Notice Nature: Embody the Feelings

This month, as winter gives way to spring, consider getting out of your four walls and into the outdoors. You do not need to spend hours outside to enjoy the benefits of the exercise.

For an added boost to your well-being, consider connecting with nature and embodying the feelings. Notice, name, and savor the experience in nature through all your senses. Pausing to appreciate nature—”stopping to smell the roses”— can boost your happiness and well-being, suggests research from The University of British Columbia Okanagan, and published in Science Daily.

One at a time, try noticing and naming something you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. With each experience, savor the sensations by holding onto them for at least 20 seconds; in this way, you embody the depth and breadth of the thoughts and feelings.

Gazing Exercise

What do you see?

Consider training your eyes to see the beauty of a tree’s aura, or energetic field, with a practice called gazing, This involves looking at a scene softly without focusing on any object while holding your field of view wide to the periphery of your vision.

“It’s best to begin with healthy evergreens,” says Brian Osborne, creator of Aura Seeing course. “Their auras are usually the easiest to see because they maintain their foliage or needles year-round. Pines are particularly good, because among all trees their energy frequency is the closest to humans.”

“Gazing outside is best on a cloudless day around dusk or dawn, when the light is not too bright,” says Brian. He offers these tips to start your gazing practice:

Stand or sit far enough away so you can easily see the whole tree, especially the top, where the aura usually starts to form first.
Breathe slowly and rhythmically, fully relaxing your body, holding your field of view wide to the periphery.
Notice how the aura forms around the top of the tree, extending as much as 10 to 15 feet up in the air. Unlike humans, trees never stop growing in height, so their energy is constantly reaching up and out.
The aura may begin as a thick outline that becomes denser as it grows larger. It may reach out to you, sending out tendrils of light.
Pay attention to any feelings you experience. These may be similar to human qualities such as love or gratitude, yet distinctly different. It could be a feeling of warmth or security. Such an energy exchange can be a healing gift to you, emotionally, mentally, and physically.
Name the colors. Are they soft and calming? Are they bold, bright and beautiful?

What Do You Hear?

Does the unseen traffic evoke memories of the sound of the ocean? Can you name the bird by the sound of its song?

Notice the Scents

What aromas do you notice? Sometimes, in early spring, there is a certain warm earthy aroma as the soil has been touched by the rain and sun. As you walk past your daphne, you may catch its sweet scent floating on the air.

What Can You Taste?

You might consider growing mint in your garden. Pick a sprig and touch it to your tongue. Wouldn’t that taste wonderful on your salad or in your Mojito drink?

What Does It Feel Like?

Finally, consider taking off your shoes and walking barefoot through the grass. Is the grass soft underfoot? Does it tickle your toes? What does the sun on your skin feel like? Name its warmth and soothing quality.

Give Happiness Awards!

Another way to embody nature would be this Happiness Awards exercise brought to us by our Happy for No Reason teachers, Marci Shimoff and Carol Kline (Shimoff and Associates, 2024.)

Notice what is around you with the aim of giving happiness awards. Be creative; there is no limit to the type or number of awards you might give. For example, as you look at flowers, identify which one might get the brightest color or sweetest scent award. Which birdsong strikes a chord of joy in your heart? You might even encourage family members or coworkers to play this game with you. Share your observations with one another. How does this deepen your ability to get out of your head? How does this strengthen your relationships?

Also try the Happy for No Reason “Sunning Exercise.”

Basic Sunning Practice

“The Sunning Practice is a simple yet powerful way to reset your serotonin and melatonin balance, which helps you get better sleep and experience more happiness. This practice is from Gilles Marin.

Do 3x/day for 3-5 minutes each time.
Face the sun with your eyes closed, glasses off. Breathe deeply. Absorb the sun’s light through your closed eyelids, via your optic nerves into your brain. Run the energy down your central nervous system and radiate out through the rest of your body. This stimulates your body to produce serotonin, which turns into melatonin at night to aid with sleep.

NOTE: If you do not have access to direct sunlight (it must be direct, not filtered through a window), then you can also use full-spectrum lighting.

Expanded Sunning Exercise

Do 3x/day for a few minutes each time.

Stand facing the direct sun with closed eyelids. Move your eyeballs back and forth under your eyelids as if you are REM sleeping. It is important to keep moving your eyeballs back and forth as this engages the nervous system as well as massages the internal muscles of the eyes.
Draw the warmth and energy of the sun into your mid-eyebrow (brow Chakra)—the spot right at the center of your forehead)—and breathe it all the way into the center of your brain, to where your Pineal and Pituitary glands reside.
Feel the energy of the sun activating these glands and stimulating the production of serotonin (the Happy Hormone) and melatonin (the Sleep Hormone).
Next bring this warm energy down into your throat to your Thyroid gland and feel the energy activating and stimulating the production of your thyroid hormones, helping to balance out your metabolism.
From your thyroid, let that warm energy trickle down into the center of your chest to your Thymus gland where it will activate and stimulate the production of your T-cells, bringing balance to your immune system.
Next let that wonderful warm energy from the sun flow down into your solar plexus to your Pancreas. Feel it activating and stimulating the production of insulin and glucagon which are balanced your blood sugar levels.
Next feel the energy and warmth of the sunlight flowing to your Adrenal glands on top of your kidneys. This will help to balance the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol, and to hydrate the adrenals which have been overworked and stressed out on most people.
Finally, let this warm sunlight energy travel down into your lower abdomen to your Ovaries (for women) or Testicles (for men). This helps to balance out the sexual hormones.
Feel all of your endocrine glands strung together like a beautiful string of golden pearls, illuminated with the warmth, light and energy of the sun. If any of your endocrine glands have been surgically removed or are not functioning, then feel the other glands taking up the slack for these glands and bringing balance to your entire endocrine system.
Now that you have energized all of your endocrine glands, go back up to your mid-eyebrow. Breathe the warm light and energy of the sun into your eyes and draw it all the way along your optic nerves to your brain.
Feel your brain becoming illuminated with this light and energy. Let it flow down the entire length of your spinal chord and then feel it radiating out along your central nervous system to the periphery of your skin.
Feel yourself relaxing more and more into the comfort and warmth of the sun’s light and energy as it bathes your nervous system, helping to balance it out so that you can easily switch between sympathetic (stress response) and parasympathetic (rest and relax response) when necessary. This will train your body NOT to stay stuck in the stress response.
Just relax and keep breathing as your body is bathed with the beautiful healing sunlight both inside and out.
When you are ready, open your eyes and look around you. Notice a bluish-gray tint to your vision—this is natural polarization, your body’s own sunglasses.
Also notice the improved clarity of your vision, and the vibrancy of the colors around you. Be aware of how your overall mood feels.
Doing this exercise 3x/day for a few minutes each time will help to balance out your neuroendocrine system. This practice is especially recommended if you are challenged by any conditions which are hormonally related, e.g. PMS, peri-menopause, menopause, stress, diabetes, hypoglycemia, hyper- or hypothyroidism, SADS, depression, insomnia and anxiety. You will begin to notice changes in your mood after the first day.”

Doing this exercise 3x/day for a few minutes each time will help to balance out your neuroendocrine system. This practice is especially recommended if you are challenged by any conditions which are hormonally related, e.g. PMS, peri-menopause, menopause, stress, diabetes, hypoglycemia, hyper- or hypothyroidism, SADS, depression, insomnia and anxiety. You will begin to notice changes in your mood after the first day.”

In summary, take brief moments throughout your day to fully notice and appreciate the nature around you. These blessings can be key to creating a joyful and happy life.