Take a walk through a tranquil woodland with this guided meditation by Judy Darley…
You’re sitting where sunlight falls in strips between trees, warming your face and your arms.
You can hear peeping birdsong, the occasional caw of a raven and a quiet trickle of water. You open your eyes.
Oaks, larches, rowan, sweet chestnuts and beech trees surround you with outspread branches, reaching towards the sky above.
As you stand, take a moment to lift your face and perhaps your arms, hands held with palms upwards as you stretch luxuriantly. Breathe in the scent of green leaves, moss and rich loam, noticing a subtle thread of chill in the air.
A guided meditation through nature
On a nearby oak tree, a tiny nuthatch runs up and down the trunk, its bluish feathers shining.
You reach out and run one finger over the rough bark several feet below where the bird is exploring. Your movement startles it into flitting away. Rather than being disappointed that it has gone, think how lucky you were to have glimpsed it.
You walk towards the murmur of water through the trees, taking time to notice the amethyst glow of harebells painting the ground, and the rich gleaming green of their leaves. Asters and anemones add splashes of colour.
Mindful walking
Shining water shows through the trees. You reach a small lake that narrows into a river. Tiny dippers fly down to sip from the surface, and pebbles shimmer like nuggets of gold.
You slip off your shoes and wade into the shallows, allowing the coldness to lap your ankles as the pull of the current nudges by. Crouching, you submerge one hand to the wrist.
You’re sitting where sunlight falls in strips between trees, warming your face and your arms.
You can hear peeping birdsong, the occasional caw of a raven and a quiet trickle of water. You open your eyes.
The sensation of movement draws tension down through your body and eases it away. Standing upright, fingers dripping, listen to the water – it sounds likevoices chattering.
Observe how the river flows effortlessly towards a fringe of smooth-faced rocks that indicate the start of a waterfall.
You walk as close as feels comfortable and watch the water’s character change from tranquil to cheerful haste, plummeting downwards with an exuberant energy.
Behind you, a path leads downwards. You exit the water, dry your feet in soft grass, replace your shoes and follow the path, noticing as the volume of the water increases.
Relaxing into guided meditation
Its churn brings to mind remarks from people who have cared for you. Perhaps you pursue this line of thought, summoning the conversations you’ve had or would like to have with those individuals.
Or perhaps you think of a problem you need to face and allow the white noise of falling water to tease out the answers already bobbing in your mind.
At the bottom you pause and tread with care into the fine, cooling spray of droplets, tasting the freshness on your lips. A deep pool has been carved into the rock by the tumult, opening out into an oasis of calm. It’s up to you whether you choose to enter up to your waist and let the cool water hold you, weightless, suspended beneath the sky, or whether you sit and admire the clouds reflected in the stillness beyond the waterfall’s descent.
This article first appeared in issue 13 of Planet Mindful magazine.
Did you enjoy this? Why not try our Guided Meditation in a Japanese Garden.