Several years ago I had the good fortune to study Ecopsychology through Project Nature Connect (http://www.ecopsych.com), learning first hand how we humans and nature can communicate with one another on sensory levels in ways that can restore well-being, balance and connection inside of us.
The core principle is very simple: when outdoors and/or in nature, allow yourself to open your senses to the environment around you; via one or more of your 53 senses, you will soon find yourself drawn or attracted to something: perhaps a particular tree, flower, scent, feeling of the wind on your skin, a bird or bug or spider's web, a dew drop or a gleaming body of water, a particular cloud or the way the clouds are moving across the sky or the shadows they are creating on the land...it can be just about anything.
What matters is that your attention has been attracted to something via your senses and you are giving yourself permission to follow this gentle impulse and explore what has attracted you, all the while asking yourself questions like "what sense (or combination of senses) attracted me to "this", why is this particular thing attractive to me, how does it make me feel, how might it connect with something that is going on in my life/consciousness right now, what can it teach me in terms of finding better balance and connection inside of myself, etc."
Often times I will go for a walk or hike and start to follow and explore what I am naturally attracted to, allowing myself to use my senses to learn and become intimate with whatever that might be, in a way that respects and honours boundaries at the same time. I am always amazed by the wise answers, reflections, and "a'ha's" nature provides on things I am working through for myself. My gratitude goes to Michael Cohen for openly sharing this teaching with the world.
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