This is my face after 30 days of the most confronting, honest, intimate, nurturing, spiritual work I've ever done. I have never encountered a presence as unflinching as nature's. She blew cold gusts and hail at me last week. Staying was challenging. I have become protected and sealed off in many ways. She heaved the roof right off of me; she worked on a place within me where there was no language. The heart of her, the heart of mine. I was weepy and distant most of this week, but now I am warm. An ongoing process of renewal. Resilience is in my nature. My home is here.
"You are song, a wished-for song. Go through the ear to the center, where sky is, where wind, where silent knowing. Put seeds and cover them. Blades will sprout where you do your work."~Rumi
Learnings, insights, they are too precious to lose. I am committed to continuing this practice, to continue sitting with nature and allowing its wisdom to guide me.
To those who have shared their thoughts and experiences, who have also felt the call to commune with nature in their own ways, I'm curious: How has this journey impacted you?
While I didn't sit under a tree everyday for 30 days, your "challenge" inspired me to go sit under a tree who called to me after I finished a run in the forest reserve near me. I had been feeling so much grief over moving and leaving my old life behind. But as I sat under the tree, I noticed all the leaves and pine needles that cushioned my seat, all the old parts of the tree. And the tree said to me that all the past parts of herself are still within her, nourishing the future branches and leaves. I felt so calmed and reassured, hearing the tree tell me that no part of myself is ever lost, everything still exists within me. I am nourished by the work of my past self. At first I was sitting cross legged beneath the tree, but then she invited me to rest against her and I felt supported and held. I felt a renewed sense of trust and connection with myself and the natural world. It was a really special experience. I walked away that day with a clear teaching--the exact thing I needed in this season of life. Thank you for making such a difference in the lives of everyone you touch with your words and your example and your creative ideas.
Like I said before Sarah you are preaching to the choir when you talk about nature and the spiritual resilience and opening it can deliver. I’m 70 years old. Just within the last five years I have really been finding my spiritual home. I found it actually in the spiritual practice of my ancestors who were Jews, but nature has always been my touchstone. A Jewish sage named Abraham Joshua Heschel talks about radical amazement, and that you need that radical amazement to connect with… I’ll call the Eternal. The G word is such a loaded one that I try to avoid it. But whatever that is and as Heschel says it is ineffable, nature is a good place to find it.
When I sit and attempt stillness, often a breeze comes up and causes the trees around me to rustle and wave. I feel like they’re talking to me. There’s another guy I follow whose name is Mike Comins. He is a rabbi and a former desert guide among many other things, but his main focus is nature. He claims he can exchange chi energy with trees . He has suggested a practice to me to get started but so far I haven’t done it. But I have a pretty good idea that he knows what he’s talking about.
And so about three months ago I came to your work Sarah. I was searching for a guided meditation to let go of a failed romantic attachment, and I found your stuff on Insight Timer. You have a voice that reaches me, and it’s more than just your physical voice, it’s you and what’s inside you. I have taken to listening to one of your 10 minute or so guided meditations before I get out of bed in the morning, and it usually leaves me in a very good place.
I will soon be journeying up to a piece of land I have the privilege of owning in far Northern California that has a ton of trees. I miss them. I haven’t been up there since last November because it’s too cold to go there at that time of year. I’m hoping they missed me. But there’s a pretty good chance that I once again feel the connection that you talk about today when I get there. Thanks for all you do Sarah. It has been a particularly helpful on my spiritual journey.
I have learned a tremendous amount from nature. What stands out the most this season is that my plants that are the same variety and given the same conditions, are growing at different rates. It is a reminder that I am an individual and I should not expect the same results for myself as someone else has. Each journey is unique and whole.
My toddler has taught me more about nature than I could imagine. In observing him play, I've come to understand: Rain is not wet. Dirt is not dirty. Snow is not cold. What do I mean by this? Sometimes, through the eyes of our conditioned minds, the sensations of nature are feared or met with a sense of undesirability or resistance. Perhaps we've created this distance or fear with nature because we cannot control it. We cannot control the sun, we cannot control the rain, we cannot control the landscape. We might find comfort or overindulge in our human-made homes and structures because we control their conditions, a perceived sense of safety. Overtime, this creates a disconnect and a collective amnesia of our partnership with nature. However, through my son's play -watching him pick up dirt, splash in the puddles, or roll in the snow- he has shown me that mother nature is to be embraced. It is meant to be felt, it too is our home, and in it we can find a comfort like no other. He has shown me what it means to shake hands with nature.
