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 Hear.

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, or listen a bit then pause and remove both earbuds. That way you can listen to the quiet beauty of the forest, hear the podcast, 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 keep going. Life happens. 

Close your eyes and…

Take deep, slow, steady breaths, in through the nose and out through the nose….. extend the exhales. … easy, graceful. No forcing. Relax your face. 

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. Press the feet gently into the earth. Feel yourself growing tall, the crown of the head reaching up to the sky. Your whole body feels long and tall, from the waist down is lightly pressing down, grounding, and from the waist up feels lighter, reaching up to the sky. All of this is gentle so you can be here for a little while, comfortably. Keep breathing. You can continue with the square breath, or breath normally.

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. Eyes are still closed if they can be.

As you breathe, notice the sound of the inhale, and the sound of the exhale. Feel the vibration in the chest, throat, nose. The sounds INSIDE of you. Can you feel any vibration under your feet? 

Expand your awareness of sounds just past your body, to the world around you, but close. What you are hearing, can you identify the sound? Expand your awareness more, to sound farther away. Is it the same sound or something different? Can you identify the sound?

Consider all of the sounds you are hearing. Are they high pitched, or low? Constant sounds or intermittent? Can you hear patterns?  

Bring your awareness back to your breath. As you gently open your eyes, look around you and see if you can identify the source of the sounds, both near and far.  Feel free to take a closer look before you start your walk.

This is the end of podcast 2. As you walk through the forest, play with everything you hear. Be open to all the delight and comfort that mother nature has for you today. Enjoy and be well.