Your Personal Nature Meditation

By the Author of Small Changes, Dynamic Results! Feng Shui for the Western World. Nature Photography  Carl Amoth Photography

Bringing nature into the home is a powerful way to increase the vibration in your home and an important part of any Feng Shui practice which is called the Five Elements Theory. Whether your buy into Feng Shui or not, you will always benefit from surrounding yourself with things from the natural world. In this article I will give you a meditation that will help you identify the specific objects from nature that that you need to surround yourself with along with some inspiring nature photography. By doing so you will create a home that is pulsating with life (chi), a sanctuary that will feed your soul and uplift your spirit!

11 Home Energy Enhancers

Here is a nature meditation that I give my clients and students designed to get them in touch with the colors, objects, shapes and textures that they personally resonate with. In identifying the specific natural settings that bring us bliss, we can create a home that is truly a sanctuary of inspiration, rather than one that brings our energy down. This meditation will assist you in choosing the colors, patterns, shapes and objects that you personally need to surround yourself with in order to feel inspired the most. (See my article on the Power of Color.)

Michael’s Cave

Michael was a client of mine who lived in a sunny, open San Francisco work-live space in a bright, high-ceiling studio/loft. Michael was an up and coming Graphic Designer who had recently started his own business. He thought his sunny loft would be the perfect place for him but had been creatively blocked from the moment he moved in. He found he was not inspired by his space  and  was seriously falling behind on his work. Michael hired me to work with him on the Interior Design/Feng Shui of his space to make it a place that inspired creativity.

When I did the following nature meditation with Michael, he found that the place in nature that inspired him the most was the red rocks of the Southwest. He saw himself in a primitive earthy cave with a yellow glowing bonfire in the middle, a far cry from the very “Yang” (active) city loft he inhabited.

Michael's Terracotta Cave. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

Michael’s nature meditation showed me that we needed to find a way to create his Southwest- inspired cave in this most un cave-like space.  On the huge and sunny windows we hung Chenille terracotta colored draperies on large carved wooden poles with big wooden hoops. I found wonderful primitive-looking finials for the ends that created a sense of ancient mystery. The walls were painted earth tones. Sepia-colored wall sconces in the shape of shells were installed with the lighting pointing downwards to create the illusion of lowering the ceiling, creating a cozier space. The furniture was done in earth tones with cream-colored Chenille pillows. All of the lines of the furniture and accessories had smooth curves like you would find in a cave. I had him find objects from nature he loved, which we displayed amidst the books and work items he needed. At the center of the living space was a large oval glass coffee table with numerous off-white candles in various sizes to give the illusion of the bonfire in the middle of his cave.

Michael was blissfully happy with the results. When he needed a more active yang energy he could open the curtains and let in the bright light. When he needed to work he could close them up, light his bonfire and create to his hearts content.  Although his bright loft seemed to be the cool place he thought he would like, what truly fed him was a place quite different. In finding out what his personal needs were, we created an inspiring place that nurtured and uplifted him  and  got his creative juices going. Michael now has a flourishing career and knows that he needs to wrap himself in his cozy cave in order to do the truly remarkable work he is capable of.

Nature Meditation

Find the Place in Nature that Inspires You the Most. Magical Torres Del Paine-Patagonia. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

Go to a quiet place that you can spend time meditating without interruption. Bring your journal or something to write on along with a pen.  Sit comfortably and breathe slowly in and out five times.

Envision a place in nature that you go to for inspiration and a deep sense of well being. This may be a place you have actually been to or a place in your imagination, but make sure it is somewhere on this earth, not a heavenly or other-worldly sort of place. It may be by a lush tropical beach,or the wind-swept beaches of New England. Perhaps it is a pristine alpine meadow with an icy-cool lake.

