Explorations
of Connectedness
Activities in this section enhance the awareness of connectedness between ourselves and the green world. You could make a case that any mindfulness practice is about connecting, but the explorations in this section have connectedness as their primary focus.
The first two meditations are some of my favorites, especially early in the morning or at dusk, when the world is a little quieter. They are contemplative in nature and require you to simply be present and sense your moment-by-moment connection to the world. They are introduced here as sitting or standing practices, but they could be incorporated into a walking meditation as well.
Exploration
Meditation in the Garden
Type of Exploration: Deepening awareness
Supplies Needed:
• Comfortable clothes
• Chair, meditation cushion, or blanket to sit on
• Journal or paper
• Pen or pencil
• Timer (optional)
Ideal Setting: A garden or green space where you feel comfortable meditating
Child Friendly: Yes
If you have a regular sitting or standing meditation practice, move it outdoors. Work with your journal on this one. What do you discover in moving your practice outdoors? What do you notice that is the same? What do you notice that is different?
If you are new to meditation, what follows is a simple green world meditation. Find a place to sit or stand in the garden or outdoor space. You can close your eyes if you choose, but this meditation is good to do with your eyes open.
Helpful meditation posture involves being alert but relaxed, sitting or standing in a way that enables you to take a full breath. Whether sitting or standing, imagine you are a marionette with a string at your crown that is gently pulling your head up. Your back should be straight but not rigid; keep your tailbone pointing down. Check that your jaw and shoulders are relaxed.
Many mindfulness practices begin with the breath. The breath provides an easy pathway, as it is always with us and connects us to life and the rest of the world. It is also free and easily accessible. As you breathe in slowly, feel the air running past your nostrils to the back of your throat and your lungs. Let your diaphragm expand as the air flows into your lungs.
Count slowly to determine the length of your inhale. Then increase the count of your exhale by two. For example, if your inhale is six counts, then exhale to eight. If the count of your inhale is five, then exhale to seven. Remain focused on your breathing for ten complete cycles. Don’t skip the beginning breaths—they signal to our brains that we are shifting into a calming activity.
Now begin to move your awareness to the garden space around you. As you breathe in, be aware that the air flowing into you was touching the plants in your field of vision just moments before. Feel air and energy from nearby plants entering your lungs. As you breathe out, know that the air is returning to the plants around you. If your mind wanders, you can work with an intention: “I am here in the garden breathing in. I am here in the garden breathing out.”
With each inhale, focus on a place close to you in the garden that you feel the oxygen and energy are being pulled from. As you exhale, allow the energy to flow back to that place. As you continue to practice, slowly expand the reach of your breath as far as you can see until you are energetically breathing in and out from the farthest point. Sit or stand and continue to breathe in and out.
Continue for at least ten minutes. Set a timer if you’d like; otherwise, meditate as long as you feel is right for you. When you are ready to wrap things up, bring your attention and breath back to the garden space around you for the last few breaths of the meditation.
Record your thoughts in your journal. How did your connection to the garden shift or change? What did you discover?
Exploration
Garden Immersion
Type of Exploration: Deepening awareness
Supplies Needed:
• Comfortable clothes
• Chair, meditation cushion, or blanket to sit on
• Journal or paper
• Pen or pencil
• Timer (optional)
Ideal Setting: A garden where you feel comfortable meditating
Child Friendly: Yes
In this energetic awareness practice, we use breath and imagery to experience our rhythmic connection with the green world. We begin with our senses, focusing on each one in series, but then move beyond them.
Sitting or standing in the green space, begin with the grounding and opening breaths.
Feel or imagine that your sight and breathing are intimately connected. As you breathe through your nostrils you are also breathing in through your eyes. Imagine the colors, shapes, and energies flowing toward you and entering your eyes on the inhale. Feel the fluidness of the natural world and the garden. On the exhale, allow the energy to flow back out to the garden. Be as present as you can to this flowing of energy back and forth, like waves coming onto the shore and then receding. Continue for at least six breaths.
Gently refocus your attention on hearing and sound energy. Allow the energies of sound to flow toward you and into you. Imagine that you can feel the sound waves coming from all parts of the garden into your ears and your being, then imagine them flowing out again.
Continue for at least six breaths.
Gently refocus your attention on fragrance and smell. If it is summer where you are, you might experience more dramatic sensations, but this exploration can be done any time with more subtlety. As you inhale, imagine the fragrance of the garden flowing into every cell of your body. Continue for at least six breaths.
