Connecting to Nature

5 Simple & Easy Practices
for a Fun-Filled and Meaningful Summer

Connecting to nature begins with simple practices.

Summer is here! It’s time to get outdoors, relax and have fun. Backyard barbecues, outings on the lake, community parades and fireworks displays, beach trips, and poolside gatherings are just a few of the activities that may come to mind when you think of ways to spend your summer.

The summer season offers many opportunities to enjoy connecting with family and friends. These close relationships with those you love and care about are vital for your overall sense of wholeness, meaning and purpose. Your relationship with nature is a vital connection, too.

Connecting to nature begins with simple practices.

Connecting to nature begins with simple practices.

Summertime offers wonderful opportunities to be outdoors and immersed in the natural world. It’s no wonder that most of us feel so grounded and at home in nature: we are of the natural world and it is of us. We feel at home there because we are at home there. 

In our busy and often distracted lives, it’s easy to forget that we are integral to the natural world. Many see themselves as somehow separate from nature—as if nature is “out there” and we are “here” living as totally separate from the natural world. You may think you do not have extra time to get outdoors in nature. When this thought comes into your mind, remember that nature is all around us; it is of us. We are immersed in it, and we are already of it. We simply need to remember connecting to nature is natural and supports our full thriving. 

This summer, in addition to enjoying activities with family and friends, consider spending more time alone or with others in the natural world with the conscious intention of bringing a deeper awareness of your vital connection with it. Connecting to nature isn’t as difficult as we sometimes make it. Below we’ve shared five quick and easy ways to soak up the good vibes of the natural world.

Connecting to nature begins with simple practices.

Here are five simple practices to ground you in the experience of nature this summer. 

Take a Walk!

• CONNECT TO NATURE #1 Take a Nature Walk. Whether you choose to walk on a designated nature trail, walk in the woods, or simply walk out your backdoor, or down the road, you are in the natural world. Taking a nature walk requires little to no preparation, no experience, and no training!  As you walk, simply notice what is happening around you in the natural world. Be open and curious to what is unfolding in each moment of your walk.
  
  Besides noticing the activity of wildlife, observe seemingly inanimate and foundational elements of nature, such as the rocks, tree bark, and fallen leaves. Notice the minute components of the natural world, such as lichen growing on rocks, tiny insects, and miniature flowers so tiny they are usually overlooked. Be aware of any feelings that arise within you and how you feel about yourself and your connection to nature. Bearing witness to the complexity and diversity of the nature can evoke the experience of awe and wonder.
  
  Consider joining a group experience in nature. Look for opportunities to join a group for a nature walk, a walking meditation, or a forest bathing experience. These activities facilitated by an experienced meditation leader can take you on a meaningful experience of presence in and to nature. The experience of consciously connecting with nature while in the company of others may further amplify your connection experience.
  
  (Note: Take time also to look upward during your walking experience. Seeing towering trees against the dome of blue sky may remind you or the vastness of the natural world and how it (and you) are also integral to the entire universe. Spending a few minutes to take this cosmological perspective can help us to appreciate how we fit into the wholeness of the cosmos.)

NATURE IDEA

Fill Up Your Senses

• CONNECT TO NATURE #2 Sensing Nature. This simple activity can bring you into mindful awareness of nature by consciously engaging your five senses. You can try this activity anytime you are in your backyard, in a park, or in a forest. Bring your awareness to your surroundings. Notice what you see with your eyes. Next, notice the sounds you hear from the natural world. Do you hear birds singing? Leaves rustling in the breeze? What do you smell or taste? How does your body feel when the sun shines down or the cool breeze blows? Simply enjoy taking in the sights and sounds of nature, appreciating how you experience the natural world through your senses. 

NATURE IDE

Pull Out Your Camera

• CONNECT TO NATURE #3 Photographing Nature. Photographing nature helps us see it through new eyes. Take a nature walk with a camera. Or use your cell phone camera. Set out with the intention to capture images from the natural world. Look for elements of nature that you might otherwise overlook. Notice textures, such as the bark on trees, veins in leaves, or dry leaves on the ground. Notice insects, rocks, and other elements to which you are drawn. Print and frame your photographs to decorate your living space or for meditative purposes—or use your printed photos in collages or other art creations. 

NATURE IDEA

Circle Round for Some Nature Art

• CONNECT TO NATURE #4 Create a Nature Mandala. The word mandala comes from the Sanskrit language and refers to a circle or center. The mandala represents wholeness. Mandalas consist of integrated elements radiating out around a unifying center. You can create a mandala from natural materials gathered from your own backyard or any place you encounter the natural world.
  
  To create a mandala from natural objects, simply choose natural elements to which you are drawn, such as rocks, leaves, sticks, seeds, pinecones, mosses, berries, sand, and acorns. Choose an object or objects for the center of your mandala. Place the other gathered objects around the center. Or, you may choose to create a circular shape first and then fill it in from the outside edges moving inward to the center. 
  
  After the mandala feels complete, spend some time contemplating its beauty and wholeness. Notice any feelings that come up for you. Besides connecting us with nature in a creative way, making a mandala is a lesson in non-attachment. The activity is about the creative journey or process of creating the mandala, meditating upon it, and then leaving it in its natural setting where is will eventually be re-dispersed into the natural world from which it originated. The form, though beautiful and meaningful, is impermanent as is all of life.
  
  Taking a photo of your mandala allows you to capture the image to which you can return to for contemplative purposes or simply to recall the experience of creative expression. 

NATURE IDEA

Nature’s Song

• CONNECT TO NATURE #5 Listening to Nature’s Symphony. This is a sensory activity that assists us in connecting to nature through our sense of hearing. All you need do is go outdoors during the day or at night. Be sure to carry your journal along with a pen or pencil. Sit or lie in a comfortable, relaxed position with your eyes closed or open, as you prefer. Now simply listen to all the sounds of nature you hear around you. You may hear a cacophony of sound rising and falling. Or perhaps you will hear only faint and indecipherable whispers on the wind.
  
  Notice the layers of sound, such as bursts of birdsongs interspersed over a background of cicadas, frogs, or the wind blowing through the trees. What do you hear? Notice the sounds that are loudest and then listen for the quieter sounds in the background. Spend at least 20 minutes just listening. Then write in your journal about your experience. Record any impressions or insights that arose for you. You may also choose to record the sounds using your cell phone recorder or other device. The point of this exercise, however, is the experience of connecting with nature through our sense of hearing, so stay attuned to all that is unfolding around you. 

NATURE IDEA

NATURE IDEA

Happy Summer from True Center!

NATURE IDEA