Perhaps your Magical Place is a Moonlit Night, Silvery and Shimmering. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

It may be on a snowy and silvery moon lit mountain at midnight, or by a bubbling brook in a meadow of wild flowers. Perhaps it is a southwest landscape with jagged red mountain peaks, a spring desert of wildflowers or deep in and ancient cave.

Describe the place and write down the specific objects, colors and textures you see.  Describe the temperature, the season, the time of day or night.  Be specific about the colors and textures, i.e. the turquoise- blue of a tropical ocean; the silvery blue of the moon on a snowy mountain; the terracotta landscape of the southwest; the loamy rich brown and earthy bark of a tree in a deep forest; the deep green and softness of moss covering stones on a bubbling brook. Describe what the light looks like. Is it muted and soft,or bright and light as at mid-day?

Now describe how being in this place makes you feel. You may want to use words like joyous, deeply content, blissfully happy, loved and cared for, etc.

A Babbling Brook is a Source of Deep Inspiration and Meditation. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

Spend at least 20 minutes on this meditation and journal your findings. When you are finished, open your eyes and bring yourself back to the present place and time.

You now have a description of the specific colors, shapes, lighting, mood and atmosphere you personally can recreate in your home to bring a deep sense of well-being into your living space. If yours was a tropical beach,

Hawaii is Always a Source of Inspiration to Me. Photography by Michael Feegrave. www. michaelfeegrave.com

you may have described bold reds, yellows, greens, turquoise and purple as the colors along with soft peach and ivory as the color of the sand. Accessorize your home with beautiful shells and starfish. Bring in pillows that replicate the colors and textures of sand. Add a few throw pillows with tropical birds and exotic flowers. Add tall palms and exotic orchids, or fabrics replicating them. You may want to choose a lemony-white wall color to replicate the bright mid-day sun of the tropical landscape. Create your personal space filled with the objects, textures and patterns from your place in nature that brings you the deepest sense of joy and well-being. Make sure to keep in mind the Yin/Yang components and create a more Yin version of this for bedrooms and more restful spaces. (See my article on Yin and Yang).

Perhaps you love the desert with it's silvery blues and earthy pastels. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

If you live with others, you may want to have them do this meditation as well and assist them in creating their own personal sanctuary in their own rooms. If you and your partner have two very opposite kinds of places, give each person a space to create their vision fully, then bring in features from both of your meditations into your shared spaces. Opposite places might be one with a lush tropical landscape and one with the muted and silvery colors of a snowy mountain at midnight. Either way, any time we bring nature into the home we will feel a sense of joy and well-being. This meditation simply allows us to fine-tine exactly the kinds of spaces that bring us the most joy.

Perhaps you saw a magical snow capped mountain in Yosemite National Park. Carl Amoth Phogtography www.carlamoth.com

If you can find a picture that reflects the place (or places) you love in nature the most, it is a powerful affirmation. A good place to  hang it in the Knowledge and Self Cultivation area of your home. To find this energetic area go to my past article on Charting the Energy Centers of Your Home . This is the area that is about developing our spirituality and meditation. This brilliant photographer Carl Amoth does have smaller more affordable prints of all of these stunning images, so make sure to check out both of  his web sites listed below.

Many times we will find that we have always brought into our living spaces objects from the places in nature that we resonate with the most. Look closely at your own space and note which things already represent the place in nature you love.

I would love to hear from you dear readers….what is your place in nature that inspires you! For those interested in additional objects you can add to your home to enhance the chi (energy) please see my article on Home Energy Enhancers.

Are Southwest Landscapes the Places that Inspire you the Most? Bryce Canyon. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

The Crystal-Clear Lakes of the Sierras-Lake Tahoe. Carl Amoth Photography www.carlamoth.com

For more stunning nature photography by Carl Amoth and to treat yourself to a visual feast! Just viewing these images is a powerful meditation. You can view more images at his web site at http://www.carlamoth.com .For those who would like to purchase inexpensive prints, many of these images are available at  http://carl-amoth.artistwebsites.com  Enjoy!