Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Being that I'm a nature lover and feeling very assured that there are others like me, I felt compelled to write about a very simple way to meditate - take a walk through the woods! Not a fast paced cardio walk where your focus is on your physical health but a moderately paced walk where you can observe the world around you. Notice the variety of trees; oaks, pines, maples, sycamores, palm trees, etc., observe the way they reach up to the sky - there leaves turn up searching for the light. Admire the flora-fauna how it creeps along the forest floor making homes for the animals and bugs, or the beautiful colors that the vast array of blooms display. Smell the scent of the earth: sweet grass, drying leaves that have fallen from their branches, the fragrance of the flowers. Tune in to the sounds of the creatures that inhabit the land: birds tweeting, crickets chirping, frogs croaking. Feel the ground beneath you; is it crunching underfoot, is it plush, take your shoes off and feel the grass and dirt licking at the soles of your feet as you stroll along. Turn your heart and mind to the very space you are in. Be in the moment of where you are. Don't worry about the situation you left behind or the things you have to do when you've finished walking - just be in the woods like when you were a kid; smiling, laughing, happy and care free.
Letting life unfold in its own time becomes very difficult for some of us. But a moment of peace found while walking in the woods on a sunny afternoon stroll can have a ripple effect on our lives. Patience can do wonders for your physical, mental and spiritual health. All you have to do to begin to cultivate it - is stroll through the woods and admire the handy work of the magnificent universe that we are all a part of!
