The earth is around us, beneath us, in front of us, and is a provider for us. It can be easy to forget the sheer complexity and simplicity that the earth exhibits day after day, year after year. It can be easy to take for granted all that the earth has to offer for us.
We inhale fresh, clean air that fills our lungs with life. We sip from soothing, refreshing water that keeps our bodies hydrated and healthy. We consume the bounty of the earth from its roots to its crops to its animals to energize us and provide us with sustenance.
Nature nurtures us every day and oftentimes we do not even realize it. Connecting with the world around you can be a grounding force of peace and calamity.
There are many different ways you can find sacred moments of connection with Mother Nature. Beaches, mountains, deserts, and tropics are glorious, but you do not have to live in the conventional “naturally beautiful settings” that we often think about in order to feel the power of nature around you. You can go on a walk, tend to a garden, sit in the sunlight, or even gaze up at the sky to see and comprehend how reassuringly huge the planet that we live on is.
It is humbling, comforting, and a little bit scary to acknowledge that we are tiny specimens in an ever-changing, ever-growing ecosystem of something far greater than us. Acknowledging this fact can put our lives and our worlds into perspective, provide reassurance that the earth will provide for us, or calm anxieties knowing that the world has so much to offer us.
Get Outside and Meditate
Meditation is one of the best ways to connect not only with the planet but also yourself and others. Taking time to sit still and practice presence can bring us back to who we are at our core, as well as bring us a sense of calm and purpose. According to Forbes, science-backed research has found that meditation not only can help your mind and connective capabilities, but also your physical health. Mind and body are intertwined and connected in every possible way, so using the mind to heal the body and vice versa makes a lot of sense.
Confused on how to even begin a meditation practice?
Sarah Meyer Tapia of Stanford University explains that “meditation is to be present and know what we are doing, while we are doing it.” This means that we can meditate anywhere, anytime, with anyone.
A good rule of thumb for starting a meditation practice is to make sure you are somewhere comfortable with minimal distractions. This will allow you to quiet your mind with a bit more ease and really tune in to the sensations and feelings that arise in your body.
To get you started in feeling more grounded and connected to the earth, we have put together an earthly meditation for you to guide you and allow you to explore and experience your mind and body.
It is also important to remember you can create your own perfect place to meditate in nature- patios, porches, backyards, wherever nature is in bloom.
An Earthly Meditation…
Lay down on your back or upright in a comfortable position.
Place your hands on your belly, your heart, or off to your side.
Your palms can face down to ground you or up towards the sky to receive.
Imagine you are leaving your body as it is, and floating high up above your still body. You are soaring higher and higher, bursting through the ceiling, past the buildings that surround you, through the clouds, all the way up to the atmosphere. You fly past birds, through the airy atmosphere, all the way through the ozone until you reach the ends of the earth and can see the entire planet coming into focus.
Notice the deep blues of the sea and the robustness of the mountains.
Take a glance at the vastness of the Sahara and Wadi Rum Desert.
Soak up the majesty of the glaciers and acknowledge the crucial role that they play in the well-being of the earth.
Acknowledge how small the earth looks from a bird’s eye view.
Acknowledge how big the earth looks in comparison to your being.
Now, imagine yourself floating back through the atmosphere, past the ozone, through the clouds, past the buildings and houses, through your ceiling, and landing back inside of your body. Take a big inhale, and exhale out all of the perspective you have just gained. Feel your worries wiggle out of your body as you breathe in the vastness you have just encountered.
Next, imagine yourself falling out of your being, through the ground, crushing through the roots, rocks, soil, and sands of the earth. You are going deeper and deeper through the earth’s crust, past the mantle, the outer core, all the way into the inner core.
You are now in the deepest part of the earth. Feel the energy and heat radiating from the earth’s heart. Feel the power, density, and pressure that lives inside the planet that we call home.
See the mantle, with all of its strength to cause plate tectonics to shift, creating natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides. Breathe in the vast amount of water, enough to fill all of the earth’s oceans, that fill the core of the earth. Remind yourself that you, too, are filled and powered by water.
Now, imagine yourself soaring back through the core, through the mantle, bursting out of the crust, through the soil, rocks, and ground to find yourself reunited with your physical body.
Take a deep breath to acknowledge the density and concreteness of the earth. Breathe out the airy lightness that your body now feels. Feel your worries and weight lifted off of your shoulders.
Awaken your mind and body by wiggling your fingers, your toes, rocking your head side to side, then softly blink your eyes open.
You are one with the earth. You are human.
For more information about mindfulness and mediation, check out our blog The Sage for learning and growth opportunities to expand and ease your mind-body connection.
