Mindfulness when out in Nature
July 2025
Mindfulness through a te ao Māori lens could be seen as custodian/kaitiaki of this place. This means developing respect for all things whether living or non-living, recognising we all share this place and to make connections with it we need to get to know it in a respectful, sustainable way.
For children this is a critical time for them to make a connection with the natural world, to learn how to look after it. To do this, children need to go out in nature to experience hands on learning to understand what sustainable, respectful and empathetic relationships look like. Children can learn about the different seasons, different plant life, life cycles of plants, animals, and insects, and how the landscape changes through natural and man-made things when we connect to a place.
Being mindful could include picking up any rubbish, recognising how long it took for the trees we are looking at to grow, learning that this tree is an ecosystem for many other things. It is about making a connection to this place going back time after time, year after year. Connections are made through hands on experience but in respectful ways e.g. picking up rocks in a stream bed then replacing it as it could be a home for a water creature. Picking up and looking at leaves, sticks that have fallen off plants not pulling them from the plant. Asking a tree or plant if you can touch it first for you to understand how they feel and smell. Using our eyes as we spot a spiders web, talking about how long it took for it to be made, and how it is a home and the spider's food source.
When at home in nature, this continues but we can hone our sustainable practice and reduce our ecological footprint. Building a compost, worm farm with our children, learning about recycling and researching what is made from it. Researching what ecosystem you have e.g. ants, aphids, spiders e.t.c.
Mindfulness is an awareness. It is about deepening our connections, relationships, and responsibilities when we are out in nature.