I am coming understand that I am not separate from her. I am from her. The separation is but an illusion and in this recognition is a peace unlike anything I've ever known.🙏
Ohhh Sarah, I don't know how to adequately express my gratitude to you for introducing me to the most spiritual work I have ever done. What I hadn't shared with you earlier is that 5 months ago I experienced the sudden loss of my ability to hear. It's been a very challenging physical experience and adjustment for me, even though I know there are lessons and opportunities in this and I do believe the mind, body, spirit and soul are connected. Since sitting at the base of a beautiful wise oak tree all these days, I've been hearing in a different way. Not only has this tree been speaking with me, (and I have been listening), but others have joined in, and I find myself communing with trees and nature in general with new eyes and ears, and the curious interest of a child. A new world has opened up for me through this daily experience where I realize nature is ego-less and accepting of all that is. I am so aware now of the community of trees, their network and their power. More and more have invited me to interact with them and it has become my most favorite aspect of my day. I feel as though I am being shown how to both be grounded and rooted to Mother Earth as well as to reach above to consciousness itself and anchor the connection of both. I am learning about impermanence and deep gratitude for what is as a result. Perhaps most importantly, I am hearing and listening in a different way. I am so grateful. And while I do not know what the future brings for my physical sense of hearing, I continue to hold hope for miracles and magic, and I know at any time, I can receive strength, acceptance and love from trees and nature in general. Thank you Sarah for inviting me to join you in this experience. I am continuing it and I literally think of you every time!
I've only just caught up with this journey you're on, and so I haven't been communing with nature (other than the ways I usually do :). But nature has chosen to commune with me.
A pair of finches has built a nest in the wreath in my front door. Fletcher Finch (as we have fondly called him for years now) has always been fond of our wreath, and often brought various girlfriends to sit in it and sing and chirp to us. But this year we left for a week on our spring break, and when we came back we found a beautiful nest with five little eggs.
For the first week I could barely leave the living room. Our door is half glass, so I could watch Fiona (the mama; we name everything here) as she sat on the nest. I was wildly protective of her; forcing everyone to navigate the mess in the garage instead of using the front door; shushing my family if they were too noisy near her; and eventually closing the front door blinds entirely to give the poor mama her privacy. Our movements through the glass often scared her away.
On Monday night I realized my husband was coming home late and didn't have his keys; and I couldn't open the garage without waking everyone. Ever so carefully I turned the key in the lock to wake the bird, and then I eased open the front door to drop his key under the mat. It turned out I was too careful, because Fiona did not wake up until I bent down, and she flew straight into the house.
I eventually got her out. But not before she hit her sweet little head multiple times on my ceiling; landed in the sink and on the counters, and eventually perched on top of the curtain rod before she flew directly into the nest on my open door. I quickly closed the door and buried my face in my hands as tears leaked through my fingers. Tiny, downy feathers littered the floor; I could barely sleep that night for worry about the little mama finch.
You asked how this journey has impacted us. I am normally a pretty positive, happy person; but since the eclipse I have been feeling a level of sadness that is hard to hold. In my encounter with nature, with Fiona, I felt a deep, deep grief that this little bird who I had been working so hard to protect would then be injured and terrified by her very protector. I felt my powerlessness - she is a wild thing, and I cannot interfere with that which has never been mine to influence in the first place. Birds will lay eggs. Some nests will hold, others will be blown down by storms or attacked by animals or abandoned altogether. Some babies will hatch, if conditions are right, and some will not. Nature, and life, can be brutal. How interesting it was that I imagined that I had the power, or ability, to protect her.