For a final time, gently refocus and direct your attention to absorbing the whole experience. We are aiming for a gestalt experience here, which means a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts. You are immersing yourself in this space. With each inhale, waves of energy from the garden are flowing to you and through you. Waves of energy are not only entering through your nose, mouth, eyes, and ears, but also through your pores and skin.
Imagine and feel, if you can, the energy of this place touching you and integrating into your being. As you continue to breathe, feel the gentle rhythm of your breaths in and out as waves melting into you. Embrace being fully present in this rhythmical flow of energy. Continue for at least six breaths.
When you are ready to close the meditation, allow your awareness of waves of energy to fade into the background. Bring your awareness back to the breath entering and exiting your nose. Take five or six breaths with this focus and then close.
Record your thoughts in your journal. How did the meditation shift your awareness of the garden? What did you experience? What did you discover? How is this different from your usual meditation practice?
Exploration
Becoming a Plant
Type of Exploration: Deepening awareness and contemplation
Supplies Needed:
• Journal or paper
• Pen or pencil
Ideal Setting: A garden or other green space
Child Friendly: Yes, recommended for ages eight and up
This meditation is about exploring life from a plant perspective, as much as we are able.
Find a plant in your green space that you can comfortably sit with. Begin with opening and centering breaths, then observe your plant for a few minutes. Explore the plant by sight and smell. If it is not a bristly or stinging plant, gently run your hands along the stem. Explore the leaves, branches, buds, and flowers.
What is the energy of this plant? Is it tall or low to the ground? How might height affect the plant? Does it have to reach up for sunlight? Are there other plants close by? What seems to be its relationship with other plants? Do other plants shade it, provide cover, or take needed nutrients from your plant, or are they supporting each other in some way?
As you sit with this plant, imagine what it would be like to be this plant. You can close your eyes or leave them open—whatever will help you tune in to this experience. Allow yourself to embody this plant as much as possible. Imagine your roots sinking into the ground, searching for moisture and nutrients. Your roots also hold you here in this place. There is nowhere to go. Your life takes place right here. Your limbs might stretch out in different directions, but your roots keep you anchored.
Imagine the feel of the wind on your leaves and the difference between a light breeze and a fierce storm. Take time with each. Next, imagine a gentle rain on your leaves and the difference between that and a hailstorm. Lastly, consider the feel of sunshine. Imagine first the morning sun that touches the leaves. Then imagine the sun at high noon during summertime; it may be hot and uncomfortable. Whatever the weather, your plant will be remaining right here and making any adjustments it can, like curling or drooping leaves, a kind of hunkering down. How does it feel to simply be immersed in the elements, for better or worse?
Are there flowers on your plant? Flowers are the sexual organs of plants, and the exchange of pollen creates seeds for a next generation. Plants rely on pollinators (in most cases) to move their pollen out to other plants. Are there pollinators visiting your flowers and creating new life? What is that experience like?
How does it feel to not use words for communication? How else might you communicate? What does your life force and energy field feel like? Are you aware of projecting it out into the space around you? Is there a color to it, or a shape? Are you aware of the energy fields of the plants around you?
Let the plant you have chosen be your guide. What else are you aware of about how this plant exists and how it experiences the world?
When you are ready, bring your attention back to your breath and your own experience of the world. Record any discoveries or insights in your journal. How has your awareness of this plant shifted?
Exploration
Becoming a Tree
Type of Exploration: Deepening awareness and contemplation
Supplies Needed:
• A tree to work with
• Journal or paper
• Pen or pencil
Ideal Setting: A garden, park, or green space where you feel comfortable meditating
Child Friendly: Yes, recommended for ages eight and up
This meditation follows a similar pattern to the previous one. However, trees have different energy than garden plants, making these two distinct meditations. Trees are, of course, larger than most garden plants, and they have more noticeable effects on humans. They provide shade and act as windbreaks. They create habitats for birds and other city creatures. Many trees live as long as humans or even longer. They are huge living entities that we share space with, yet we often walk right by without noticing them. This meditation is a starting point for being more mindful of their living presence.
Begin by selecting a tree you want to work with. If it is a tree in a public place, make sure you’ll feel comfortable sitting by the tree to do this meditation.
When you are ready, start with opening breaths and centering yourself. Then explore the tree by sight and smell. Take the time to check for thorns or sticky sap before touching. Run your hands along the bark and allow yourself to feel its bumps and ridges. Walk around the tree, looking both up and down. Explore the leaves and branches, noting shapes and colors. If there are roots visible above ground, bend down and touch them. Are there other entities living or visiting this tree, like insects, birds, or mammals?
