It's fall, which means we're spending time on outdoor adventures, like long walks, or visits to pumpkin patches. But how are we acknowledging the beauty and sacredness of nature? How are we acknowledging the ways in which we are nature?

Today's draw is actually 2 cards because, well, because I wanted further clarification.

The Holed Stones + Be A Forest

This week's reading asks us to slow down and commune with nature. Not simply to spend time in nature, but to honor her, notice her, and notice the ways in which we ARE nature.

It's more than simply being outside, it's standing barefoot in the grass when it's still wet with dew, feeling the ground beneath your feet and the crisp air on your skin and the way it lifts up your hair.

It's stopping when your kid bends down to examine a snail or a particularly cool rock and examining it with them, noticing the way the snail moves or the stone feels.

It's keeping the windows open and your screens and music off, so that the soundtrack of your days becomes a subtle playlist of insect chirps and bird calls and rustling leaves and raindrops.

It's taking off your socks and shoes and putting your feet in the water, the sand, and the mud.

We're slowing down again?

Part of me is worried that this reading is not enough doing for the week.

Like, all week I'm just supposed to connect with nature? What about all the tasks I need to get done? What about my workload? My social calendar? My Q4 goals?

And then I remembered that quote:

So if you're feeling some resistance to the idea of slowing down this week (especially after last week was all about slowing down and reflecting too) I get it, and I'm right there with you.

Remember that capitalism would have you believe that work is hard and good, rest is lazy and bad and easy. But rest can feel uncomfortable too, especially if you grew up in a culture or a family that made you feel guilty for it.

Here's how to bring this energy into your week:

1. Take it outside. Everything you're doing, can you do it outside? Can you drink your morning coffee outside? Do your stretches outside? Can you take that zoom call outside? Notice how it feels being in nature, even if nature is just on your back porch. How does it feel? Notice the awesome things and the things that make you uncomfortable.
2. Turn off your podcasts. When you're out on a walk, or a run, or a hike, take out your ear buds and, instead of listening to more media, listen to the sounds of the natural world. I know, this can be really hard for those of us who are used to constant mental stimulation (and those of us who get stuck in our own thought loops when we don't have external noise). If you find yourself jonesing for your audiobook, practice the 5-senses check in.
3. Find your sacred place. Maybe this is a special tree in your own yard, or maybe it's a quiet spot in a park near your house, or on your way home from work. Make a visit to this space and bring it a nature-friendly offering (it could be a piece of fruit, or a baked good, or a beautiful stone or pinecone, even a piece of jewlery). Sit in silence for a few moments and allow yourself to commune with the space. Then say goodbye and promise to visit again soon.
4. BONUS - Ditch Your Phone. If you've been considering it, this would be an excellent week to do a smartphone detox. I'll be doing this too, outside of a half hour each day where I'll use it for work stuff, and the hour I teach yoga. So if you want to reach me this week, email is where it's at. <3

If this email resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it! Reply and let me know what you'll be doing this week to tune in to the abundance and beauty of our natural world, especially if you've got a suggestion I didn't mention!

Love, Megan

P.S. - Forward this to a friend who keeps telling you to "touch grass" but never seems to slow down herself. 😉

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