Ultimately I came face to face with a truth that I continue to struggle with; that I cannot control life, that it is wild and uncontrollable and sometimes completely devastating. That that which we hold most dear might be ripped from us at any moment; this is just the truth of life, and deceiving myself of this is willful ignorance. It's unlike me to be morbid in this way. But what I saw in this journey was all the grief that, for whatever reason, I have not yet tended to. I am feeling the tenderness of being a deeply sensitive person in a somewhat ruthless world. How do I tend to this heart of mine?
Being in wild nature as a witness, playmate and explorer is where I feel most at home. It’s where I go to connect to my parents who’ve passed. I’ll stop in my tracks by a big tree and have a spontaneous chat with my dad. My mother’s spirit I feel close by moving water. My brother the little critters that burrow and scurry. The many deep losses of my life make more sense when my body is privy to what is happening weather-wise around me, when bird chatter and rustling leaves fill my ears, when the chaotic order of the forest floor fills my sight. I grew up off grid in the woods. I’ve lived much of my adult life in this way as well, only four years ago trading in my bus for a house, and I miss the stars at night when I’d go out to pee, miss the cold mornings and frozen dog bowl, miss the very few and meaningful possessions all in one small space. A house with walls will do for now, but I can feel the pull of this other way calling me back.
A few years ago, I had a deep drive to sit at the Berkeley marina every sunset for a year. I went in rain, fog, terrible wind. I saw countless sunsets over the Golden Gate Bridge. I sat till I was “done” — sometimes 20 minutes, other times an hour or more. It transformed my life and my entire being. Interestingly, after I had completed a year or so, I went through an unexpected and extraordinarily difficult phase, which I would not have been prepared for if I hadn’t resourced myself in the way I had. It remains one of the greatest teachings of my life — heed the call!
To watch nature transform around me for an entire year was such a special experience. I could never express it in words, but the effects live on in my heart.
First of all, let me remind you that I am old! LOL! At my age, my goal every day is to share my experience, my faith, and my hope with other people. I need to listen to learn. While I do get to the gym five days a week I must admit I am not a nature guy, having said that when I feel the need to meditate, I go back in time back to a special place in my life when I was in grade 6 and my uncle introduced me to the greatest game on earth – – baseball – – and I close my eyes and I picture myself sitting on the pitcher’s mound at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. It’s a sunny day the stadium is entirely empty and there I am with my Source and I just listen and breathe in and breathe out. I can feel the shale under my body and I can feel the symmetry of the baseball diamond and it’s just home for me.
So in a way, Sarah , our experiences are similar and at the same time different!
I could sit on that mound for 30 days and be excited to share with you what that experience was like. God bless you and keep up the good work. Your reflections are a blessing to an old man.
I've been looking at the sky from my living-room window since your first post. I can also see 4 trees. It's like looking at my 2 little nephews; they grow and change everyday and everyday I feel closer, and amazed.
I've never experienced spring in this way before, seeing every milimeter of green leaves emerging.
In a way these trees feel like family now, like I know them.
In communing with nature in various places, usually with hand on heart, I was moved to get my first tattoo! (I'm 63) In my own handwriting, I have the word HOME right down the middle of my chest. Indeed, here I AM, HOME. 🌲💖
I've always gone outside at night to connect with the moon, the breeze, and the trees- Austin, TX, gets very hot, so barefoot moon conversations sustain me through the long summers.
Upon meditating 10-30 min outside during the day for 30 days, I feel more spaciousness in my being, as you describe.
I can breathe easier, my relationships are going easy, and I am experiencing joy and peace on deep levels. The wildflowers, the trees, the sky- I feel connected and whole! Thank you sooo very much for teaching us to rediscover the preciousness of LIFE in each moment and that feeling in whatever form is beautiful. Life is beautiful!
Ahhhh nature….Living in my home for the past 25 years I’ve seen the landscape change. In particular, trees cut down for one reason or another. It pains me when that happens. I planted an October glory in the back yard and hope to plant some more in the front. I may not see them when they are tall and glorious but the younger generation will.
I also love to garden. I’m not the best gardener but I love to be out there pulling weeds and planting flowers and vegetables.
Thank you Sarah for your wisdom and sharing your experience!
When I pass my favorite tree and stop for a few minutes, I often feel a longing to stay longer. I suspect, as I feel this, that the experience would be cozy at first but quickly turn challenging. Thanks for reporting from beyond a frontier I think about but haven’t really crossed. I’m glad you were able to undertake this practice. Beautiful things often have hard edges.