Walk back away from the tree so that you can view it in its entirety. What do you notice stepping back? How do the colors and shape of the tree fit into the landscape? What message or feeling does it hold? You might be able to see the faint glow of the energy field around the tree. Observing from a distance makes it easier to see.
When you are ready, walk back to the tree to begin the meditation. This can be done sitting or standing. Imagine what it would be like to be this tree. Feel first the rootedness. Most trees have roots that extend as far into the ground as the branches extend upward. Imagine what that would feel like, to have roots running from your feet into the planet to hold you safely and firmly in place. Feel also the roots pulling water and nutrients up from the soil toward the trunk.
Imagine the trunk of this tree. The bark creates a solid protective shell. Inside there is a constant flow of activity from the roots to the branches and from the branches back down through the trunk, like many streams of flowing energy. Feel, if you can, the flow of energy up to your branches and leaves as the tree pulls up moisture and nutrients, delivering them to the uppermost branches. Feel also the downward flow as the tree sends food made by the leaves back down to the branches, trunk, and roots.
Be aware of the exchange of energy with the surrounding air. Water transpires from your leaves, heading off into the clouds. Sunlight touches your leaves, making food which is sent back down through the branches and trunk.
Next, take time to sense your immersion in the elements. Imagine the feel of the wind and the difference between a soft breeze and a powerful storm. Consider the rain on your tree, both a gentle rain and a harsh rain or hail. Focus on the feel of sunshine and the difference between warm sunshine that is just right and the sometimes-too-hot sun of summer. Whatever the weather, this tree will be standing in it. The upper and outer leaves and branches will experience the weather more intensely. How does it feel to simply be immersed in the elements rather than being able to walk away?
Consider the fact that you have no words for communication. How else might you communicate? What is your relationship to other trees and plans around you? Let the tree you have chosen be your guide. What else are you aware of about how this tree exists and experiences the world?
When you are ready, bring your attention back to your breath and your own experience of the world. In your journal, record any discoveries and insights. What did you discover about this tree and your perceptions of it? If you did both the garden plant meditation and the tree meditation, what differences and similarities between the two did you discover?
Exploration
Contemplating Photosynthesis
Type of Exploration: Deepening awareness and contemplation
Supplies Needed:
• Journal or paper
• Pen or pencil
Ideal Setting: A garden or green space where you feel comfortable meditating
Child Friendly: Yes, recommended for ages eight and up
Plants make human life on our planet possible. Photosynthesis, the process plants engage in to create their own food, provides us with both food and oxygen. Most of us learned this in elementary school, but it is a fact we often tuck away without reflecting on how remarkable it is. We can explore a deeper mindful connection with plants and trees by considering photosynthesis.
Green plants have chloroplasts, specialized parts of cells that enable them to create their own food, and in turn create all the food on earth. (Humans either eat plants directly or eat animals that have consumed plants.) Sunlight touching leaves initiates the process. Carbon dioxide is a key ingredient in this process. As plants use the carbon dioxide, they release oxygen as a waste product.
In this mindfulness practice, we’ll focus on this process, first directing our attention to the food-making ability of green plants and then the oxygen generation.
To begin, find a tree or plant you’d like to work with. This can be done as an extension of the previous tree or plant meditations or as a stand-alone practice. A tree produces more oxygen than a smaller garden plant, but you can do this practice with any plant. We are not measuring the amount of food and oxygen produced, but cultivating an awareness of this exchange that happens all over the planet.
When you are ready, become centered with opening breaths. Bring your attention to the leaves of the plant or tree. Consider how plants can create their own food with water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight. This is in stark contrast to humans; we must find and ingest food to keep ourselves nourished. Imagine simply holding your arms out in the sun and being able to create the food you need to survive. This living being in front of you sustains itself without kitchens, appliances, restaurants, or farmers markets. Sit with this realization for a few minutes. What would it feel like to be able to create food in your body as the sun shone on you?
Now shift your awareness to your breath. We breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Plants use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and then release oxygen. Be aware that trees and plants are supporting our existence on the planet. We, in turn, are helping support the green world’s existence.
Concentrate on the exchange of energy. Energy is coming from the tree and flowing into your nostrils and lungs. Your body takes the parts that it needs and sends out carbon dioxide. On your exhale, imagine the carbon dioxide flowing out and being gathered in by this plant and others. Feel this flowing of energy like waves moving on and off shore.
