Meditating with Mother Nature
Showing gratitude for our relationship with the natural world
Meditating in nature is a satisfying activity. Many enjoy sitting under a tree or by a stream, lying on our back in a meadow or just sitting on a bench in the backyard. Communing with nature can be a rewarding experience, especially if we are showing gratitude and paying close attention to what is around us. In the book, “Awake in the Wild,” author Mark Coleman writes, “Nature has the power to transform and awaken us. For centuries, monks, mystics and other individuals have lived, meditated and sought refuge in the forests, deserts and mountains.”
Recently, I spent four days in hermitage at Lama Foundation. This is something I’ve enjoyed since 2008. When I was teaching, a personal retreat helped me nurture inner strength before going back to the classroom. As a retired educator, I enjoy silent retreats as a way to feed a relationship with nature and all life forms. This fall, I’m looking forward to a seven-day group retreat at Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. I highly recommend retreats to parents and individuals; it’s a great way to draw inspiration from stillness, tranquility and inner wisdom while close to nature.
Mark Coleman is a meditation teacher who incorporates Buddhist philosophy. I practiced with him in 2020 when an inperson retreat at Vallecitos was canceled due to Covid. It was transformed into an online athome meditation retreat that was really lovely. Mark explained how meditating in nature has a long history. The Buddha spent much time in the forests of northern India, and this is where it is said he reached enlightenment under a grove of Bodhi trees. Buddha then spent nearly 50 years teaching and meditating in nature and encouraged his students to meditate at the foot of trees.
Thich Nhat Hanh was also a firm believer in meditating with nature. “When we look into our own bodily formation, we see Mother Earth inside us, and so the whole universe is inside us, too. Once we have this insight of interbeing, it is possible to have real communication, real communion, with the Earth;” from Love Letters to the Earth. Interbeing is the belief that we are one with nature, its beings, and all that is part of our planet. We breathe together, hold space together and depend on each other for survival.
On this page, please find a practice intended for families to meditate together in a natural setting. Find a quiet place outdoors — the backyard, a city park, next to a stream or in a forest — and enjoy this practice together. It is appropriate for all ages.