You have done more for my soul and mind than I can properly describe. Every evening, I listen to you while I lay in bed on my PEMF/Far Infrared Mat. Since I began this routine, my smart watch has reported a significant improvement in REM & DEEP Sleep (from "needs attention" to "Excellent"), as well as oxygen % efficiency. Beyond the. measurable health metrics, I feel so much better and energized during the day.
My experience the last couple years is walking in the state forest no matter the weather. I actually have come to life the snow and rain. It feels akin to the ocean to me.
Congrats Sarah 🎉 I have had a few days experiencing meeting new trees in my favourite parks. Each time I had a different experiences each time just like life good and not so good. Make each day your best yet. 🙏👏❤️
Oh Sarah, i want to kiss your head, and the tree trunk and cuddle into that place, safe and held so we can fall even deeper when needed, and feel even better that we are held and loved. Thank you for this inspiring process, i am just starting with my 30 days.
Nature heals me like nothing else. It was amazing knowing that there was this larger community of likeminded individuals being collectively healed and touched by nature. 🌳
Nature is what we are all dreaming of, where we are pulled to find unconditional comfort and teachings. When I feel overwhelmed with being a human nature softens and holds and allows. It is my go to for everything now. The most sacred medicine.
Since having a wake up moment in the forest while grieving the death of my father, I have dedicated my life to helping others have the same experience - finding peace thru nature connection and mindfulness. I’ve also been called to become a mindfulness meditation teacher. My life is so full now and it includes a daily sit spot practice (though it moves indoors for the winter! ❤️). Love your work Sarah.
So many beautiful experiences of us all sharing in the wild and wise secrets of nature. So here I share my own experience from yesterday morning prior to reading your beautiful entry Sarah💞
Majesty of the Ethers
As I sit by my Lily in full bloom, I breathe in her essence
I drink in her beauty
I allow her full expression to penetrate my skin, my breath, my being
I surrender to this supreme wisdom of birth and openness. May it infuse my mind, body and soul
I unlock the bars from inside my mind and unshackle my thoughts from the dreary
I invite the sweet aroma of what is hidden and invisible but the purest truth
How can it be otherwise as I sit and contemplate the miracle of life, death and rebirth.
This is my wish
To simply remember
To invite this sweetness into every cell of my being
To lovingly relinquish my mind to her power
May I sing from the notes of this liberty
May I always see this true reality
May I feel the blessings of the ethers within all of me
May I always remember to bow to this supreme majesty
I’ve found my most favorite tree. I run and hike by this giant, ancient redwood 4-5 times a week. Based on your reflections, I’ve begun stopping, laying a hand on her and closing my eyes. The hum between us is tangible. There’s so much more than we see with our eyes. I’m so glad to have slowed down.
I am alive because of nature. I lost my best friend of 42 years, my husband to tragic loss suicide. I would have joined him during that first year of grieving. But I started hiking solo, journaling and writing poetry, listening to podcasts, grounding or earthing in my back yard. Trying to find each and every tool to put in my tool box when the demons of the night like to come into my mind. Nature is a healing balm. A gift from our Divine Love, Creator. A FREE gift too. There is a special old sycamore tree that I go to on an historical garden site that was host to a union hospital during the civil war. I speak to her as I lay my hands on her textured crying bark, her naked spots. I can’t imagine the horror stories she could tell. We bond. I can FEEL her energy go through shifting my body always to the right. When I let go I am drained. I truly believe we are all connected, our energy touches each other, each object and living breathing creature on this mighty blue marble in the universe. Sara, I heard you speak on THE ONE YOU FEED as I took a walk this afternoon. I love your soft encouraging tone of your voice. I will get your book, though I think I have done a lot of what you talk about as I AM HERE, I AM putting one foot in front of another. I am learning to listen from the heart. At night, my mind is a ferris wheel constantly going round and round. But like you said practice will heal that. I can sleep through the night twice a week now…progressing with love and encouragement. Thank you.
P.S by the way I have decided to have a green burial for myself….to give back to the nourishment of this world.
