Nature Meditation This meditation is designed to be practiced outdoors to help you connect with the nature and the environment around you.
So see if you can find somewhere to sit or rest that's quiet and where you're likely to be undisturbed.
Check that the volume of your speaker or headphones is high enough without being too loud so that you can still connect and notice the sounds around you.
You might choose to keep your eyes open throughout the whole practice perhaps gazing at the horizon or having an unfocused gaze or you might have the eyes closed or alternate between eyes open or closed.
It's really up to you but if you feel uncomfortable or vulnerable when you close your eyes then have them open.
Settling into a comfortable position with the legs uncrossed and the feet flat on the earth,
On the ground or at least as close to the ground as possible.
See if your posture can be dignified yet relaxed a posture that supports an intention to be awake and consciously present.
And starting the practice by spending a little time getting orientated into the body.
So first of all perhaps noticing sensations down in the feet perhaps noticing where the feet connect to the ground,
To the earth.
Maybe noticing the feel of footwear around the sides and the tops of the feet.
And then moving up to where the body meets whatever it's resting on.
Can you bring some curiosity to the experience of the body resting?
So maybe noticing is the surface cool to the body or warm that you're sat upon?
Maybe noticing if it's hard or soft in any way.
Being curious about the experience of the body resting right now in this moment.
Coming back to the tangible sensations of the feet on the ground and the body on support.
And if at any point during the practice you start to feel disorientated in any way or the mind becomes very scattered you can always come back to these obvious sensations to help re-ground you.
Spend some time with the eyes open orientating yourself to your surroundings noticing where you are.
Taking in the various colours of nature around you.
Maybe the different greens of plant life.
Maybe there are some colourful flowers around.
Perhaps noticing the colour of the sky and the clouds.
Being curious about the full display of colours around you.
Widening out with your senses can you notice the full variety of life around you?
What can you hear?
What can you smell?
Connecting to the sensory experience of being in this place in this moment.
You might be aware of how this landscape touches you noticing what it evokes.
You might allow your attention to settle in one place with a particular sound or perhaps something that you can see,
A tree or a flower allowing yourself to be absorbed in all the details.
Aware of the richness of this unique and natural place.
And as you rest in this place absorbing all that the experience has to offer the sounds,
The smells,
Perhaps noticing the sun on the skin or a gentle breeze on the body.
As best you can allowing yourself to be relaxed while keeping your senses alert.
What's the furthest sound you can hear?
What's the closest?
And sooner or later you might notice your attention wandering becoming distracted from this experience.
And when it does,
Without judgement,
Without stress just bringing the attention back,
Returning here to this moment this body on support to these sounds,
This environment.
Noticing the particular quality of the place that you're sat in.
Maybe it's aliveness,
Aware of the nature being all around you.
And while observing and experiencing all that this place has to offer can you also recognize that you too are part of this living and breathing ecosystem.
You're part of the natural world.
You're in relationship with all of the life forms around you.
Notice how the beauty of the sounds or the sensations in the body or the smells around you pull your attention allowing you to feel the wonder of this landscape its calmness,
Its richness,
Its aliveness.
And there's nothing to be fixed or achieved here.
No special state to get to.
Simply allowing yourself to be present with all that this environment has to offer you in this moment.
Letting go of thoughts or worries as best you can and coming back to the senses.
What you can see around you.
What you can hear.
What you can sense in the body.
You might notice the impact of being present in a natural setting like this.
Noticing how it feels in the body.
Maybe there's a simple joy or a sense of aliveness that arises.
Maybe there's a sense of peacefulness.
Or maybe feelings are just very subtle and difficult to quantify and that is fine too.
Collection of sounds,
Of sensations in the body,
Of the environment around you.
Each moment completely unique.
Resting with the senses for just a little longer.
Drinking it all in.
Coming back to the body when you notice the attention has wandered away from this moment.
As the guided practice comes to a close,
See if you can bring this quality of awareness,
Of curiosity,
Of connectedness into the rest of the day.
Encourage you not to rush on to the next thing.
And perhaps you might like to sit for a little longer on your own.
Resting in the present moment with the senses and the nature all around you.
