Mindful May Series #3 - A Guided, Mindful Nature Walk

"Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Nature is one of the most powerful sources of replenishment and relaxation. In this special #mindfulmay episode, we will take you on a guided nature meditation walk with:  

• Scientific insights into the effect of nature on our wellbeing 
• A sensory-based meditation based on the VAKOG principle
• Relaxing nature sounds 
• Techniques for turning any walk into a mindful walk

For the Mindful May Series, we are bringing you practical self-care rituals and habits that you can easily incorporate in your everyday life and most importantly, to bring Quiet Social Clubs’s experiences to you in your home. This month, we invite you to make your wellbeing a priority and join us an extended guided retreat experience that you can join in on wherever you are.

Resources to read up on nature's effect on our wellbeing:
Kaplan's Attention Restoration Theory 
The Practice of Shinrin-Yoku
The Restorative effect of Nature 

Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome to Week 3 of #mymindfulmay. In this special episode, we’re taking on a little journey to experience one of the most powerful self-care practices out there: today,we’re heading out into nature and taking you on a guided nature walk and meditation. 

Nature is a great source of energy and replenishment - it can ground us, help us slow down,  and to reconnect to ourselves and our true balance when things have gotten a little too busy. The Japanese even have a word for this: shinrin-yoku or forest bathing, describes the practice of walking mindfully through a forest, and really tapping into the replenishing power of nature. By taking time to appreciate nature, we can invite a more conscious relationship to the world around us. Its positive effects on our health and wellbeing have been increasingly investigated by science: Whether it is findings that patients recover from their operations more quickly when they’re exposed to nature, or how our mind that can recover from a hyper-stimulated world when we’re on a walk, nature is essential to a lifestyle that puts your wellbeing first. 

Nature is so powerful that even exposure to natural sounds or seeing pictures of nature can induce a relaxation effect. And this is some of the science that today’s guided mindful walk will be based on. And if you’re interested in reading up a little more on the subject: We’ve put a couple of very interesting articles in the description below. 

Today’s guided nature meditation was designed to be enjoyed from the comfort of your home and its techniques designed to be taken out into the world., you could move whilst listening to the meditation or you can just lie down and enjoy visualising the scene you will hear about. The techniques we will be introducing you to can be used in any setting, so next time you head out for a stroll, you can make use of these tools, as well. And we recommend that when you practice mindful walking, you actually leave your devices at home, so you can be fully present without any distractions. 

In today’s meditation, we will be using two techniques that can amplify your experience of nature. One, and this one you are already familiar with is a mindful breathing meditation. And for those of you who joined us for the Mindful Breathing peisode on the Quiet living Room, some of this will feel familiar to you. And the other technique that we will be using to amplify the experience of your work is based on the principle of VAKOG. VAKOG describes the way we process information through our senses, the way we create our reality through our senses and it stands for: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Olfactory (which is smell), and Gustatory (which is taste). And by using this sensory technique, we can tap into a more intense experience of our surroundings, which in turn can lead to a state where we are absolutely present in this moment. 

For this meditation, you can just visualise the elements around you, but once you begin walking mindfully outside, the sensory experiences can be quite diverse. 

This feeling of being totally present in the moment, which can also sometimes lead to a flow state, is what replenishes our batteries. In this state, we are not worrying about the future, or thinking about the past, we are absolutely present here and now. 

So, I invite you to find a position you feel comfortable in, and I will start our walk together.  (WALKING SOUNDS)

We begin our walk by taking a few deep breaths to calm our system. Visualise how your feet are really grounding you, and connecting you with the earth. Make sure to breathe into your stomach, this is where your therapeutic breathing happens. Breathing in And breathe out.

Take a moment to close our eyes and scan through your entire body. When you do this outside you can find a quiet spot in the forest or park to do this, I am sitting on a bench for this part of our mindful walk, and just really making sure I become aware of my body and set the intention for this upcoming mindful walk. 

By taking a moment to connect to our body in this way, we can really slow down, and take our mind on a little holiday from the buzz of our everyday lives. In this moment we are here and nowhere else. And you can do this how ever many times you like during your mindful walk. Just stand still for a moment, breathe in deeply and connect to the ground below you. 

Let’s also take this opportunity as well to thank our body, for carrying us through life every day. For allowing us to see the world through our senses. Thank you for health, for being alive, and even in the moments that we are not healthy, for doing everything you can to make us recover quickly. For all the processes that we are not even aware of, for breathing, for digesting, for cleansing, regenerating and replenishing our cells every moment of every day. 

As we begin our walk, Let’s look around. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the trees, the leaves, the flowers, the path that we are walking on. Is there anything else you see? Perhaps some birds? Some butterflies ? 

If your mind starts drifting to something other than your experience at this moment, gently guide it back to this moment. We will enjoy this time and be fully present. 

Keep breathing in and out. 

Now let’s focus on what can you hear? The wind? The leaves brushing against each other? Can you hear birds chirping? Are there maybe other people talking? Is there perhaps a river? What do you feet sound like on the ground? 

When you walk, pay attention to every step and how your feet touch the ground. And even if you’re sitting right now, you can roll your foot up and down to really appreciate how your body feels touching the ground. 

Let’s stop for a moment. Now what does nature feel like to you? How can you connect to it via touch?  What does a tree feel like? Its bark? Its roots? Its branches? What does the rock feel like? Or the grass? Or the water in the river. Stay with this for a moment. No matter where you are, choose something that you can connect to with your touch. 

Don’t forget to keep breathing. During a mindful walk, there are really so many things to pay attention to, our breath, our movement, our sensory experience in thsi moment. You are entirely in this moment. 

Now let’s focus on what we smell. Perhaps you’re walking no a very rainy day, so there’s a smell of rain? Or maybe you’re walking in a park and you notice the smell of freshly cut grass? Or of flowers? What do you smell? Focus your attention entirely on this and enjoy every smell that you notice. 

And finally, let’s take a moment of the taste in our mouth right now. Do you maybe have a coffee with you that you are tastiing in your mouth right now? Or you can just appreciate the taste in your mouth as it is right now. 

Take a moment and connect to all your senses, connect to your breath and really enjoy this very moment. 

How does your body feel with this new connection to nature? Keep breathing into your feet and into the ground. With every breath you are grounding yourself more, connecting more to the earth below you. And this connection will strengthen you for the rest of the day. 

We hope you enjoyed this meditation and will take it with you on many walks in the future. In the description below you will find a guided mindful walking script that you can use. Thank you for being here and We look forward to seeing you next time. Have a great day!