Connect with Nature with Mindful Journaling (Part 3)

Useful techniques to be one with Nature

The wonders of Nature can bring endless joy and benefits when you allow yourself to reconnect with its magic. In the second instalment of this series, we shared an approach on connecting with Nature through Visualisation. In this next part, we take you deeper to develop your bond with Nature through Pure Listening.

The orchestra of sounds that Nature exudes might seem like a random tune put together, but once you listen deeply, you will realise there is a very controlled chaos that functions within this environment. While human nature tends to want to make sense of everything, these new techniques we are offering here are quite the opposite. Pure hearing is taking in sounds as they come without attempting to assign any association or meaning to it and it allows us to develop a connection with Nature in an unobstructed way.

1. Find a quiet spot in the park and sit comfortably
Find a quiet space in the park. By now, you should be familiar with the routine to begin the exercise: sit comfortably and relax. Feel free to adjust your clothing and posture till you are ready. When you are ready, drop your gaze and close your eyes gently.

2. Listen to the sounds around you
Now, with your eyes remained closed, just listen and tune in effortlessly. Take all the sounds in and keep an open mind. Don't bother with wondering what the birds are for now and quite simply, just enjoy the soundscape that is filled with birds chirping, rustling leaves and water gurgling in the background.

In the instance, there is momentary freedom as we detach the need to make sense of what we’re hearing. Pure hearing happens effortlessly. In this moment right where you are sitting, leave your thoughts, expectations, knowledge from prior experiences behind and give in to the sounds. Just allow the pure sounds to come to you without judgment.

Following the advice of Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American professor emeritus of medicine and the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine,

It is very much a bathing in sound, a sensuous luxuriating in pure sound and the spaces between them, in layer upon layer of sounds. Now they are simply what they are, no longer identified, no longer listened for in a straining, reaching sort of way.

What we do hear from Nature every day is now amplified, because you are now tuning in with real intent. What you have here now is pure awareness, untainted by thoughts, pre-conceived ideas and judgments, which can be impediments. There is tranquillity in the hearing and in the knowing underneath the sound.

Celebrate in this spaciousness of soundscape, because where the mind constantly interrupts itself in daily living, this moment is wholesomely dedicated now to listening to Nature.

3. Write freely about your experience
As with our previous practices, we conclude each session by recollecting in tranquillity. Open a fresh page on your Collins Debden journal and make a list of the pure sounds you’ve just heard. Draw back from your learnings from Reflective Writing and describe the experience. Was it effortless for you? Did you find yourself looking for sounds or did you allow it to come to you?

Keep on doing this regularly to foster your connection with Nature and solidify your thoughts by documenting them in your journal. Choose from our wide range of journals and pick one that suits your style.

#ConnectWithNature is proudly presented and prepared in collaboration with Shalini Damodaran, an established Mindfulness practitioner and teacher. For more information, please visit https://shalinidamodaran.com/.