SEIKO Clear Mind, Clear Vision - Connecting with the natural world

In modern life, many of us spend significant amounts of time indoors, looking at screens, moving from one task to the next, and rarely taking time to notice the world around us. Nature provides an opportunity to slow down, reset, and 
create moments of calm.
Research suggests that even brief exposure to nature can reduce stress, improve mood, lower feelings of mental fatigue, and increase feelings of wellbeing. Importantly, connecting with nature does not require a countryside walk or a day 
outdoors; it can be as simple as noticing natural light, observing trees from a window, listening to birdsong, or bringing plants into our environment.
By intentionally noticing and engaging with nature, we can create small moments of restoration throughout our day

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

This is our 11th Clear Mind, Clear Vision session brought to you with the support of Seiko Optical UK and the wonderful Sheena from Inspiring Success. Today we're focusing on connecting with the natural world. Over to you, Sheena.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Thank you so much, and yes, welcome to Clear Mind, Clear Vision. And today it is all about connecting with nature and utilising the power of visualization and meditation as well. So I'm sure we all know how powerful nature can be. And when we're outside in nature, it really does have this beautiful effect of calming us. And it does this because it can allow us to feel safe in natural environments, it allows us to then reduce that cortisol in our bodies, it allows us to release things like endorphins and serotonin, which really allows us to boost our feel-good hormones and chemicals in our brains that allow us to feel pretty much good. And with the nature, you know, it's it's about being outside, and you know, with the poor seasons, you know, it's beautiful nature around us. But whether even if you're just looking through a window, or sometimes we might even have things saved on our screensavers that are of a nature effect. And again, we have things like that because again, the power of nature, whether it's on a screensaver, whether we're looking out through a window, whether we're actually immersing ourselves physically in the environment itself, all of it can really have a powerful effect in allowing us to feel grounded, giving us that centre of calmness and allowing us just to take a pause, take a moment to feel the benefits. And we can utilize that throughout the entire day. So wherever you are, whatever you are doing, nature really can be around us in so many ways and forms. So all we will be doing today is utilising nature visualization and meditation to give you that sense of calmness so that you can also take this away and utilize the tools of all of those three things at your place of work or whether you're at home, if that stressor is building, if the overwhelm is rising, then you know, just taking a few moments to connect with nature, connect with your own power of mind, which is one of the most powerful tools you can have, and just giving yourself an anchor to give yourself peace and calm within you. So, as always, just taking a couple of deep breaths in and out, and just trusting that this is exactly where you need to be right now. You may have had a busy morning already to get here, you may have a busy day ahead of you. So, in this moment, in the next few minutes, just trusting that this is where you're meant to be and allowing the morning to fade away of what has been, allowing the rest of the day that's coming ahead to fade away, just allowing yourself to be present and just to utilize the power of breath work to get you there. So just taking a few nice deep breaths in and out in your own space and time, just allowing your shoulders to relax if they're feeling a little bit higher up, just making sure your hands are uncrossed, your legs are uncrossed. If you're seated, then just making sure your feet are nice and firmly onto the ground. Just taking those breaths in and out, anywhere that might feel a little tight, if you feel your jaws a little bit tight, your neck's a little bit tight, just breathing into those areas. One more breath in and release. So, all I'll be doing is giving you a guided meditation, connecting you with the power of your mind and nature. You don't have to do anything at all, but just utilize the power of visualization. If there are any other thoughts that come into your mind, that's absolutely okay. Just observe without any judgment. The power of meditation and visualization is a practice, and it's a practice without any expectations or judgments. So just go with whatever comes, any distracting thoughts that come into your mind, it's absolutely okay. So I'm just going to invite you to close your eyes if you feel comfortable in doing so, or simply lowering your gaze, and again, just taking a deep breath in and a breath out. And what I want you to now do is choose a place where you are immersed in nature. So I want to visualize a place that resonates with you. So it could be a park, a woodlands, a beach, a mountain, a lake, somewhere where you've already been before, perhaps, maybe a holiday destination. Whatever's coming into your mind right now, a