1. Remove your shoes and socks and walk slowly with closed eyes
Walking barefoot, otherwise known as grounding or earthing, awakens your senses, allowing a deeper connection to the earth beneath our feet.
Walk slowly, concentrating on the feelings you are experiencing in your feet. Is the ground warm, cold, smooth, bumpy, wet or dry?
Focus on these different sensations to experience nature in a whole new light.
2. Walk along the grass and not the concrete path
Heighten the feelings and sensations you experience in your environment, discovering your own path to finding nature.
Your journey is not about the destination, but your awareness of your surroundings – focus on the present.
Why not deepen your experience by joining one of our forest bathing sessions?
3. Take time moving through the landscape
Don’t rush; take in all that is around you.
Notice that in each step there’s a haven of diversity around you: botanical, spatial, visual – bringing you back to the here and now.
4. Gain perspective by changing your viewpoint
Reflect and rebalance in nature.
5. Look to the skies
Don’t forget to look up. There’s so much to see and explore if you lift your eyes from your feet.
Marvel at the beauty of a starling murmuration or the soft falling of dappled light through the tree canopy.
6. Listen
Open your ears to the symphony of nature: the hum of bees, birdsong, flowing water and gentle breeze.
7. Whisper to the trees
Share your thoughts, feelings and life lessons with those who’ll be around past your lifetime, whether it’s in 50-, 100- or 500-years’ time.
What will your legacy be?
References
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (n.d.). Mindfulness meditation: Connect with nature. Kew Gardens. Retrieved from https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/mindfulness-meditation-connect-with-nature
