Connecting with nature can be a great way to spend time with yourself or with immediate family. The experience of the breeze on your skin, the warmth of the sun on your back, birdsong, the fragrance of blossoms or the crunch of snow .... It is the experience that is important; it can be freeing and energizing. Then, if you like, you can write, draw, tell someone about your experience.
Here’s how to start:
Go outside or open a window.
Take a deep breath. What do you smell? Breathe out. How does your body feel when you exhale? Wait a few minutes, breathe deeply again. Does it smell the same? Sometimes a breeze will bring a new fragrance. Sometimes nature comes to you and invites you to play.
Close your eyes, listen. What do you hear? Now listen for the quieter things. Sometimes there are quiet sounds beneath the louder sounds. How do you feel as you listen? What do you notice?
Open your eyes. What do you see? Is nature around you - plants, trees, flowers, snow? Is it sunny? Is the light making shadows anywhere? Can you make a shadow? Look up - any clouds? What shapes do you see? If there are no clouds, how many different shades of blue do you see?
Is there a rock or a tree nearby that you can climb?
How is nature interacting with you? Is there a gentle breeze rippling through your hair?
Sunshine warming your body? Are you wishing you had more clothes on because your body is cold? Is the warm sun relaxing your body?
As you take everything in with your senses, notice how you feel. Does nature make you feel relaxed, peaceful, curious?
If you want to, capture your experience in your journal or have a conversation with someone. Go outside or look out your window on another day - what’s the same? What’s different?
Note the coolness of that leaf against your skin, the veined texture your fingertips discover as they across it. But notice, too, another slightly different sensation: that you are also being touched by the tree.
David Abram - Becoming Animal An Earthly Cosmology
Cathy Belgrave B.A., B.Ed. Creative Studio for Children
Comentários