Reflections and resources for nature connection practices
Reconnect with the Earth and your self: reflections and practices for self-guided nature practices
Thanks for being here today, where I’m sharing reflections on self guided nature connection. If you’re a regular visitor to my website, you’ll know I’m really passionate about nature, the Earth the natural world. My own connection with nature blossomed (excuse the pun) when, in a period of poor mental health, I started walking. I went from walking short distances around the countryside to undertaking multi-day hikes and that really ignited my love for being out in the wilds.
If you’re new here I’m Laura, a counsellor, nature therapist, somatic therapist, meditation teacher and space holder. My work is rooted in guiding people back into relationship with themselves, with their bodies, and with the wider natural world.
In our increasingly busy, digital, and indoor lives, it's easy to forget the impact of being outside. Cultivating a connection with nature isn’t just about spending time outdoors, it's also about cultivating a relationship with the land, the more-than-human world and yourself. To support you to explore this, keep reading for:
Resources and tools to explore your connection to nature and self
Reflections on nature connection
A somatic practice and journal prompts for you to explore
If you’d like more resources to explore nature connection, check out my audio guided somatic journeys series, where you’ll find meditation and embodiment practices to explore nature. You could also check out this post about forest bathing, and this post about the psychology of horizons.
If you’d like to discuss group nature connection facilitation, I’d love to work with you. You can contact me here.
Some of my favourite books about nature, cycles and the natural world
I’m often asked about the books that have shaped my understanding of the natural world and nature practices. Whether you're just beginning to explore the world of nature-based healing or you're looking to deepen your relationship with the land, these are some of my favourite reads. They offer wisdom, practical guidance and beautifully written reflections on how the natural world can support our emotional, spiritual, and mental wellbeing.
Letting in The Wild Edges by Glennie Kindred
I have a few of Glennie’s books and I always find them to be the right mix of practical and soulful. She offers advice on growing, foraging, and using native plants, while also inviting us to honour the turning of the year through seasonal celebrations. I often dip into it when I want inspiration for simple, earth-based rituals or remedies. I love this book because it reminds me that connecting with the natural world doesn't need to be complicated.
Wanderland by Jini Reddy
In Wanderland Jini Reddy explores encounters with sacred sites, wild art and the mysteries of nature. It also explores what it means to be othered, which is really moving. I love this book because it gave me permission to seek my own kind of connection with the land, one that’s emotional, intuitive, and uniquely my own.
Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This is one of those books I return to again and again. Robin’s voice is so soothing and beautiful in the audio book version that I often listen to it as I fall asleep. Braiding Sweet Grass weaves together Indigenous wisdom and scientific understanding, reminding us that nature is not just something to study, but something to be in relationship with. Her reflections on gratitude, reciprocity, and the intelligence of plants have hugely impacted the way I see the world.
Wintering by Katherine May
Wintering came into my life at a time when I needed to be reminded that retreat and rest are part of a natural cycle. Katherine May’s honest account of her own "winter" was really comforting. I also loved how she connects the emotional winters of our lives to the rhythms of the natural world.
What can you give back to the Earth that’s always giving to you?
Reciprocity is a hot topic in nature-based discussions and rightly so. While nature connection can absolutely soothe us, true connection isn’t one-sided, it’s a relationship. The land, the sky, the waters, they’re living, breathing ecosystems. When we step outside, we’re entering someone else’s home. That gives us a chance to show up with intention, humility and appreciation.
What can you give back to the Earth that’s always giving to you?
Our relationship with nature isn’t a new idea. It’s ancient. It’s embodied. For as long as humans have existed, people, especially Indigenous communities, have lived in reciprocity with the land. Reconnecting with nature isn’t about learning something new; it’s about remembering something old, something that’s already inside you.
Somatic practices to connect with awareness in nature
The practices below are part of my Somatic Journey series and they each invite you to slow down and to experience nature through your bodily experience. By connecting with awareness, we might start to notice subtle shifts that mirror the changing landscape around us. You can click through to read each practice description or check out my full collection of Somatic Journeys here.
Meeting a Tree is a 35-minute somatic meditation that invites you to begin a relationship with a tree. Through movement, meditation, and embodied awareness, we'll explore what it means to be rooted, what wisdom a tree might offer and what we can learn when we meet it as a relation.
This guided somatic practice supports you to connect with your blooming self through slow, embodied movement and gentle awareness. Beginning wrapped in warmth, you’ll connect with the support of the earth beneath you, exploring small movements that build towards emergence, as you ask what has my body been holding through the winter? And what is ready to reach for the light?
Duration: 45-minute guided audio. Your practice includes: an MP3 audio of the guided journey + PDF companion with the full script, reflection prompts, and guidance.
This journey is ideal for anyone looking for somatic meditation and embodiment practices that invite you to connect with yourself, as you prepare to bloom and emerge from the darkness of winter.
Journal or reflective nature prompts
The following prompts can be explored in connection to the practice above. You might want to journal, or hold these questions in your awareness as you walk or rest in the natural world.
How do I feel when I step into this natural space? What sensations do I notice in my body?
What emotions or thoughts arise as I slow down and observe my surroundings?
What elements in nature draw my attention the most sounds, textures, colours, movement?
How does this place respond to my presence, if at all?
What can I learn from this landscape about stillness, resilience, or change?
What might I offer in return; gratitude, presence, care?
For guided somatic, embodiment practices to explore this more deeply check out The Sitting Place in Autumn and Leaning into Darkness.
Music to inspire your connection to nature
As my connection to nature has increased so has my interest in folk music and music that explores the natural world. The Lost Words project is one of my favourite things ever. Originally commissioned by the Folk by the Oak festival, Spell Songs is a musical response to the acclaimed books The Lost Words and The Lost Spells by author Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris. Blending music, storytelling, poetry, and visual art, it invites us to reconnect with the natural world and rediscover a deep appreciation for the wild.
In the words of The Lost Words Blessing, “enter the wild with care, my love, and speak the things you see. Let new names take and root and thrive and grow”
Some final thoughts about nature practices
I hope you’ve found this post a useful resource to support you to explore and deepen your connection to nature. Connection to nature can be really simple. We can start small by cultivating more presence, and offering our respect and gratitude to the Earth.
If you’d like to explore this with support, I offer 121 natural therapy sessions and eco therapy combined with counselling, just outside of South Birmingham.