While I didn't sit under a tree everyday for 30 days, your "challenge" inspired me to go sit under a tree who called to me after I finished a run in the forest reserve near me. I had been feeling so much grief over moving and leaving my old life behind. But as I sat under the tree, I noticed all the leaves and pine needles that cushioned my seat, all the old parts of the tree. And the tree said to me that all the past parts of herself are still within her, nourishing the future branches and leaves. I felt so calmed and reassured, hearing the tree tell me that no part of myself is ever lost, everything still exists within me. I am nourished by the work of my past self. At first I was sitting cross legged beneath the tree, but then she invited me to rest against her and I felt supported and held. I felt a renewed sense of trust and connection with myself and the natural world. It was a really special experience. I walked away that day with a clear teaching--the exact thing I needed in this season of life. Thank you for making such a difference in the lives of everyone you touch with your words and your example and your creative ideas.
Like I said before Sarah you are preaching to the choir when you talk about nature and the spiritual resilience and opening it can deliver. I’m 70 years old. Just within the last five years I have really been finding my spiritual home. I found it actually in the spiritual practice of my ancestors who were Jews, but nature has always been my touchstone. A Jewish sage named Abraham Joshua Heschel talks about radical amazement, and that you need that radical amazement to connect with… I’ll call the Eternal. The G word is such a loaded one that I try to avoid it. But whatever that is and as Heschel says it is ineffable, nature is a good place to find it.
When I sit and attempt stillness, often a breeze comes up and causes the trees around me to rustle and wave. I feel like they’re talking to me. There’s another guy I follow whose name is Mike Comins. He is a rabbi and a former desert guide among many other things, but his main focus is nature. He claims he can exchange chi energy with trees . He has suggested a practice to me to get started but so far I haven’t done it. But I have a pretty good idea that he knows what he’s talking about.
And so about three months ago I came to your work Sarah. I was searching for a guided meditation to let go of a failed romantic attachment, and I found your stuff on Insight Timer. You have a voice that reaches me, and it’s more than just your physical voice, it’s you and what’s inside you. I have taken to listening to one of your 10 minute or so guided meditations before I get out of bed in the morning, and it usually leaves me in a very good place.
I will soon be journeying up to a piece of land I have the privilege of owning in far Northern California that has a ton of trees. I miss them. I haven’t been up there since last November because it’s too cold to go there at that time of year. I’m hoping they missed me. But there’s a pretty good chance that I once again feel the connection that you talk about today when I get there. Thanks for all you do Sarah. It has been a particularly helpful on my spiritual journey.
Warmly,
Dan
I have learned a tremendous amount from nature. What stands out the most this season is that my plants that are the same variety and given the same conditions, are growing at different rates. It is a reminder that I am an individual and I should not expect the same results for myself as someone else has. Each journey is unique and whole.
My toddler has taught me more about nature than I could imagine. In observing him play, I've come to understand: Rain is not wet. Dirt is not dirty. Snow is not cold. What do I mean by this? Sometimes, through the eyes of our conditioned minds, the sensations of nature are feared or met with a sense of undesirability or resistance. Perhaps we've created this distance or fear with nature because we cannot control it. We cannot control the sun, we cannot control the rain, we cannot control the landscape. We might find comfort or overindulge in our human-made homes and structures because we control their conditions, a perceived sense of safety. Overtime, this creates a disconnect and a collective amnesia of our partnership with nature. However, through my son's play -watching him pick up dirt, splash in the puddles, or roll in the snow- he has shown me that mother nature is to be embraced. It is meant to be felt, it too is our home, and in it we can find a comfort like no other. He has shown me what it means to shake hands with nature.
