Why Mindfulness in Nature?

On their own, mindfulness practices have been medically proven to have a plethora of beneficial effects. Mindfulness can provide relief of anxiety, depression, phobias, ADD and other mental ailments; they encourage greater relaxation, joy, peace, and other positive attitudes/emotions; they have shown to increase physical healing, immune system function, and reduce chronic pain. Mindfulness practices even have been shown to increase generous, compassionate, and kind actions in the world!

Likewise, on its own, spending time in Nature - in the presence of living things (plants/animals) or the elements (being outside) - has shown amazingly similar positive effects from a growing body of international research studies. Nature immersion can provide relief of distressful states such as depression, and anxiety and encourage wholesome states such as relaxation and joy. It can increase mental focus, improve our immune strength, heal lifelong traumas, and work through intense life changes. Nature immersion can even catalyze transformative insights and “spiritual” experiences that we can carry through the rest of our lives!

Mindfulness and nature-immersion are showing themselves as unmatched medicines that produce well-documented positive effects on our overall well-being and happiness. When both of these medicines are consciously combined they become an incredibly potent tonic for our body, mind, and soul. Combining the intentional activity of mindfulness with the healing presence and transmission of Nature itself amplifies the positive potentials of both.
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Whether we are looking for physical, emotional/mental, or spiritual help, or all of the above, practicing mindfulness in nature is a very promising solution that may help us on our journey!

​Insight Meditation and Nature

Insight Meditation (otherwise known as Vipassana) is a mindfulness-based spiritual practice and philosophy that seeks the healthy resolution of our psychological stress and suffering. Based in the roots of Theravada Buddhism, Insight Meditation holds that contentment and peace arise from insight into and alignment with our innermost nature or natural state of being (along with the cultivation of healthy attitudes and orientations to life). The wisdom and teachings of the tradition emerged 2500 years ago in the context of nature-based meditation practices. Indeed, mindfulness in nature was (and still is) at the heart of the Insight lineage.
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A number of modern Insight Meditation teachers have continued the spirit of nature-based mindfulness practice based on its numerous benefits for the spiritual development of inner tranquility, liberating wisdom, and a natural openness and ease of heart. Justin Michelson of Nature’s Heart carries on this tradition in the lineage of Rodney Smith and Ajahn Buddhadasa, with the mentorship of Mark Coleman, and the inspiration of Thich Nhat Hahn, Mary Oliver, Joanna Macy, and many more. He weaves together the ancient teachings of Insight Meditation, the fresh revelations of science and ecology, and the intuitive presence of Nature itself.

The Practice of “Natural Mindfulness”

      Natural Mindfulness is rooted in the view that mindfulness is not an additional task to accomplish, but is in our nature as living, conscious beings. Instead of requiring arduous effort, mindfulness can be naturally open, easeful, and nourishing - drawn by our curiosity and inspired by example of natural systems. A “Natural Mindfulness” can arise when we emphasize particular qualities of attention and ways of relating to oneself (views and attitudes) that are inspired by principles of nature and evolutionary biology (and traditional practices). When practiced, we can deepen the realization of our fundamental belonging to life, welcome forth our own innermost essential nature, and begin to illuminate and heal our inner lives.
(These qualities of attention may take time or guidance to understand and experience. However, don’t be surprised if the presence of nature itself effortlessly brings them out!)
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1. Natural Views & Attitudes
   1. Seeing experience as Nature. This is the practice of seeing every thought, every emotion, every sensation - every sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch - as Nature, revealing a unification of what appears “inside” and “outside” of ourselves. We might say silently to our experience, “this, too, is Nature”, “this, too, is Nature.”
   2. Treating experience as Nature. This is the practice of treating ourselves as we might a tender plant or budding flower - with kindness, curiosity, and gratitude, honoring ourselves for just what we are. “We might say silently to our experience, “I honor you as Nature”, “I honor you as Nature.”

1. Natural Qualities of Attention
   1. Easy Attention. This is the practice of releasing striving and efforting to reveal an easeful and awake flow of present moment attention.
   2. Open Attention. This is the practice of releasing control of our focus and allowing our attention to alight on whatever it is drawn to within our present moment experience.
   3. Intimate Attention. This is the practice of releasing the separate observer and moving into a sincere and heartfelt connection to whatever is being known in our present moment experience.

Three Transformative Lessons from Nature

To those that offer their sincere attention and intention, Nature has a way of offering its liberating lessons. These are three lesson that can transform the way we feel and act in our lives.

1. Interdependence. We don’t have to look far into nature to see that all parts are connected to one another, balance one another, and eventually become one another. This couldn’t be more true than the relationship between our lungs and the trees, exchanging life-giving gases on a moment to moment basis. These myriad examples remind us that we too are part of this intricate web of life, that we have a home amidst the natural world, and that we can never be alone. This is a crucial reminder in our society and our minds so often rife with isolation, division, and loneliness, and one that can bring us lasting ease and contentment.
2. Change. From morning to night, season to season, and year to year, nature teaches us about the cycles of life. From the passing of weather to the life and death of plants and animals, nature teaches us about the natural flow of change. Seeing this clearly, we can come into greater acceptance of the natural unfolding of our own lives, from birth to adolescence to maturity and to death. We can allow the unresolved or uncomfortable things in our life or in our minds greater acceptance and spaciousness, knowing that all things inevitably change.
3. Contentment (stillness/silence/spaciousness). One of nature’s most subtle yet powerful lessons is in the presence of the wild things themselves - the way the trees hold themselves, the expanse of the big open sky, the swift and mindful movements of the animal world. Indeed, in it’s very way of being, nature transmits it’s silent, still, and spacious presence to us as a constant example, reminding us that that same presence lives within us, as we too are part of that same nature. This understanding can give us access to a space of calm and contentment even amidst the busyness and pressure of daily life - a priceless gift.