Outdoor Meditation

Meditation

Sit or stand with your back against a tree. If you feel safe doing so, close your eyes.

Feel the tree trunk against your body. Consider how the tree is simply being. It isn’t trying, striving, or judging. It is an alive, peaceful presence. Let that presence—that unconditional support—prop you up. There is nothing for you to do right now, either.

(pause)

Feel the weight of your body on the earth. The sense of your feet or legs on the ground. Consider the live beings beneath you – microscopic, unseen, underground, supporting and sustaining everything around you.

Thank them for allowing you to share their space. Feel the presence of the ground holding you up. Notice the support it gives, without asking anything in return. Feel the live energy of the earth.

(pause...)

Notice if allowing yourself to be still is bringing any emotions to the surface. If it is, allow those emotions to be there with you. When we take the time to be present, it’s normal to notice emotions, especially uncomfortable ones, arise. Without emotions, you wouldn’t be human!

Notice the temperature of the air against your skin.

Tune into the aliveness of your body feeling that temperature, and, if there’s a breeze, the sensation of it against your skin.

Take a few deep breaths. Offer gratitude for the free, nutritious air going into your lungs.

Feel your lungs expanding and contracting, and the sensation of the air nourishing you, keeping you alive. Reflect on how that air is feeding your body, and blood, and cells. How it’s supporting your heart and organs; your brain and your skin.

(pause)

Feel your tongue in your mouth. Notice where it’s sitting, what it’s touching. Allow yourself to taste whatever is in the air, even that taste is nothing. What does nothing taste like?

(pause)

Are there any other physical sensations on your skin? Any heat, or coolness? If there’s sunlight, notice the feeling of that. Feel the fabric of your clothes against your body.

(pause)

Tune into any sounds happening around you. If there is birdsong, see if you can notice the different types. If there are leaves rustling, notice that sound for a while. Allow the sounds around you to wash through you. Are there sounds you hadn’t noticed before? Are more emotions arising from being present and tuning in? Allow them to be here with you. Use the sounds around you to become aware of all the life existing around you.

(pause)

Again, if there are any emotions arising – wanted or unwanted – see if you can allow them to share the space. They are energy, alive like the rest of you, asking simply to be allowed to exist.

(pause)

If your eyes have been closed, open them. What do you see in front of you? Take in the textures of the trees, of the ground. The variation of colors in the sky.

The different shades of green, of brown, of black, of grey, of any other color you might see. The shapes of branches or other flora. The natural movement of life.

(pause...)

Offer some gratitude to your surroundings for sharing their space with you, and for supporting all of life – including you.

You are a living being, awake and alive right now. There will never be another now, and there will never be another you.