Connecting with Nature

A practice of returning to yourself

Spring has finally arrived in Vermont and I’m finding myself drawn to all that is emerging - the flowers, the warmth, the birds. I’m noticing my attention being pulled in so many different directions. Being distracted mid-sentence by a new flowering tree or familiar yet hard-to-identify birdsong. Being completely engaged by all that’s happening in nature in Vermont in springtime.

And to be completely honest, I enjoy losing myself in nature. In all its beauty and complexity and wonder. But every once in a while I find myself remaining present to myself in the presence of nature in Vermont in springtime.

And this is the practice that I’d like to cultivate and that I’d like to offer. A practice of holding onto myself while connecting with something so much larger than myself. A practice of remaining anchored while connecting with nature.

The Practice:
Arriving here by noticing your breath.
Taking in the air around you and releasing it back out.
Feeling the air fill your lungs and leave your body.
Moving in and out.
Allowing the inhales and exhales to be our first practice of connecting with nature.

Breathing in the air that surrounds you.

Aware of your presence here.
In this moment.
In this place.

Just observing your breath.

And then from this place of breath awareness, allowing your eyes to take in their surroundings. Orienting to this place.
With no other agenda here except to breathe and to see.

Trusting the pace of your gaze.
Trusting the pace of your breath.

Allowing this practice to anchor you here.

And as you continue to orient here, you might allow your eyes to pause upon something in nature. Allowing yourself to connect.

And it might be something in the natural world right in front of you.
Or perhaps bringing to mind a place where you feel deeply connected with nature.

And as you arrive in connection with nature, noticing its rhythm.

Perhaps a gentle movement of the wind.
Or the sound of waves reaching the shore.
Or the drifting of clouds in the sky.
Or the soft sway of wildflowers in the breeze.

And the invitation here is to give yourself time to fall into rhythm with nature.
Allowing yourself to align to its pace.
Noticing your breath here as you fall into rhythm with nature.
Letting its rhythm guide your breath.

Becoming aware of the subtle movement of your own body.
As you allow the pull of nature to connect with your breath.
To connect with your body.

And then inviting in all the senses here.
Tuning into sounds, real or conjured.
Observing colors, patterns, movement.
Welcoming the familiar smells of the rain, the soil, the blossoms, or the salty air.

And noticing sensations in the body, exactly where you are.
Aware of your place in the natural world.

Sensing the contact of your body being held by the earth.
Feeling the pull of gravity.
The movement of air around you.

Finding your place here.
Connected to the energy and rhythms of something so much larger than yourself.
Something grounded, rooted, and ancient.
Staying connected to yourself as you connect with nature.

And as we prepare to bring our practice to a close, taking time to check back in with the breath, in the same way that we entered this practice.

Noticing how you are drawing in air and releasing it back out into the world.
Feeling the air fill your lungs and leave your body.
Moving in and out.
Attuning to the rhythm of your own breath.

This breath that is with you throughout the day.
This breath that is here for you to return to again and again.

And then taking time to recall a connection that you have felt during the practice and bringing it close at hand. Offering yourself an image, a sensation, a rhythm.
Something to return to as you move beyond this practice and into the wider world.

And from here, moving to our closing practice of gratitude.
Thanking yourself for taking the time to be with this practice.
Thanking the many teachers, cultures, and lineages who have brought us this practice - for the collective liberation of all beings, without exception.
And thanking your inner teacher and true self, and its capacity to connect with something greater.

And now emerging from your practice with the breath.
With your body.
In this world.

Inspired by:

• Lama Rod Owen’s Seven Homecomings Practice

• The Burlington Dharma Collective

• Beatrice Victoria Albina’s Feminist Wellness podcast

• em tebbetts’s Queer Somatic Nature Walks

• spring wildflowers at Red Rocks Park

• Forest Bathing with Duncan Murdoch

• 17 years of “connecting people with nature” at Audubon

• the pull of the full moon