Mindful Nature Experience To Work With And Through Fear

02/06/24

This mindful nature experience is an exploration, a practice, a process that is intended to be used before, during, and/or after noticing feelings of anxiety and fear of any size.

I invite you to go outside to a park, a bird sanctuary, or the woods, or sit by a window or plant. This meditation will take approximately one hour so you can savor the time you’ve made for yourself in support of self and community care. After the name of each step you will see a suggested time for how long to linger with that step.

Introduction and Orientation to Place (10 mins):

Welcome to this mindful nature experience. This is created especially for you as you work with and through anxiety and fear. It is an opportunity to invite the natural world into your healing as you connect with your breath and this moment and cultivate a relationship and connection with what and who is around you.

In the following moments you will be invited to slow down and allow yourself to wonder and be fascinated by Earth others, while acknowledging the mental, emotional, and physical toll that fear has on you.

Though I will be accompanying you through this meditation, the natural environment is ultimately the guide. I invite you to be curious and engage with whatever is in front of you as I guide you through a few invitations.

Feel free to pivot if at any point in the practice you are wanting or needing to shift the focus or participate differently. This time is for you (and perhaps the natural world, too), you can lean into your intuition and trust your heart-mind and body.

You may want to set an intention for this time, perhaps to make a shift in your perspective, transform fear and anxiety into growth and transformation, or connect with the more-than-human world with deep peace and joy.

I invite you to take a moment to consider all the nature tenders who have come before. In Chicago where I live we are on the traditional unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes, such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, and Sac and Fox, also called this area home. The region has long been a center for Indigenous people to gather, trade, and maintain kinship ties. Today, one of the largest urban Indigenous communities resides in Chicago. Members of this community continue to contribute to the life of this city and to celebrate their heritage, practice traditions, and care for the land and waterways. What insects, animals, and plants lived here? What do you imagine might be here in 10,000 years?

Centering and Breathing (5 mins):

As we continue with the mindful nature experience, let’s connect and center with our breath. You can close your eyes or fix your gaze on something about 4-6 feet in front of you. Take 5 deep breaths through your nose, inhale courage and exhale fear. If it’s available to you, let your exhalation be longer than your inhalation.

Gratitude (5 mins):

“Looking behind, I am filled with gratitude; looking forward, I am filled with vision; looking upward, I am filled with strength; looking within, I discover peace.”
—Quero Apache Prayer

I invite you to consider anyone in your life who has supported you in some way, perhaps at other times when you have felt fearful. Take a few breaths in gratitude for the ways they have been there for you.

Walking with Awareness (10 mins):

If you are seated, you can begin to walk slowly with awareness. Allow every step to connect with an inhalation or exhalation. Step, breathe in; step, breathe out; step, breathe in; step, breathe out. Do this for several minutes.

After a few minutes, check in with yourself. What are you noticing? Is there any fear you’d like to leave behind or let go of? You may want to pick up a stick or rock, place it on the ground like you’re releasing a burden, and physically step over the threshold, symbolizing your hope for freedom from fear.

Engaging and Expanding the Senses (10 mins):

For the next several minutes, you will engage with your sense of sight. I invite you to continue walking slowly or stopping and notice everything that is moving. Focus on the movements, however subtle.

After a few minutes, check in with yourself. What are you noticing? Is there any interior movement that you are aware of? Continue breathing with whatever is in motion, on the outside as well as on the inside.

Sit spot (10 mins (or 20-30 if possible)):

Find a safe place that draws you to sit and observe what is happening on the land around you. You can keep your eyes open and with a soft fascination (where your attention widens and wanders without remaining too “heavily” on anything/anyone), pay attention to the life that you see and hear. There is nothing else to do during this step but to be and enjoy.

Journaling and Integration (10 mins):

You have just spent some intentional time slowing down, which is helping your nervous system to center and adjust. Though your situation may not change, your inner landscape may change, providing you some clarity and relief.

Take some time to consider and write down what you’ve noticed during the mindful nature experience. You may want to return to your intention and acknowledge the resources that are already available to you as you work with and through fear and anxiety.