What do we mean by praying with nature? Why are people drawn to it? How can praying with nature be practiced?
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What is praying with nature?
Fr. Thomas Keating, a monk and one of the main proponents of Centering Prayer, said in an interview that God has given us two books: the Bible and Nature. Praying with nature is a way of communing with God through creation. It is a way of practicing “God in all things”.
The Bible is filled with stories of people encountering the Sacred in nature. Mountains served as retreat spaces for Jesus and his disciples. Rivers stood as baptism sites. The desert held space for battling with temptations. The lakes were classrooms where the apostles learned and taught. Zacchaeus climbed a tree to witness Jesus’s work. Moses received his mission from God in a bush. The fields nurtured the good seeds thrown at them.
In the olden times, the desert fathers and mothers found God in the wilderness. Before humans constructed physical churches, the caves served as the original cathedrals. People wrote songs and created artworks out of their musings of the natural world.
Praying with nature anchors us in our humanity, in the reality that we humans are inextricably connected with our natural environment. It is a way of reconnecting and uniting with the greater flow of life through our senses, our whole body and mind.
Why pray with nature?
Nature is as old as life. Early humans awakened to their spirituality through their relationship with the natural world. The vastness of natural landscapes leaves us in awe. The display of nature’s force evokes deep emotions and stirs the spirit.
Nature offers its healing energy to nourish various aspects of our lives. Walking and enjoying nature is a good form of exercise. Breathing fresh air and appreciating beautiful landscapes reduce stress. People who practice forest bathing are found to experience lower blood pressure and faster recovery from illness.
Incorporating prayer while spending time in nature is good for our soul. The soft breeze can help quiet the mind. The silence and natural sounds give us an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves and God. Praying with nature awakens our spirit.
The natural landscapes become our teachers. The mountains can teach us a thing or two about stability. The seas can speak to us about clarity. The rivers have something to say about letting go.
Natural processes or phenomena become sources of wisdom and inspiration. Meditating on metamorphosis can mirror our own inner transformation. Witnessing a flower as it blooms can bring delight and hope. Observing the seasons as they change reminds us of the seasons of our lives. Watching the sunset and the sunrise can help us appreciate rest and new beginnings.
God’s presence can be deeply and strongly felt in nature.
How do we pray with nature?
As with other forms of prayer, praying with nature begins by finding inner stillness. This can be done by being in a quiet space and paying attention to your breathing. Starting our prayer with the awareness of your breathing anchors us in the present moment.
From this posture of inner stillness, praying with nature can be done through various practices. The following are three broad and overlapping groups of practices with some examples:
Savoring
Savoring practices focus on stillness and makes use of the senses in receiving the energy and inspiration from nature.
Some practices include:
Meditation in nature. Sit quietly and comfortably on the grass or on a bench either with eyes closed or maintaining a soft gaze at an object or scenery. Notice what you see (if your eyes are open), hear, and feel.
Grounding exercise. Take off your shoes and imagine stepping into a sacred space. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Notice the sensations as you make contact with the ground, the grass, some pebbles, etc. Savor this time of being connected with nature.
Forest bathing. Sit or lie down in the middle of trees and imagine being embraced by the energy surrounding you. Pay attention to any sounds and sensations as you observe and appreciate nature.
Co-creating
Co-creating practices tap on your creativity to make something out of what is available in your surroundings.
Some practices include:
Nature mandala. In the silence of your heart, slowly go around and collect some dried leaves and twigs of varying shapes, colors, and sizes. On a clear space on the ground, reflectively arrange those you collected in concentric circles to create a mandala. Do not think too much about how it will look like. When you feel that your mandala is finished, gaze at it and appreciate what you did.
Photo divina. Walk naturally and enjoy the calm and beauty of your surroundings. Notice if there is any scene or object that gets your attention. Using your camera phone, imagine you are receiving a photo instead of taking it. Instead of capturing the moment, think of it as an opportunity to welcome the moment as a guest in your prayer time. After your walk, look at the images you received and reflect on them.
Creative expression. While enjoying nature, pay attention to any desire to create something out of the experience. Sense if you are moved to make a sketch or paint. You might also be drawn to writing poetry (e.g. haiku) or song lyrics. If you have a guitar or any musical instrument, a tune might be waiting to be born. Let your spirit be inspired by the beauty of creation.
Flowing
Flowing practices make use of mindful movements led by nature’s energy flowing in and through your body.
Some practices include:
Contemplative Walk or Climb. Find a trail in a park or a mountain and practice mindfulness with every step. Walk naturally as you hold your intentions in your consciousness as well as opening your awareness to any thought, feeling, or sensation arising in you. Try to resist the temptation to rush. When something calls your attention along the way, pause for a few moments and savor the experience.
Dance with nature’s rhythm. Pay close attention to the movements around you and let your body move, too. Let go and move with the leaves swaying as the wind blows. Move your extremities as if you are water flowing down the stream. Stretch out your arms and imagine you are flying with the eagles. Dance to the rhythm made by the birds or the crickets. Focus on the sensation of every move, not on how beautiful or precise it is. Move as if you are dancing with all of creation.
Yoga in nature. Practice mindful movements through yoga while being surrounded by a quiet and serene landscape. Yoga offers a number of poses inspired by nature: mountain, tree, cat, cow, dog, pigeon, etc. Feel the connection between your body movements and the environment as you breathe with every move and flow.
Here are some prayer guides you can take with you in your practice.
After each practice, spend some time in silence and reflect on your experience. Write your thoughts, feelings, and insights on your journal.
May we see the Sacred embodied in the natural world. May nature serve as a sacred space where the presence of the Divine can be deeply felt. Nature is our sanctuary. In the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “The world is my monastery.” Let it be our monastery, too.