Into Mindfulness

Nature-based art supports a mindful life. 

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When I go into nature, I am fully alive, energized, and in-tune with the world. Noticing beauty in nature has been my most consistent practice in mindfulness.

When we practice mindfulness, there are beneficial opportunities. We have a chance to:

• find inner joy
• know ourselves better
• focus on authentic values
• generate love and compassion
• find insight and wisdom
• deal with difficult situations clearly and fairly
• embrace the process of life, from birth to death
• overcome greed, selfishness, negativity, and worry
• feel intimacy and closeness with ourselves, and life itself
• experience freedom and commit to freedom for all

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Since the term mindfulness is an abstract concept, here are a few ways one might describe the experience.

• I feel more aware.
• I feel more receptive.
• I feel more present. 
• I feel more grounded.
• I feel more connected.
• I feel more centered.
• I feel more focused.

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Nature-based art is a wonderful tool in helping us to simply secure our connection to a meaningful, healthy life. Bringing nature-based art into our homes, offices, and social media spaces, we can receive the benefits of a mindfulness practice as we go about our day-to-day lives.

Here are three ideas for beginning a nature-based art mindfulness practice: 

​Choose a nature image that brings you joy. Explore every aspect of the image. What do you see? What might you hear? Smell? Feel? Taste? Now, close your eyes and continue to experience the scene in your mind's eye.

This practice can help develop imagination. As you continue to practice, notice if you see colors and forms, or hear the calming sounds of nature. See if you can tap into a brightness and sense of well-being. Practice regularly to experience deepened awareness. ​

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Choose a nature image that brings you joy. Explore every aspect of the image. What do you see? What might you hear? Smell? Feel? Taste? Now, close your eyes and focus on your connection to and place within that nature scene. Listen, reach out, move around, and touch, smell, taste. Nurture your connection to everything by noticing how things respond to your movements.

​Practicing this way will bring your full attention to and acknowledgement of what it means to be within this world of interconnection and cause/effect.

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Choose an image of your favorite flower and put it in a space where you need a gentle, persistent reminder to stay present. Let the love of these flowers become its own meditation. Let your eyes take in every detail, expression, color, and shape with love.

​This meditation will attune you to the beauty of this world and, when practiced regularly, you will begin to pay more attention to the beauty that is always around you, giving you an experience of the mystical and magical every day.

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Mindfulness is a practice; it becomes easier and more beneficial over time. Nature imagery can make your mindfulness practice simple, accessible, and stress-free. 

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How have you used art + nature to stay mindful?