I am coming understand that I am not separate from her. I am from her. The separation is but an illusion and in this recognition is a peace unlike anything I've ever known.🙏
Ohhh Sarah, I don't know how to adequately express my gratitude to you for introducing me to the most spiritual work I have ever done. What I hadn't shared with you earlier is that 5 months ago I experienced the sudden loss of my ability to hear. It's been a very challenging physical experience and adjustment for me, even though I know there are lessons and opportunities in this and I do believe the mind, body, spirit and soul are connected. Since sitting at the base of a beautiful wise oak tree all these days, I've been hearing in a different way. Not only has this tree been speaking with me, (and I have been listening), but others have joined in, and I find myself communing with trees and nature in general with new eyes and ears, and the curious interest of a child. A new world has opened up for me through this daily experience where I realize nature is ego-less and accepting of all that is. I am so aware now of the community of trees, their network and their power. More and more have invited me to interact with them and it has become my most favorite aspect of my day. I feel as though I am being shown how to both be grounded and rooted to Mother Earth as well as to reach above to consciousness itself and anchor the connection of both. I am learning about impermanence and deep gratitude for what is as a result. Perhaps most importantly, I am hearing and listening in a different way. I am so grateful. And while I do not know what the future brings for my physical sense of hearing, I continue to hold hope for miracles and magic, and I know at any time, I can receive strength, acceptance and love from trees and nature in general. Thank you Sarah for inviting me to join you in this experience. I am continuing it and I literally think of you every time!
With much love and gratitude,
Michele
I've only just caught up with this journey you're on, and so I haven't been communing with nature (other than the ways I usually do :). But nature has chosen to commune with me.
A pair of finches has built a nest in the wreath in my front door. Fletcher Finch (as we have fondly called him for years now) has always been fond of our wreath, and often brought various girlfriends to sit in it and sing and chirp to us. But this year we left for a week on our spring break, and when we came back we found a beautiful nest with five little eggs.
For the first week I could barely leave the living room. Our door is half glass, so I could watch Fiona (the mama; we name everything here) as she sat on the nest. I was wildly protective of her; forcing everyone to navigate the mess in the garage instead of using the front door; shushing my family if they were too noisy near her; and eventually closing the front door blinds entirely to give the poor mama her privacy. Our movements through the glass often scared her away.
On Monday night I realized my husband was coming home late and didn't have his keys; and I couldn't open the garage without waking everyone. Ever so carefully I turned the key in the lock to wake the bird, and then I eased open the front door to drop his key under the mat. It turned out I was too careful, because Fiona did not wake up until I bent down, and she flew straight into the house.
I eventually got her out. But not before she hit her sweet little head multiple times on my ceiling; landed in the sink and on the counters, and eventually perched on top of the curtain rod before she flew directly into the nest on my open door. I quickly closed the door and buried my face in my hands as tears leaked through my fingers. Tiny, downy feathers littered the floor; I could barely sleep that night for worry about the little mama finch.
You asked how this journey has impacted us. I am normally a pretty positive, happy person; but since the eclipse I have been feeling a level of sadness that is hard to hold. In my encounter with nature, with Fiona, I felt a deep, deep grief that this little bird who I had been working so hard to protect would then be injured and terrified by her very protector. I felt my powerlessness - she is a wild thing, and I cannot interfere with that which has never been mine to influence in the first place. Birds will lay eggs. Some nests will hold, others will be blown down by storms or attacked by animals or abandoned altogether. Some babies will hatch, if conditions are right, and some will not. Nature, and life, can be brutal. How interesting it was that I imagined that I had the power, or ability, to protect her.
Ultimately I came face to face with a truth that I continue to struggle with; that I cannot control life, that it is wild and uncontrollable and sometimes completely devastating. That that which we hold most dear might be ripped from us at any moment; this is just the truth of life, and deceiving myself of this is willful ignorance. It's unlike me to be morbid in this way. But what I saw in this journey was all the grief that, for whatever reason, I have not yet tended to. I am feeling the tenderness of being a deeply sensitive person in a somewhat ruthless world. How do I tend to this heart of mine?
Being in wild nature as a witness, playmate and explorer is where I feel most at home. It’s where I go to connect to my parents who’ve passed. I’ll stop in my tracks by a big tree and have a spontaneous chat with my dad. My mother’s spirit I feel close by moving water. My brother the little critters that burrow and scurry. The many deep losses of my life make more sense when my body is privy to what is happening weather-wise around me, when bird chatter and rustling leaves fill my ears, when the chaotic order of the forest floor fills my sight. I grew up off grid in the woods. I’ve lived much of my adult life in this way as well, only four years ago trading in my bus for a house, and I miss the stars at night when I’d go out to pee, miss the cold mornings and frozen dog bowl, miss the very few and meaningful possessions all in one small space. A house with walls will do for now, but I can feel the pull of this other way calling me back.
