Copyright © 2021 Lee Spirit 

These days, a lot of us are overwhelmed by the events of the world. Loss of jobs, freedom, and lives; Disagreements about how things “should” be, and what’s right or wrong; Politics, economy, rules, and restrictions. These are all wrecking havoc on our bodies, emotions, feelings, and mindset. Many of us feel frazzled, drained, and just sick and tired of Covid-19. Mindfulness and meditation in nature are becoming super popular as a result, as many look to find balance and inner peace, especially outdoors.

Benefits of Meditation in Nature

There are many types of meditation, but if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that meditation in nature is one of my favourite ways to find joy, peace, and connection. Nature is a tremendous teacher and healer. When you observe nature closely – the wind, rain, river, ocean, mountain, birds, deer, and sunshine – you learn how steady, resilient, strong, and flowing they are. You take in their energies, resonate with them, and emit the same higher frequencies. You walk into the forest frazzled, and you come out feeling zen and peaceful! When you are peaceful, you bring that same peace to others around you.

Good news! I will be launching my new MindfulNatureNut Guided Meditations Channel on YouTube in the very near future! Yes! I will be guiding you through some meditations using my own photos and videos out in nature! Stay tuned, and feel free to subscribe to the channel!

What Meditation in Nature Looks Like

You may be wondering how exactly you meditate in nature. I often go into the woods and mountains on my own, and wonder if this really is a safe venture with the bears and cougars that might take advantage of my stillness and pounce on me! So I am very aware of my surroundings, and if it doesn’t feel like a safe place to sit and meditate, I will just stand for a few minutes and take in the beauty that surrounds me. I will listen to the sounds of nature, notice the colours, hear the waves lapping on the shore, and just be with the warmth of the sun on my face. This is meditation too!

Taking mindful nature walks is another good way to meditate in nature. It doesn’t have to be sitting in stillness. However, sitting with a straight spine is a great way to bring the dormant energy up from the base of the spine into your other energy centres. Mindful nature walking means to be “present” as you walk. Pay attention to the flowers, bees, birds, rays of sunlight, shadows, and the ripples on the lake. Focus on those rather than the thoughts swirling through your head, what’s for dinner, or your to-do list. Being in present-moment awareness will be very refreshing to your soul.

For more on Finding Inner Peace Through Meditation in Nature, <== click here!

How You Listen & Connect Better With Others

The combination of meditation and nature can also help you listen and connect to yourself and others better. How is that possible? Well, when you meditate, you go within. You become a good listener to your own mind, body, and spirit. You are attentive to what is going on inside of you – The sensations in the body, thoughts swirling through your mind, quality of those thoughts, and your mental state. When we reach a state of being attentive to our own minds, we can then relinquish those thoughts that no longer serve our progress forward. When we release these things, we create a neutral space that the yogis call “Shuniya”.

Once we’ve reached this empty space of neutrality in our own consciousness, we then have more space to be attentive to others, and listen better to what they are trying to say to us. We have more availability to them, because there is more freed up space in our own minds. This allows us to connect better with others because we are not constantly focused on ourselves and our own problems.

When we are happier within ourselves, we have more compassion for ourselves and others. We see things in a more positive light, and have stronger connections with others.

Meditation Reduces Stress & Anxiety

When we are in this state of Shuniya, we also have the ability to combat stress and anxiety. When something happens that throws us off kilter, meditation helps us react more calmly to the bumps and jolts we often face in life. This is because we’ve trained our bodies and minds to relax ahead of the sudden jolts. We can draw on that knowledge whenever we hit one of those bumps on the road of life. This will calm our heart rates, reduce our blood pressure, slow our breathing, and relax our tense muscles. We’ve already practiced this in our yoga and/or meditations. We can also sleep a lot more soundly because we’ve learned how to be still.

