Have you ever heard the expression: Being one with nature? This is referring to recognizing the spirit of nature, the aliveness, and feel our own role in the eco-system. One way to feel one with nature, is by tending to animals – horseback riding can for example make you feel one with the horse, when the two of you charge over the fields in full gallop or gently trott in a dressage program. Or by petting a furry little friend, like a bunny, you can feel the bunny’s aliveness: its heartbeat, its warm and fluffy fur.

However, we can also foster a caring relationship with Mother Earth by spending time in nature just walking about, and simply acknowledge the more subtle aliveness there too: The sound of birdsong, the flow of a stream, the wind in the leaves, the scent of pine and fresh grass, the surface of rocks, the feeling of soil and sand running through your hands, and the little wild flowers making their presence known through their fierce will to grow through the winter cold dirt with the first rays of the spring sun.

By taking frequent and undisturbed walks, with no special focus or expectations at first, but with a sense of discovery, without threading the same predetermined and usual trails, but daring to take a couple of steps directly into the woods, enable you to sense true wilderness. If we have gotten used to walking a certain way, it’s easy to remain in our thoughts, rather than being present on our path. Explore and notice your surroundings instead. Then, after doing so, you can develop a relationship with the place you’re in. You can make it a habit to check how the trees are doing, where there are new buds arriving, or if there are any new animals to be seen, any berries you can taste, or any differences in daylight, and where there is shadow to rest. All with a childlike wonder.

Let the oxygen you inhale feed you with more life, as your exhale feeds the greenery back. This is to share breath, to share Aloha.