Mindfulness Stop 3

Make sure your volume is on: "Mindfulness 3 - Redwoods"

Show transcript

Mindfulness by the redwood tree.

Let's just start by observing the flow of your breath in and out of your body. Feel your chest and stomach as it expands and gently releases. Follow the rhythm and sensations of breathing.

Look at the redwood tree. See the sun shining on the highest branches. See how tall it is. See the cool moss that covers some of the redwood bark in different places, on the exposed roots and trunk. See how stable the tree is, how amazingly beautiful it is.

Touch the bark at the trunk. How does it feel? Does it feel soft in places or hard? And what's the texture like under the touch of your hand? Does the tree smell? Are there any scents of it? What are the leaves like? How do they feel? What shape are they?

Take in the details? Take in all the colours of the tree. Walk around it. Look up through the branches, watch how it moves in the breeze to release patches of sky and cloud and sun.

Imagine how its physical body drops into the earth, and the connection it has with it. Notice where the earth hugs the tree and supports it, how its roots are released and slowly made their way through the earth.

Now standing by the redwood, imagine that you too are a redwood tree. Imagine roots forming through your base, into the earth, pushing through different layers of soil and clay stretching down and down to the core of the earth and wrapping themselves around it, helping you to feel grounded, secure, and stable. Imagine growing taller and stronger. Imagine your branches spreading, winding up towards the sky, wider as you grow taller, connecting you to the redwood and other trees in the park.

Being grounded helps us to become more mindful and in the present. Just enjoy for a time the strength you feel and connection you have with the ground and your surroundings.