Now imagine that you and the tree are not separate from each other, but are part of one being. You are connected by the ground beneath your feet and the atmosphere around you. Within this being is a flow of energy back and forth. It’s a gentle rhythm of aliveness as we each take what we need and share what we don’t with the other.
Stay with this practice at least ten minutes. See if you can carry this awareness of our vital connection to plants into your day with you. In your journal, record discoveries and insights.
Shinrin-Yoku: Into the Woods
My earliest memories of forests are the fuzzy images of the trees behind my childhood home. Our backyard property line shifted into a deeply wooded area, or at least that is how it looked through my five-year-old eyes. I remember helping my mother gather violets among the trees. It seemed mysterious and a little spooky. I realize now it wasn’t much of a forest, just the last remnants of a once-wild area that would soon be cut down for new homes.
There were many trees in our neighborhood, spread out on various lots. My favorite was an old weeping willow which all the neighborhood kids loved to climb. Some daredevils would go much higher than me, but I was happy getting myself to the first crook of its huge branches. They opened like a crow’s nest on a ship where one could sit and look out at the world. The tree felt ancient, and together with a sister willow they were some of the oldest trees on our block. Someone had the good sense to let them be when they were constructing houses on our block.
My next experience with tree elders occurred in tenth grade. Our botany teacher sent us to gather leaves at the Erie Cemetery. The cemetery, located in the heart of the city, had some of the oldest and most diverse groupings of trees. As teenagers, my friends and I were a little creeped out to be assigned a cemetery field trip. However, once there, we were impressed by the beauty and immensity of some of the trees. We discovered oak, tulip, black walnut, pine, maple, and more. They weren’t just examples of trees from our textbook; they were vibrant, huge beings each with a distinct energy and personality, many of them towering eighty feet or more above us.
As a young city dweller, I didn’t have many opportunities to be in a forest. My interaction with trees was often one-on-one. In our own yard, my father had apple trees and a large black walnut, each with their own distinct energy. I can still close my eyes and visualize those trees and their fragrance.
My family didn’t go to the woods, but we spent a lot of time at the beach. Presque Isle State Park is a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. There are miles of beaches, many of them lined by cottonwoods and willows. The cottonwoods have a sweet and earthy smell in the spring, especially when wet. They created a backdrop and ambiance for the park experience, but they didn’t make a forest.
When I was married and in my early twenties, we began taking occasional camping trips in the Allegheny National Forest. That shifted my awareness about the woods. There is a different energy to a community of trees in a forest. The density of trees creates a critical mass and a feeling of being in a protective bubble, a respite from urban activities.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the Allegheny National Forest does not have many old trees. Most of the original trees were cut down by loggers by the early 1900s. When I finally had the opportunity to visit old growth forests in Montana and California, it was like entering a temple. Most visitors automatically speak in whispers, much like they would in any sacred space. The energy and presence of these giant beings is palpable. Being in the woods can be an awe-inspiring and feel-good experience.
Feeling good in the woods is now supported by research.11 Simply by spending time in the forest, the body becomes more resilient. Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, grew out of the research. This is “the practice of walking slowly through the woods, in no hurry, for a morning, an afternoon or a day.” 12
A two-hour walk in the woods has numerous health benefits. Research is ongoing, but some studies reveal that the increased oxygen and the natural oils released by trees play a part in the health benefits.13
Japan has embraced this idea. They have identified sixty-two healing forests and provide information to their citizens about the features of each. At some locations, there are even specialists available to help people commune with the forest.14
Spending time in the woods has a definite measurable effect on our health. Being in the woods, like being in a garden, can be a doorway to mindfulness, but mindfulness involves intention. We could walk in the woods while talking with a friend or read a book under a tree. Those are wonderful and healthy activities, but they do not embody the practice of mindfulness. I’ve also observed people walking on wooded paths while talking on cell phones. Others are so intent on documenting their hike by taking photos that they are not actually present.
The forest, like the garden, can provide an opening to meditation. The lack of distractions, the beauty, and the scents all provide a conducive venue to practice mindfulness. If you have access to a forest, try the connecting activities in this chapter in that setting. Pay attention to any similarities and differences you discover from working in a garden or city green space. Record any insights in your journal.
For most of my life I have not had easy access to the forest, and my mindfulness practice has unfolded in my garden and urban green spaces. Settings are important. Experiment to see what works for you, but don’t lose track of the fact that mindfulness is an intentional practice. As we commit to practice, we might be able to tune in to the green world by seeing a dandelion pushing up through the cracks in a city sidewalk just as easily as we can tune in by walking into a forest of a thousand trees.