A taste of Forest Bathing – Silent Meditation in Nature
Nature can be a great help in finding peace and quiet. In the Dharma Mountain groups Inner Peace and Tilstede ("Present") nature is a support for meditation, inspired by the Japanese technique of forest bathing, shin-rin-yokuIn a forest bath, we "bathe" in the calm and healing atmosphere of the forest. We go out into nature without a specific goal and allow our minds to simply receive. We walk in silence. It can help to slow down and open our senses to become present and receive nature. After some time, we can find a place to sit or lie down if we feel like it.
Here is a short description of this meditation. If you don't have a forest or park nearby, you can still try it - connect with nature wherever you find it. You can also do it while walking, making a few stops along the way to close your eyes and tune in.
1. Pause and notice your breath
Find a comfortable position, sitting or lying down, and let your body completely relax. Close your eyes, and take a couple of deep breaths in and out. Notice your breath, how it is right now, where you feel it in your body, and how it moves - whether it is tight or expansive, short or deep, without trying to change it.
2. Open your sense of touch
Bring your attention to your sense of touch, what you feel against your body, against your skin. Notice where in your body you feel contact with the ground (or floor). Maybe you feel a breeze against your cheek, the temperature of the air, or other sensations against your skin. Let your body relax more and more. If you are in the forest, you can also feel with your hands, touch the heather and moss, a tree, or a stone, while focusing on the sensory experience.
3. Open your sense of hearing
Direct your attention to your ears, and let them begin to take in the sounds around you. Some sounds are close, some further away. The sound of your breath, and sounds around you. Do you notice any sounds from nature? Birds or the wind or a rustling? Open up to the sound, without needing to know what you hear. Receive it.
4. Sense of smell
Feel your nose and the air that comes in as you breathe. Are there any scents there, coming in with the air? Is it a faint or strong smell? Are there any scents from the nature around you, of soil or flowers? Take in the scents as they are, through your breath.
5. Sense of sight
Now bring your attention to your eyes, and see without actively looking at anything, but allow yourself to receive the visual experience through your eyes without effort. What kinds of movements do you see, shapes, lines, colors. See the details.
6. The bath
When you have connected with all your senses, and your body relaxes, let all these sensory experiences come together into one whole experience, as if you were bathing in it. Receive it, through your breath, through the intention to be open to receiving everything that is here.
Take a deep breath and move your fingers a little, stretch a bit. How do you feel now? Maybe you feel more calm and present, and that you have more contact with your body and yourself? Carry the experience into your day, and let it influence your activities. Meditation can become a part of everything we do, and the silence can be something we return to when we need it.
Next Inner Peace will happen July 22-28 and Tilstede ("Present") September 6-8.