According to researchers at Michigan State University we have about 80,000 thoughts a day and 90% of them are the same thoughts repeating over and over again. You’d think we’d get bored of them!
Obviously, the ability to think is very useful but if we never have a break from our thoughts, they can cloud our experience of life. It can be hard to see what is actually happening as opposed to our mind’s interpretation of it.
When we experience life in the present moment, even the most challenging situations can feel more manageable. You are no longer thinking about what could happen in the future or what has happened in the past but you are experiencing only what is, right now. And one of the best ways to quieten your mind is to bring your attention to your senses.
Practising sensory awareness in a natural environment can be really rewarding. In the woods, there is so much to tempt you towards your senses. Once you notice the way the light is falling on the leaves or you inhale the rich earthy forest smells or the feel of the oak’s ridged bark on your hands, these things will help you to connect with the present moment.
This takes time though and is aptly named a practice. We are used to thinking a lot. But the more you can notice your thoughts, let them go and come back to your sensory experience, the calmer you feel and your connection with life deepens.
When spending time in nature it is common to feel the need to justify it by doing something. Just being is not seen as enough in itself. Perhaps we are exercising, photographing it or identifying plants, trees and wildlife. Although these things can be lovely to do, they can at times prevent us from having a more intimate experience with nature; an experience that can give us some space from our thoughts and re-connect us to ourselves and the natural world.
As the poet John Moffitt says:
‘You must be the thing you see:
You must be the dark snakes of
Stems and ferny plumes of leaves,
You must enter in
To the small silences between
The leaves,
You must take your time
And touch the very peace
They issue from.’
