Sensing into nature meditation.
Opening up your senses to nature.
This meditation is about opening your senses to your surrounding environment.
We spend so much of our lives lost in thoughts,
Thinking about the past or planning the future.
We're spending more and more time on computers or smartphones and not listening to our senses in our day-to-day lives.
It's easy to lose touch with our senses when we're not using them.
Tuning into senses helps us feel connected with nature,
Feel grounded in our bodies and soothes our nervous system.
When we open our senses we can feel alive and vitality.
If we notice and are moved by our sensory and sensual experience we can feel more connection in our bodies with the living world and with each other.
Taking your time to settle into a sitting or standing posture that feels comfortable to do this meditation.
It's important to listen to and trust your own body when doing this meditation.
You may like to uncross your legs feeling your feet firmly on the ground and having an upright back slightly lowering your head and allowing some spaciousness in the back of the neck.
You can choose to lower your gaze or close your eyes if you feel comfortable to do so and begin to bring your attention to your breathing.
Noticing the breath coming into your body then turning and going out again.
Sensing into the part of the body that your breath is most noticeable.
After a few slow,
Long and deep breaths you might like to shift your attention to sounds.
What sounds can you notice in your environment?
You might notice bird songs or the songs of different bird species coming and going.
You might notice the sound of the wind rustling through the trees or the leaves on the ground.
You might notice loud sounds that are really easy to notice but you also might tune in to faint sounds that are far off in the distance.
Allowing sounds to travel in and out of your attention.
Focusing on the direct experience of sounds rather than thinking about the sounds themselves.
Then letting sounds fade and begin to turn your attention to smells in your environment.
Noticing as many different smells as you can.
You might notice the smell of the damp earth beneath you.
You might notice the smell of the eucalypt trees traveling in the wind.
You might notice the smell of different flowers or plants.
Noticing smells.
Some are strong smells and others are very subtle.
Allowing smells to fade.
Begin to bring your attention to something in your environment.
Maybe it's a leaf,
A seed,
A gum nut or something you might find on the ground.
It might be the bark of a tree or it might be the feel of grass underfoot.
If you can begin to touch it.
Exploring your sense of touch and noticing the texture and how it feels on the surface of your skin.
Spending some time being curious about it and gently exploring it.
Noticing how when we slow down and take our time to investigate something in nature we can see things more fully.
We can discover something new in our present moment awareness.
We might explore all our senses noticing how it smells,
Looks,
Sounds and feels like.
We better not taste it.
You can save your sense of taste for next time you eat a piece of fruit for example.
When you're ready you can begin to notice your breathing and body.
As this meditation comes to a close knowing you can check in and connect with nature using your senses at any time.
