We live on this beautiful planet, this beautiful earth, and you could say we’re here because of love—because of the love that comes from nature and the abundance of this earth. And I think for many of us, one of the easiest places that our heart is touched and is opened, where we feel a sense of connection and kinship and love is in nature. Whether it’s just looking up at the night sky, seeing a bird fly by our window, or when we’re more deeply in the woods or walking in a park—wherever we may find ourselves in a natural setting.
Moving Beyond Our Sense of Self
And so with loving-kindness practice, what’s most helpful is to find the most supportive place or environment that allows you to feel that sense of connection. So ideally, you’re doing this practice in a natural setting such as a park, or you could be sitting on your deck or in a garden, or out by the ocean where you feel a sense of warmth or love or connection with the world around you. You don’t have to be physically in nature, however, to do this practice. You might be sitting at home, but you may be recollecting times you’ve been in nature, in a forest, touched by having had some contact with an animal, having been near the ocean, or with a view of a sunset or the night sky. And in reflecting about that, it’s allowing you to feel that sense of connection. Because what loving-kindness practice does is open the heart; it takes us beyond our small sense of self. And, of course, being out in nature, a sense of connection is immediately apparent: we can touch in with a wider sphere of experience and influence. It can take us out of that prison, that sometimes constricted sense of self, where we feel small or separate or isolated. So the loving-kindness practice itself, as well as being in nature, is a way to allow the heart to open, to soften, and to attune and abide more naturally in a sense of open-hearted connection.
Opening Our Hearts to the Natural World
Show Notes
Find more from Mark Coleman here: markcoleman.org Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery Make Peace With Your Mind From Suffering to Peace And more from Mindful here: Nature Meditations course The June 2022 issue of Mindful magazine: The Self-Compassion Issue More episodes of 12 Minute Meditation The Real Mindful Podcast Let us know what you thought of this episode of 12 Minute Meditation by leaving a review or by emailing [email protected].
read more
Mark Coleman February 15, 2022
Chelsea Fuss October 18, 2021
Kelly Barron July 14, 2021
