Meditation… mindfulness… time in nature… These are all things that can help keep us healthy and balanced.
I gathered some lovely autumn leaves with the intention of using them as part of a meditation based on creating a nature mandala.
I pictured myself making my mandala in a zen-like state, carefully building a design filled with personal meaning, and totally present to every moment of the experience.
What actually happened was this:
I sat in the garden with my cat and listened to the birds for a while.
I started picking through the leaves I’d gathered and began arranging them in an uneven circle.
The cat walked across the design and sat down in the middle, oblivious to the task at hand.
After a short while she got bored and walked away. I continued to place leaves in a simple pattern.
The wind disturbed the leaves a little more.
After just a few minutes I stopped and admired my creation, feeling like a kid who’d drawn their first recognisable sun with a chubby yellow crayon.
It was fun.
It felt like playing.
It was playing.
Meditation, mindfulness, nature connection… they don’t have to be formal, serious affairs…
How can you play with nature today?
Come and join me on Facebook for the 28 day #EverydayNature experiment and share your nature connection with other lovely people.