Mind, Body & Spirit

How do you experience nature? When I go out to sit on my veranda, there are two trees that seem to welcome me. I sit down and soak up the sunshine and commune with my trees. It feels like I am embraced and absorbed by and sheltered within them. I become centered and grounded and connected to a deep inner wisdom and knowing. If there’s a problem I’ve been pondering, the solution comes to me as I sit quietly, steeped in stillness.

Even after I come back inside, I feel expanded—like the person who is me is both in here and out there where the trees are. And as I look at them through the window, it is as if they are in here with me. Like what separates us is not real and we are not at all separated. It seems as if we have a warm, gentle, affectionate connection.

And I also feel totally connected to the essence of who I am.

Here are a few ways you can spend time connecting with nature and discover yourself and your spirituality in a whole new way; 1. Walk or sit quietly and tune in to the sounds of nature. If you were listening closely, what would the trees, plants, clouds, etc, be telling you? 2. Examine and touch each flower and plant. Celebrate and enjoy all that glorious color! Watch everything that is happening. The butterfly as it travels on the wind, the bird flying with its friends. Feel the breeze. Take it all in and allow joy to fill you—for life, for the beauty of nature. 3. Sit under a tree and close your eyes for a minute or an hour, taking it in, feeling it surround and embrace you. Then, open your eyes, and look up at the branches, letting the solidity and strength of the tree center and ground you. 4. Close your eyes again and let the warmth of the sun caress you. Visualize the energy of the sun in your heart space—the center of your chest. Open your eyes and look at how the sun bathes everything in a warm golden glow.