A few years ago, I had a deep drive to sit at the Berkeley marina every sunset for a year. I went in rain, fog, terrible wind. I saw countless sunsets over the Golden Gate Bridge. I sat till I was “done” — sometimes 20 minutes, other times an hour or more. It transformed my life and my entire being. Interestingly, after I had completed a year or so, I went through an unexpected and extraordinarily difficult phase, which I would not have been prepared for if I hadn’t resourced myself in the way I had. It remains one of the greatest teachings of my life — heed the call!
To watch nature transform around me for an entire year was such a special experience. I could never express it in words, but the effects live on in my heart.
You are so beautiful in and out Sarah ❤
Thank you for sharing this with us here.
World is a better place with people like you.
I appreciate you.
Sending love to your heart ❤
First of all, let me remind you that I am old! LOL! At my age, my goal every day is to share my experience, my faith, and my hope with other people. I need to listen to learn. While I do get to the gym five days a week I must admit I am not a nature guy, having said that when I feel the need to meditate, I go back in time back to a special place in my life when I was in grade 6 and my uncle introduced me to the greatest game on earth – – baseball – – and I close my eyes and I picture myself sitting on the pitcher’s mound at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. It’s a sunny day the stadium is entirely empty and there I am with my Source and I just listen and breathe in and breathe out. I can feel the shale under my body and I can feel the symmetry of the baseball diamond and it’s just home for me.
So in a way, Sarah , our experiences are similar and at the same time different!
I could sit on that mound for 30 days and be excited to share with you what that experience was like. God bless you and keep up the good work. Your reflections are a blessing to an old man.
I've been looking at the sky from my living-room window since your first post. I can also see 4 trees. It's like looking at my 2 little nephews; they grow and change everyday and everyday I feel closer, and amazed.
I've never experienced spring in this way before, seeing every milimeter of green leaves emerging.
In a way these trees feel like family now, like I know them.
In communing with nature in various places, usually with hand on heart, I was moved to get my first tattoo! (I'm 63) In my own handwriting, I have the word HOME right down the middle of my chest. Indeed, here I AM, HOME. 🌲💖
I've always gone outside at night to connect with the moon, the breeze, and the trees- Austin, TX, gets very hot, so barefoot moon conversations sustain me through the long summers.
Upon meditating 10-30 min outside during the day for 30 days, I feel more spaciousness in my being, as you describe.
I can breathe easier, my relationships are going easy, and I am experiencing joy and peace on deep levels. The wildflowers, the trees, the sky- I feel connected and whole! Thank you sooo very much for teaching us to rediscover the preciousness of LIFE in each moment and that feeling in whatever form is beautiful. Life is beautiful!
Namaste,
Ann Elizabeth
Ahhhh nature….Living in my home for the past 25 years I’ve seen the landscape change. In particular, trees cut down for one reason or another. It pains me when that happens. I planted an October glory in the back yard and hope to plant some more in the front. I may not see them when they are tall and glorious but the younger generation will.
I also love to garden. I’m not the best gardener but I love to be out there pulling weeds and planting flowers and vegetables.
Thank you Sarah for your wisdom and sharing your experience!
Beautiful! It’s impacted me the same. And only from minutes in nature. The longer I sit with her, the more speechless I find myself.
When I pass my favorite tree and stop for a few minutes, I often feel a longing to stay longer. I suspect, as I feel this, that the experience would be cozy at first but quickly turn challenging. Thanks for reporting from beyond a frontier I think about but haven’t really crossed. I’m glad you were able to undertake this practice. Beautiful things often have hard edges.
I have felt cracked wide open and I do not desire to close. My deepest gratitude 🙏🏽 Sarah, and to each of you, Namaste. 💞
Ohhhhhh bliss! I feel closer to nature just being here, and inspired to stay longer than feels comfortable, somewhere in the trees for sure 💚
Sarah
You have done more for my soul and mind than I can properly describe. Every evening, I listen to you while I lay in bed on my PEMF/Far Infrared Mat. Since I began this routine, my smart watch has reported a significant improvement in REM & DEEP Sleep (from "needs attention" to "Excellent"), as well as oxygen % efficiency. Beyond the. measurable health metrics, I feel so much better and energized during the day.