place in nature. I just want you to breathe in, breathe out, be in this chosen place of nature that's coming into your mind right now. Whether it's the mountains, the lakes, the park, the beach, just stand there right now. Imagine you are there in this moment, looking around you, absorbing everything, noticing the colours, noticing the smells, noticing the sounds. Any other thoughts that are coming into your mind, just observe, let them go, come back to this beautiful place where you are right now in nature, this beautiful spot. Just be there right now. Let the power of your mind take you there where you can really see everything around you as you look around, you see everything so clearly. The vision is so powerful. Taking another breath in as you soak in the atmosphere, breathing out as you let go of any stresses and worries. And in this chosen place of nature, I want you to start looking around in more detail. What can you see? Do you notice the colours of the leaves, maybe? Do you notice the clouds moving? Do you notice the blue of the sky? Do you notice the sparkling water around you? Do you notice the different landscape around you? The different shades of colours, the different textures around you. When you look around, when you look above, when you look below, in this spot in nature that you have chosen that gives you this sense of calm and peace, what do you see? Do you see the waves gently hitting the shore? Do you see the trees and the leaves around you? Do you see the different clouds moving across the glorious sky? Do you notice any other things around you on the floor beneath you? The grass, the shells, the sand, the pathways, your footprints. What do you see? Take it all in, absorb every detail, connecting you to the outside world, connecting you to nature, to earth, to become one. Visualizing this powerful, beautiful place in nature that you have chosen that's coming to your mind so clearly. The vision, the imagination, so powerful that you are there right now. Can you hear the leaves rustling? Can you hear the water around you? Can you hear the birds singing? Being in that place in nature. Take a moment to absorb all the wonderful sounds nature has. The music around you. Nature's music. Nature's beautiful music calming and fitting in with your own rhythms of your own body, your own mind, your own soul. What sounds can you hear? And just connect to those sounds around you. Any other thoughts that may arise, just observe and let them go as you go back to this beautiful place in nature that you can see so clearly, that you can hear so clearly, where you feel so connected so deeply. Where nothing else matters, no one else matters apart from you and this connection. Taking a moment what you feel, what you see, what you hear this beautiful place in nature that you have chosen to take a moment breathing in, breathing out, and then I want you to consider what you're feeling. What can you feel around you? What emotions are you feeling? And what else are you feeling in this place of nature? Can you feel the warmth of the sun rays on your skin? Maybe it's the cooling breeze that's drifting by on your face. Maybe it's your feet feeling wonderfully grounded on the floor wherever you are, whichever path you are standing on right now. What can you feel? Being in this wonderful space of nature, seeing all the beauty around you, the wonderful colours, the beauty in the details, and as you look closer, you notice more beauty, more nature, and you're fascinated by how the wonderful earth around you can create such beautiful places so naturally, so beautifully, and allowing you to connect with it, thinking about what you can hear around you, the sounds of nature, and then what you can feel, allowing this warmth to come over you inside of you. This beautiful place that you're in right now. You can see it so clearly, so vividly. Everything else is fading away, nothing else matters, no one else matters. In this moment, right now, you are connected so powerfully towards nature in this wonderful place that you have chosen that your brain took you to instantly and so clearly and so easily, and you're feeling amazing, feeling so peaceful, feeling so calm. And just take a moment in this place of nature, just to think about one person, one place, one thing that you feel grateful for today. Giving thanks to yourself, your mind, your body, your soul for being here, taking a wonderful deep breath in, deep breath out, slowly, letting go of anything that no longer serves you today. Gently opening your eyes, lifting your gaze, and just considering how powerful that wonderful moment of nature was, and how you can utilize this anywhere, any place, whether it's in your own mind, your own screen, or whatever it looks like for you, even if it's just looking out the window, just consider how you can implement one or two minutes every day in nature and utilize the wonderful effects it can have on you. Thank you for sharing this morning with me today, and enjoy the rest of your day.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Thank you, Sheena. Always good to remind ourselves of the healing powers of nature. And thank you, everyone, who's joined us today. We'll let you know when the next session is available. Thank you, everyone, have a wonderful day.