Day Nine: Feel Into It
When was the last time you ran your fingers across damp leaves? Or felt the hardiness and creases of rough pine bark? In the animal world, non verbal communication like touch, (grooming for example), is a very important sense for bonding and keeping families together. Touch is charged with bio-electricity and can release the “feel-good” hormone oxytocin. Touch is deeply connected to our emotions and can be soothing, reassuring, and can calm our nervous systems. When in nature, touch is a direct form of connection and can bring us feelings of being grounded and curiosity, boost our moods, and unlock memories.
Meditation: Listen to this meditation: Mindfulness of Sensation of Touch by Kristy Arbon
Activity: Find a place in nature that has many different features that can be touched. Tree bark, leaves, flowers, water, soft ground, moss, rocks etc. Take time with each different feature and touch them with your hands or feet and focus on what each touch feels like. Notice the different ways each item feels. Is it cold or hot? Is it soft or hard? Does it feel good on your hands or does it cause your skin to feel irritated? You can take notes in your journal if you’d like on each item and what comes up for you.
Write in your journal the following:
Share: Share anything you learned about yourself through this activity in the Facebook group. Share a photo of what that item was.
Affirmation: Recite the following affirmation out loud- “I am learning more about myself through a direct connection with the wild.”
Go back to:
Introduction
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Meditation: Listen to this meditation: Mindfulness of Sensation of Touch by Kristy Arbon
Activity: Find a place in nature that has many different features that can be touched. Tree bark, leaves, flowers, water, soft ground, moss, rocks etc. Take time with each different feature and touch them with your hands or feet and focus on what each touch feels like. Notice the different ways each item feels. Is it cold or hot? Is it soft or hard? Does it feel good on your hands or does it cause your skin to feel irritated? You can take notes in your journal if you’d like on each item and what comes up for you.
Write in your journal the following:
- What did you learn about yourself through touching different items in nature? Did you learn you have a soft side like the petals on a flower? Maybe you found you can be a little bit rigid like the root of a tree?
- Did anything you touch unlock past memories? How did those memories feel?
- What was the most soothing touch you felt? The least soothing?
Share: Share anything you learned about yourself through this activity in the Facebook group. Share a photo of what that item was.
Affirmation: Recite the following affirmation out loud- “I am learning more about myself through a direct connection with the wild.”
Go back to:
Introduction
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight