The first module we will explore foundational nature-based, sensory awareness meditations. These grounding practices connect us to our bodies, to the body of the earth and to our senses link us to life all around us.

I will be teaching about the body as a support for presence, embodiment and for keeping us rooted in the living present, rather than being lost in our swirling thoughts and feelings. I will point to how the body is a conduit for accessing calm, stability of presence and peace.

The heart of nature-based practice is to orient to the full range of your sensory experience. The senses are the portal to the beauty, richness, and vitality of the natural world. The more we ground in the sensory present the less we are caught up in our thoughts and worries. Nature is by nature restful, calming and not mentally caught up as humans are in anxiety about the future. By attuning to the senses, we wake up to the vitality of the living present.

With that we feel the natural supportiveness of sensory experience to ground in the present moment. We begin to viscerally understand the changing nature of experience, no two moments being the same. And we begin to open to the delight of this connection with the living world around us.

Here we focus on understanding that we always have agency with what we do with our attention. And what we do with our attention matters. The self-awareness that comes with mindfulness practice helps us to notice when our mind and attention is inclined to what is useful or harmful. The gift of Nature meditation practice is we can learn to train our attention to notice beauty and that which is uplifting to mind and heart.

So, with that understanding and with skillful, mindful intention, we can learn to incline our awareness to that which allows us to feel nourished, grounded, joy. All these qualities are key factors in developing a sustainable resilience in the face of difficulty.

Impermanence, the eternal truth that everything is changing constantly, is perhaps the most obvious lesson we learn from natural world. No two moments are the same. Indoor living tends to shelter us from this truth. Being outdoors with awareness we see and hear first-hand this living reality. And as we become more intimate with this experience through a contemplative attentiveness, we see how everything is constantly in flux, being born, growing, flourishing, decaying and dying and renewing. Here we will discover in our moment-to-moment changing sensory experience that every moment our body, breath, mind, thought, heart and senses are always in flux and how we can find steadiness in the midst of the inevitable and unpredictable changes in our lives.

Often in times of turmoil, we feel tossed about like the surface of a lake during high winds. In those periods it is easy to feel agitated, and our mind can be a flurry of thoughts while our body experience restlessness and our heart troubled. Taking refuge in nature during those times, with a contemplative attention can be a great balm. Nature is rarely stressed and often exudes a calm presence, a deep stillness and a soothing quiet, that is like medicine to our troubled nervous system.

Here we will learn to attune to stillness around us in nature – in the stability of the earth underfoot, to the calmness of stone, the steadiness of trees in the forest, or the tranquility of the still morning air and the silence of the night – and how orienting to stillness in our environment allows that quality to be evoked within us.

Here we will attune to all the ways we feel loved and cared for by the earth. That may be the way we feel safe and protected in a grove of trees, or warmed by the life-giving sun, or soothed and nourished by gentle rain. In the same way we also learn to extend our hearts to all the life forms in nature that touch and nourish us. We learn to radiate kindness and love to trees, plants, birds, animals, insects, clouds, mountains, skies and the earth herself. With that, we come to hold all life with a heart as wide as the world.

Sign up now to learn how Resilience and Nature with Mark Coleman can help you move closer to calm, peace and stillness.

Cost – $199

Cancellation and Refunds: $50 of your payment is a nonrefundable deposit, no exceptions. Cancellations will only be accepted within 48 hours of your registration. If you need to cancel, email Jen at jen@awakeinthewild.com.