Once you get to your trail, find a place you feel comfortable and will not be disturbed to sit or stand.  Once you get comfortable, start the podcast.

Hello, welcome to our Nature Podcast inspired by What We See.

Once you get to your chosen trail, find a place you feel undisturbed to sit or stand for a few minutes, perhaps a bit away from the parking lot. Make sure you feel comfortable listening to this podcast, perhaps using one earbud. That way you can listen to the quiet beauty of the forest, and be safe. Pause this podcast, and once you get comfortable there, hit play. 

You’ve found a space to sit or stand comfortably, near the beginning of your trail. If you are disturbed, just smile, and continue. Life happens. 

Close your eyes and…

Take deep, slow, steady breaths, in through the nose and out through the nose….. extend the exhales… easeful, graceful. No forcing. Face relaxes. 

Eyes are still closed if you feel safe and are able to. Feel your feet where they are touching the earth, connected to mother earth. Imagine you begin to grow roots through your feet, reaching down into the earth, holding you and supporting you, perfectly.  And with every inhale, you are pulling up nutrients through your roots, directly from mother earth, who supports you every minute of every day, even if you forget.

We talk about being present, being in the moment, that means we are paying attention to what we are doing right now. When other thoughts creep in, bring your attention back to my voice and what you are doing right now.

Open your eyes and...

gently and move your head slowly to one side any amount, noticing the forest around you. Slowly move your head to the other side. Now face forward. Face is relaxed. 

What did you see as you looked around, and as you look around now? Are all of the trees the same species?  Are they all alive?  Did you see any plants, animals, bugs or mushrooms? So much beauty. Seems impossible to see everything all at once.

Sometimes we focus our vision and sometimes we broaden it.

Look straight ahead, at something far away, feel the muscles of the eyes relax. Keep looking far away, now stretch out your arms in front of you palms up, bring the hands together so the pinky sides of the hands are touching.

Focus on a point on your hands, try to ignore all else. Now, keep your eyes on that same point on your hands, but become aware of your peripheral vision. Switch your attention back to your hands, paying no attention to the periphery. 

Close your eyes for a moment, relax them, then open your eyes and look at a point above your hands off into the distance. Slowly separate your hands and take in the entire scene, as if your hands are revealing the scenery to you as they move out to your side and then back behind you, perhaps outside your visual field. Relax the hands to your side and enjoy a broad frame of view. 

As you journey through the forest, practice keeping your vision broad by not focusing on one specific thing as you walk.  If you see something that interesting, take time to stop and focus, and be amazed, but when you start walking again make sure you broaden your vision and take in everything around you. 

Sometimes in life we focus on the thing in front of us and we miss so much. Sometimes we focus on the practical thing we need to do, maybe at work, maybe we need to get dinner on the table, and we miss some great stuff in our life. Ask yourself, what am I missing because I’m seeing what I’m seeing? What am I missing because I’m seeing what I’m seeing?

This is the end of podcast 1. As you walk through the forest, play with your broad and narrow vision, Be open to all the love and comfort that mother nature has for you today. Enjoy and be well.