GRATEFULLY YOURS,
RichP
www.thevillages.com
My experience the last couple years is walking in the state forest no matter the weather. I actually have come to life the snow and rain. It feels akin to the ocean to me.
Congrats Sarah 🎉 I have had a few days experiencing meeting new trees in my favourite parks. Each time I had a different experiences each time just like life good and not so good. Make each day your best yet. 🙏👏❤️
Oh Sarah, i want to kiss your head, and the tree trunk and cuddle into that place, safe and held so we can fall even deeper when needed, and feel even better that we are held and loved. Thank you for this inspiring process, i am just starting with my 30 days.
Nature heals me like nothing else. It was amazing knowing that there was this larger community of likeminded individuals being collectively healed and touched by nature. 🌳
Me too. Will continue to sit. How I start and end the day. With the sun and under a tree.
Nature is what we are all dreaming of, where we are pulled to find unconditional comfort and teachings. When I feel overwhelmed with being a human nature softens and holds and allows. It is my go to for everything now. The most sacred medicine.
Since having a wake up moment in the forest while grieving the death of my father, I have dedicated my life to helping others have the same experience - finding peace thru nature connection and mindfulness. I’ve also been called to become a mindfulness meditation teacher. My life is so full now and it includes a daily sit spot practice (though it moves indoors for the winter! ❤️). Love your work Sarah.
So many beautiful experiences of us all sharing in the wild and wise secrets of nature. So here I share my own experience from yesterday morning prior to reading your beautiful entry Sarah💞
Majesty of the Ethers
As I sit by my Lily in full bloom, I breathe in her essence
I drink in her beauty
I allow her full expression to penetrate my skin, my breath, my being
I surrender to this supreme wisdom of birth and openness. May it infuse my mind, body and soul
I unlock the bars from inside my mind and unshackle my thoughts from the dreary
I invite the sweet aroma of what is hidden and invisible but the purest truth
How can it be otherwise as I sit and contemplate the miracle of life, death and rebirth.
This is my wish
To simply remember
To invite this sweetness into every cell of my being
To lovingly relinquish my mind to her power
May I sing from the notes of this liberty
May I always see this true reality
May I feel the blessings of the ethers within all of me
May I always remember to bow to this supreme majesty
Beautiful 💕
I’ve found my most favorite tree. I run and hike by this giant, ancient redwood 4-5 times a week. Based on your reflections, I’ve begun stopping, laying a hand on her and closing my eyes. The hum between us is tangible. There’s so much more than we see with our eyes. I’m so glad to have slowed down.
I am alive because of nature. I lost my best friend of 42 years, my husband to tragic loss suicide. I would have joined him during that first year of grieving. But I started hiking solo, journaling and writing poetry, listening to podcasts, grounding or earthing in my back yard. Trying to find each and every tool to put in my tool box when the demons of the night like to come into my mind. Nature is a healing balm. A gift from our Divine Love, Creator. A FREE gift too. There is a special old sycamore tree that I go to on an historical garden site that was host to a union hospital during the civil war. I speak to her as I lay my hands on her textured crying bark, her naked spots. I can’t imagine the horror stories she could tell. We bond. I can FEEL her energy go through shifting my body always to the right. When I let go I am drained. I truly believe we are all connected, our energy touches each other, each object and living breathing creature on this mighty blue marble in the universe. Sara, I heard you speak on THE ONE YOU FEED as I took a walk this afternoon. I love your soft encouraging tone of your voice. I will get your book, though I think I have done a lot of what you talk about as I AM HERE, I AM putting one foot in front of another. I am learning to listen from the heart. At night, my mind is a ferris wheel constantly going round and round. But like you said practice will heal that. I can sleep through the night twice a week now…progressing with love and encouragement. Thank you.
P.S by the way I have decided to have a green burial for myself….to give back to the nourishment of this world.
This is a beautiful post and a wise practice. Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us.