This year I participated in a Nature Meditation teacher training program offered by Mark Coleman’s Awake in the Wild. I was inspired to do this training to find a community of meditators who share my love of the out-of-doors. I honor the way being in nature makes me feel. In the woods I feel wonderfully small and insignificant. This perspective helps me feel a part of something much bigger than myself and hence not take myself so seriously. I always leave feeling refreshed. After this program, I feel more connected to the natural world.
This teacher training takes place over four week-long retreats: the first, in Marin, California, was a silent retreat led by Mark (I was unable to attend this retreat). The following three involved lectures, studying different practices, and practice teaching. Monthly zoom meetings and readings rounded out the course.
The first teaching retreat, in January of 2025, was held in the mountains of the southern tip of Baja California Sur in Mexico. I met the 20+ member group, and teachers Mark Coleman and Lori Schwanbeck, at the Cabo San Lucas airport. We piled into buses for a 2-hr drive to an exquisite and serene retreat center, Tsegyalgar West. This center is on 3,000 acres of protected land. Some people camped, others of us rented casitas for the week. It was sunny, dry, cold at night, pleasant during the day, quiet, and stunningly beautiful. Our early morning sit was on a hilltop with an expansive view – I could see the full moon set as the sun rose. We met outside each day for learning and practicing under a huge ficus tree. We learned the “what, why, and how” of various nature meditation practices: breathing with nature, listening in nature, arriving in nature.
I’ve been guiding meditation for Mindfulness Northwest classes for many years, so aspects of this training were familiar. What was new was the language connecting to nature. A basic “awareness of breath” practice grew into “breathing with nature.” Awareness of one’s own breath expanded to feel the connection of our breathing with that of the trees and plants surrounding us. The air I breathe out, containing carbon dioxide, is taken up by surrounding plants. In return, through photosynthesis, they offer back oxygen.
I’d always known this intellectually, but to practice with this awareness underscores our intimate connection with plant life on this earth. Meditation opens this door of experience. My journey has taken me from super-charged brain-based academic medicine, to exploring healing through movement (Pilates) and meditation, to now intimately tuning into the nurturing natural world.
This connection with nature, that we are not separate, that we live in reciprocity, kept building during the retreats.
Our next gathering was in Pilot Hill, on a vast private ranch in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Here we nestled in a grove of oak trees, mindful, of course, of poison oak! More practices, more principles, more practice teaching. A grounding practice resonated with me:
This practice focuses on the sensations of being held by the earth while sitting, standing, or walking. Like a tree, imagine growing roots into the soil for stability. But also like a tree, tune into your suppleness and bendability. When feeling unfocused, return to the felt sense of the vast, solid earth beneath your feet. Connect to this stability. Feel the upright resilience of your strong back coupled with the curious and open sense of your soft front. We can hold both. Nature is our example.
My fellow classmates were an enthusiastic group of meditating nature lovers from around the country and beyond: California, Colorado, Washington, Vancouver BC, Illinois, Missouri, Mexico. We ranged in age from late 20’s to late 70’s! Friendships emerged, deep conversations ensued, and laughs were shared. I savored being around this varied age range with all of us sharing a love of being deeply engaged with the outside world.
The final retreat was in the mountains of New Mexico, about an hour out of Santa Fe. The connections and relationships within the group really solidified during this week – there was an ease of shared commitment and experience. We were situated along the Vallecitos River, and bathing and wading became noontime activities to soothe from the heat while occasional thunderstorms kept us alert. The first two days were like the prior retreats – learning and practice-teaching.
One offering I particularly enjoyed is the “Four Elements” practice: tuning into the elements of earth, water, air, and fire in self and in nature, and feeling how we share these attributes. Again, we are not different. We are not separate.
We spent time exploring, deeply, the challenges facing the natural world. Drawing on the work of Joanna Macy, in a formal ceremony, we were invited to express what we felt about our environmental and political situation. Deep grief and sadness, guilt, anger, outrage, and frustration were all screamed and cried and held with the support of the group.
The following day, in a recap of the ceremony, it became clear how we need to hold opposites. Yes, the world is beautiful, and yes, it is threatened by our human incursions. Yes, we are privileged to all fly to New Mexico for this retreat, and yes, the planes would have flown without us. Yes, we all use resources from the earth, and yes, we all try to not be wasteful.
We must hold all the truths.
I entered the program thinking that bringing people mindfully into nature would encourage stewardship of our environment. I still believe this, but my purpose is now simpler – let this generous natural world take care of us. It does so without judgment. Quiet time in nature is soothing. Being outside is calming. Let the trees and shrubs and wildlife settle your harried mind.
If this sounds appealing, please join me outside! I have three upcoming events in nature:
Opening to Wonder: Mindfulness in Nature
Saturday September 6, 2025
half-day meditation retreat
A Quiet Walk in Seward Park
September 13, 2025
contact Beth for details: bglosten@gmail.com
Mindfulness Training Retreat for Healthcare Professionals
October 18 & 19, 2025
At the spectacular Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine
Until then, enjoy this nature meditation.
