding your attention now to the sensations of smell and tuning into the smells you can notice in your environment.
Letting go of stories or commentary about the smells and coming back to the sensory experience of smell itself.
Perhaps it's the grass or the early spring flowers in the air,
The fresh summer air or some other smell in your environment.
Allowing smells to come and go in and out of your attention without holding on,
Without analyzing,
Just noticing,
Bringing awareness to smell and your sense of smell.
Moving your attention and expanding to sound.
Breathing in to focus your attention on sound.
Exploring with curiosity the sound in your environment.
You may even notice sound coming from this recording.
Being aware of the sounds in your close proximity.
Immediate sounds.
And then exploring,
Expanding your attention out to see what other sounds you can notice in the distance.
Letting the soundscape expand.
Letting the sounds come in and out of your awareness just as you breathe in and out.
Allowing yourself to listen deeply to sounds.
You may notice the sound of birds,
The sound of the wind,
The sound of rustling leaves,
Running water.
But if you can,
Letting go of any assessments of sounds and just coming back to the sounds themselves.
Resting your attention on the flowing nature and energy of sound.
Taking a deep breath and being aware of the entirety of your whole environment.
All the senses open,
Listening deeply to nature and noticing your connection.
Soaking up nature,
Immersing yourself in earth and filling your mind with the natural world.
Letting go of resistance and refreshing your spirit.
I'd like to invite you to reflect for a moment on how this earth holds all beings,
Whether they be small or large,
And how the earth doesn't exist in a vacuum.
It's connected to a solar system and a vast universe.
Perhaps you might like to reflect on how we're all interconnected.
Our bodies,
The earth,
The sun and the stars,
All composed of the same matter.
The same basic particles just joined in different ways.
I'd like to invite you to sense into your feeling of being home in your body and mind with a true sense of belonging in nature.
And through your feet on the ground,
You may notice the sense of being grounded by nature.
You may like to even take a moment to express gratitude for nature.
Perhaps a simple gesture or an offering or simply embodying a heart full of appreciation for our being home in our bodies on earth.
You may like to think of all the ways nature benefits you and remembering that you're always connected and can always come home to nature.
