Connecting To The Forest

We still the mind and then we learn to feel our connection to nature. We learn to feel how the trees are the other part of our lungs. We learn how to feel that nature is nourishing us - that we are interconnected to it in every way possible. We learn to appreciate the unity and the oneness of all life.

Transcript

Keep your eyes closed,

Start to observe the breathing,

Observe each in-breath,

Observe each out-breath,

Let the breath guide you to a point of stillness,

Beyond the mind.

Observe the thoughts,

Observe how the thoughts are not you,

They're just waves,

Energy fields that appear and disappear.

But to find your truth,

Follow the breath,

Become aware of the points of stillness it takes you to.

As you observe the breathing,

You feel the mind becoming stiller and stiller,

And you connect to stillness within.

You continue to follow the breath,

Continue to connect to stillness within.

Observing more and more the thoughts,

Not reacting to them,

Seeing how they're not important,

Just letting them be,

Not interfering with them,

But focusing your attention,

Not on the thoughts,

But on the breathing.

Just let the thoughts be,

Watch them as they come and go,

But let the breath guide you to the stillness deep within.

Feel the movement of the breath in the lungs,

As you breathe in,

Breathe out,

Connect to the breath,

Feel the air moving through your body,

And feel more and more stillness coming to the mind.

Feel how the breath guides you towards stillness,

Feel how this stillness is your original true nature.

Thoughts drift away,

Lose their importance,

As you see that the thoughts contain no signs of peace,

Whereas the breath inherently brings you towards peace.

The breath guides you inwards,

Towards the peace that's naturally within yourself.

You don't need to become confused,

Distracted by the thoughts.

When you follow the breath,

Life is simple.

There are no thoughts,

Just the inner stillness,

And in the awareness of this inner stillness,

You can feel,

See how simple life is.

The thoughts just make life complicated,

Allow them to pass,

Connect to the stillness within the mind.

This stillness is who you truly are.

This stillness is the truth of the universe.

When you look around at nature,

This is the truth that exists within nature.

In your mind's eye,

You just see yourself in a forest.

You become aware of how the mind has become still.

You see the trees,

And you become aware that the trees contain life.

They're breathing in the air that you breathe out.

They're breathing out the oxygen that you breathe in.

They're alive.

They're taking in nutrients,

Water through the soil,

Through their roots.

They're growing towards the sun.

But there's no thinking,

And this is how nature is.

Nature doesn't think.

It simply is,

And yet it's completely alive.

And in your mind's eye now,

As you're in the forest,

As you're listening to the trees,

The plants,

Feeling their stillness,

Yet their aliveness,

You feel them telling you that within the soil that feeds them,

There's a deeper aliveness,

And she is the Great Mother Earth,

The living,

Breathing organism that created all of us,

That feeds all of us.

She's not just made of minerals and soil.

She's alive.

She knows which nutrients each and every one of us needs,

Each plant,

Each tree,

Each flower,

Each fruit,

And she feeds the fruits in order to feed us as animals,

As humans,

As insects.

She's inside us.

She's the one that's provided the fruits,

The grains that we need to nourish these human,

These animal bodies.

The trees in the forest,

Filled with their wisdom,

Tell us that she's inside each and every one of us.

She's nourished the trees.

She's nourished the fruits,

The grains,

The crops that feed us,

That become our bodies.

She's inside us,

And we're part of her.

The trees and their wisdom,

The plants,

The flowers in the forest,

Tell us that thinking takes us away from our connection to the earth,

Takes us away from our true nature of peace,

Of stillness.

The trees and their aliveness,

The plants,

The flowers,

They tell you that thought just creates stress.

The thoughts eventually contradict each other anyway.

They tell you to turn away from thought,

To turn inwards,

To listen,

To connect back to nature,

To connect back to the truth of who you are,

A part of the Great Mother Earth,

A being that's always been fed by her,

That will always be fed by her.

The forest reminds you that thought just creates anxiety.

You look around at the trees and the plants and the flowers,

The blades of grass.

They don't contain thought,

And they have no stress,

No anxiety.

Nature,

All the children of the Great Mother Earth that live in the forest,

Ask you to simply put away thought and the anxieties it brings,

To just be still like the forest,

To be in the awareness of the life that's within us,

The life that the Great Mother Earth breathes into all of us.

And the trees with their wisdom,

The forest with its wisdom,

Tells you that once you can let go of thought,

Not be controlled by it,

You can start to see the truth in everything.

You can start to see how the Great Mother Earth is deep inside you.

It's part of you.

How your entire human body is made up of the nutrients,

The nourishment that she's provided you with.

Each tree,

Each herb,

Each plant that grows on her surface is filled with the nutrients and the minerals that you need for life.

When you eat these,

They form your body,

And your body is essentially made up of her,

Her gifts,

The nourishment of her herbs,

Her plants,

Her minerals,

Her nutrients.

She sustains you.

When you use thought,

Your awareness moves away from her,

But she's inside you.

She's inside every being on this planet.

You're connected because we're all part of the same living,

Breathing organism that is her,

The Great Mother Earth.

The plants around us in the forest are fed by her too,

And they never lose their connection to her because they don't allow for thought to enter,

To interfere.

There's no ego,

No sense of separation,

Just a feeling of being connected.

They inherently know that the Great Mother Earth is feeding them.

Thought moves you away from this awareness,

And connecting back to nature brings you back to this awareness.

As you breathe now,

Become aware that the trees within the forest,

The plants,

Form the other part of your lungs.

You breathe in the oxygen that they're breathing out.

You breathe out the carbon dioxide that they breathe in.

You're inherently connected to them,

To all of nature.

The Great Mother Earth is feeding you,

And feeding every animal,

Every human,

Every insect on this planet.

She's inside all of us.

We're all connected.

We're all life.

And now,

As you sit within her forest,

She asks you to become aware of everything that makes up your body.

She asks you to think about each plant that you've eaten in your life,

That's come to you as a gift from her.

Each herb,

Each tea,

Each infusion that you've drunk,

Each fruit that you've eaten,

Each vegetable that's emerged from her soil,

Each seed that's entered and become part of your body,

Each grain that you've taken in via your mouth,

That your body's converted into nutrients,

To give you energy,

To form part of your defenses,

To enter into your organs,

Your cells.

All of these have come as gifts from her,

And your entire life they've formed your body.

You've not needed thought for any of this to happen.

Thought,

She tells you,

Is not necessary.

Just be aware that her nourishment is within you,

That you're part of her.

Become aware of how unimportant thought is,

How the only thing that's important is your awareness of your connection to her,

That she is inside you.

You feel the aliveness within you,

As you feel the Great Mother Earth inside you.

You feel that you're composed of the plants,

The herbs,

The fruits,

The seeds,

The grains,

The crops that are growing here within the forest.

These have fed you your entire life.

They're inside you.

You're part of the forest,

Part of its aliveness.

Your sense of being separate from the world disappears,

And you realize you're made up of nature.

You're connected to nature.

Thought isn't necessary to be your true self.

Just awareness of what truly is.

Keep this feeling of awareness,

Of truth within you.

You feel alive.

The Great Mother Earth lives inside you,

Breathes inside you.

Thought disappears,

Just a connection to the Great Mother Earth,

To the forest,

To nature,

To your true self remains.

Thought has lost its importance,

Just awareness,

Connection remain.

In this stillness,

And keeping this feeling of stillness with you forever,

You rub both palms together.

You bring warmth into the palms.

You take the bottoms of the palms over the eyes.

You bring the warmth back into the eyes.

And then you slowly open the eyes,

Just getting them used to the light once more.