Mindful nature journaling exercises

Before you start nature journaling take some slow, deep breaths. This simple meditative exercise will not only slow our bodies, but our minds too, as breathing regulates our 'fight or flight' response. This quick exercise is also a great way to 'arrive' in the present moment.

• Sit up with a straight back but in a relaxed posture. You can close your eyes if this helps.
• For about a minute breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Notice how your abdomen rises and falls, or where the breath is passing. After the first few breaths you can let it settle into its own rhythm.
• Its normal for thoughts to distract us. Gently let them pass and refocus on the breath.

Tip: use a meditation app to guide you with audio cues and try alternative breathing techniques.

After a minute you should hopefully feel relaxed and be able to focus more easily.

Tuning in to our senses is a vital part of both meditative walks and nature journaling. Become aware of your surroundings by gently focusing on each sense in turn. Try spending 30 seconds or a minute with each sense. You can also modify this exercise to focus on an object.

• Note what you see. Look around you, as well as above and below. Consider the colours, lines and shapes in front of you.
• Close your eyes and listen. Can you identify what you hear, and perhaps the direction of the source? Can you hear the wind or more subtle sounds?
• Keep your eyes closed and notice what you feel. Is there air movement on your skin? What does the ground feel like? Be aware of your body and its connection to the earth and air.
• Keep your eyes closed and smell and taste the air. Take some deep breaths in through your nose, then try through your mouth.

Record any observations in your nature journal if you like.

As a warm-up exercise to clear your mind of any preconceptions of what you're drawing you can practice drawing in a way that doesn't feel normal. This tricks your brain into having to engage instead of being on autopilot, thus paying more attention to what's actually in front of you. You're therefore less likely to 'fill in the gaps' or make things up when drawing.

• Blind contour drawings don't often look like the object you've drawn, but they are an incredibly useful exercise to train your hand-eye coordination and to draw realistically. 'Trace' an outline of the object by following it with your eyes and drawing what you see on the page in a continuous line, but without looking at the drawing. Keep your eyes on the object, not your page.
• Draw a series of sketches with your non-dominant hand, again using one continuous line. These can be timed, for example 30 s each. Change the position or angle with each sketch.

It's important to keep in mind with these drawing exercises to be non-judgemental. They are not an example of your drawing skill, rather they are a technique to help you focus on drawing more accurately. So practice thinking of these sketches with a kind, open mind.

We rely heavily on our sense of vision but there is a lot of information we can detect with our other senses too. By closing your eyes you let the other sense become more dominant. Now, try drawing with your other senses:

• A sound map lets you record what you hear spatially. On the middle of your page draw a cross or circle to represent you. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you, then record or draw the sound (or source) in the approximate direction and distance relative to you on the page.
• In a touch contour drawing you trace an outline of an object based on what it feels like. Use one hand to feel your way around the object and the other to draw on the page (and with eyes shut).

While noting and wondering you can practice thinking with an open mind, i.e. not judging your observations or questions.

• Avoid labelling your thoughts and questions as 'right' or 'wrong', 'good' or 'bad'. Accept them as passing observations without trying to resist or change them. Note that all are valid to be included in your journal. In this way you are leaving the option open for these thoughts to change state. If you find out later that an observation was factually incorrect then you can include that on your page too.
• People in general are very judgemental of their own drawing skill, so this is a great opportunity to practice self-kindness. If something you've drawn doesn't meet your expectations then instead of berating yourself with thoughts like "that's no good, you can't draw" remind yourself that drawing takes practice to improve. Analyse it critically (be objective instead of subjective) and instead consider what you can work on to improve for next time. That's how all artists get better! Remember that its not about making a pretty picture, but what information you can bring to the page. Maybe try drawing it again straight away, or dedicating a practice page for that aspect of drawing?
• Use a beginner's mindset to encourage your curiosity:

At the end of your nature journaling spend a few moments reflecting on the time you have spent engaging with nature in this creative endeavour. Here are some reflective questions you can ask yourself:

• How do I feel now, at the end? Is it different to when I started?
• What did I experience, learn or accomplish throughout the activity?

Hopefully this wraps up your mindful nature journaling with a smile on your face. 😊