Meditation in Nature and Mental Clarity

There’s no doubt that meditation is great for your brain health! In the state of Shuniya, you will have improved focus and concentration, increased productivity, and the creative juices will be flowing! As an added bonus, you will be more intuitive so that you can draw on your inner wisdom to guide you in making the right decisions for you.

When you’ve found that sweet spot of neutrality in the mind through meditation, your brain wave activity increases, and the hemispheres of the brain work synchronously rather than just from one hemisphere or the other. As well, through consistent breath work, you improve the uptake of oxygen to your brain cells. This gives you mental clarity and focus. Meditation is even said to prevent brain atrophy and dementia when practiced regularly.

Meditation can always be done indoors, but the benefits of nature will be felt when you experience the connection, energy, and high vibrations that are ever present in the great outdoors.

Types of Meditation

There are many ways to meditate, and many types of meditation. I’ll just touch on a few here that I’ve practiced and found beneficial to my own life. Which one is right for you? Do you know of another kind that you prefer?

• Mindfulness Meditation – Based on the teachings of the Buddha. Here we gain a better understanding of our own minds so that we can overcome unhappiness, negative habits, and cultivate more kindness, patience, and tolerance. This is done through paying attention to sensations in the body, and observing our own minds and thoughts. We come to a neutral state by being with our thoughts, not judging them, focusing on our breath, and appreciating the present moment.
• Movement Meditation – Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, walking meditation, or any other kind of movement done mindfully with focus on the body movements.
• Visualization Meditation – Yoga Nidra – Closing our eyes and visualizing a beautiful waterfall, mountain lake, or different objects or animals. Focuses on the creative mind.
• Chanting Meditation – Singing mantras repetitively – or just a word, phrase, or sound. Clears the mind and helps focus on the positives.
• Loving-Kindness Meditation – Focuses on sending loving and compassionate thoughts to yourself, to someone you love, to someone you are having some difficulty with, and to all beings in the world.
• Kundalini Yoga – A combination of breath work, movement, mantra, and spirituality to elevate your level of consciousness, awaken your energy centres, and discover your life purpose.

How To Start Practising Meditation

Do you want to practice meditation in nature, or indoors, but don’t know how to begin? The beauty of meditation is that you can do it anywhere, for a short period of time or a long period of time, and you don’t need any special equipment. It’s helpful if you have a yoga mat, and a cushion or a chair.

It’s best to keep a straight, yet not rigid, spine to help the flow of energy up the spine without any kinks in the hose. You want to be seated, or laying down comfortably, but not so comfortable that you fall asleep. The point is not to help you fall asleep, but to maintain an awareness of your body, mind, and spirit.

If you want, you can have water or warm tea nearby, light a beeswax candle or some incense, and be in the light or dark. You can have eyes open or closed, but keeping them closed will help keep your focus within, and tune out distractions.

Breath and Awareness

You can start with long deep breaths, change to a medium breath, then to a short breath. Notice the sensations in the body, scanning your body thoroughly for pain, and pleasure. Spread the pleasure around with your mind and feel the benefits in your body.

Next, notice the quality of your thoughts. Are they positive, negative, or neutral? Are there many thoughts, or few and far between?

Finally, you can let go of the negative thoughts, unhealthy attachments, or judgements you may be feeling. Just send them back, and notice them passing away, as everything eventually passes away.

When the meditation is complete, slowly open your eyes, notice how you feel, and come back to your physical senses. It’s as simple as that!

Now you have a better idea of how you can benefit from meditation, the types, and how to get started. I’m so looking forward to guiding you through some meditations on my new MindfulNatureNut Guided Meditations channel on YouTube! See you there!

Lee Spirit is an avid outdoors adventurer with a love for nature, photography, health & fitness, wellness, and spirituality. Her own personal journey has led her to the  study and practice of mindfulness, health, wellness, yoga, spirituality, sound healing, meditation, and personal development for over 20 years. If you haven’t grabbed my Free ‘Natural Mind Healing’ Report and Newsletter <== click here to get it now!