​The benefits of walking in nature are numerous. Some of these benefits include the following:
-helps improve cardiovascular health
-assists with reducing stress and anxiety
-improves well-being and uplifting one’s mood and can be especially helpful when experiencing a traumatic life circumstance like a health issue, or the transition of a loved one or a relationship issue.
-can help decrease high blood pressure
-helps bring stillness to the mind
-grounding
-can assist with opening and developing one’s senses by observing the sights and sounds of nature
-feeling more connected to Spirit which also boosts creativity

With such benefits to the body and mind, walking in nature can also assist with speeding up the healing/recovery process. Being outdoors in nature brings clarity of mind. Especially when we let go of everything that may be on our minds for a while, and become aware of and observe our surroundings in nature. From the wind’s gentle breeze, to the rustling sound of leaves and the warm sun on your back. The brilliant colorful flowers, the sweet song of a bird overhead, the soft green grass and strong-rooted trees, all with their vibrancy and aliveness is something to appreciate. Taking a nature walk helps us to see our lives and experiences from a higher perspective. It helps us connect more deeply with our inner peace, our Spirit, that reminds us that “All is Well.”

I love walking in nature on a daily basis. No matter how I am feeling before taking my walk, I always feel more uplifted and renewed during and after my nature walk. I also have found that much intuitive guidance comes during these walks. When the mind becomes still, the inspiration (in-spirit) flows. And adding Reiki to a walk in nature boosts the intuitive guidance even more, since the Reiki energy helps us to connect more deeply with the wisdom of our Spirit.

​Incorporating Reiki into a Nature Walk

Our intuition is guidance from the Higher Spirit Self. The mind has two parts/thought systems. Spirit is one and is the voice of love. Spirit knows only our divine Truth that we are perfect love and that only love is real. The other part of the mind, the ego, is illusory. The ego is not an entity nor a thing, but rather just the idea that we are separate from our Source. Its thought system is fear-based and is totally flawed as we are not separate from Source. The ego is the inner critic/false self which judges everyone and everything. Abundance, unity, and wholeness are part of Spirit’s thought system. Lack, separation, and limitation are part of the ego’s thought system.   

Since the part of the mind we choose to follow at any given moment effects how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world, listening to Spirit’s guidance (our intuition) enables us to experience and enjoy life from Spirit’s true vision of peace, love, non-judgement, harmony, and freedom.
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How do you know if specific thoughts and ideas in your mind are guidance from Spirit or the ego? When they are from Spirit, they are loving, gentle, kind, and uplifting in nature. Any guidance that Spirit offers always result in positive outcomes for our well-being and anyone else concerned. Spirit gives us solutions on how to forgive and eliminate fear and judgement, and brings us clarity. We may feel a burst of joy when we receive inspiring ideas. If the thoughts and ideas are unloving, judgemental, or condemn anyone including the self, then they are from the ego.

The guidance received from Spirit may not always necessarily be what one wants to hear at the time. If there are expectations of what it should be, to match what you think you want, this is judgement and a control mechanism of the ego. If Spirit’s guidance is then ignored, it may lead to some confusion and doubt.

If unsure if the guidance is from Spirit or the ego, you can ask for clarification from Spirit and wait awhile. Let go of thinking about it for some time and to clear the mind, trusting that Spirit will bring you the clarification in divine timing. When we spend time being in silence and the mind becomes still, the intuitive guidance comes through clearly. Also, Spirit’s guidance will most likely stay the same a few days later, but that from the ego can change, even often.

We have so many thoughts that arise in the mind each day. Each moment, we always have the choice which inner voice to listen to. When I made the choice to listen to and follow only Spirit and have stayed committed to doing so everyday, the voice of the ego became much weaker. Like a muscle that gets stronger when we exercise it, when we are dedicated to listening to and following our intuition, the stronger our communication with Spirit and it becomes our clear, dominant, guiding light. ​

Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves and it sets us free. When we choose forgiveness, we release the past, and can enjoy living in the eternal now.

Judgement takes many forms. Blaming others or the self for one’s experiences, believing the self or others to be inadequate, guilty, or undeserving, and making comparisons, are just a few examples of judgement. Love and judgement cannot coexist. Only one of these is active at any given moment. Forgiveness is the means to the relinquishment of judgement.

When we truly forgive, we do so at the level of the mind where it is needed, since all arises from the mind. By forgiving the self, another person, or a situation, we are not indicating that a specific behavior or action is ok, but rather we see through the illusion of the world and its seeming separate identities and stories, to the love that is truly there beyond all form. The non-dualistic spiritual principles of A Course in Miracles teaches that the path to inner peace and love is through this true form of forgiveness. All are innocent, and only the love that we are, is real.

We can always, at any moment, make the choice to love, and abandon judgement. Everyone is doing the best they can based on their state of awareness about who they really are. Those who lack self-love and are unhappy deep down, can extend to others only what they feel for themselves and what they believe to be true. Forgiveness though, does not mean that one should tolerate or be subjected to the unloving nature of a situation or behavior of another.

A very helpful tool that you can use is to bring your conscious awareness outside the illusion/world and to perceive a situation as an observer looking in. This makes it easier to detach from a situation and bring your awareness to the stillness within. Like watching a movie, you observe the characters with relatively no strong attachment. Taking such a perspective when observing the stories happening in your life, results in a greater understanding and compassion for the various characters.

Spirit, our inner teacher of peace, always assists with forgiveness, we just need to ask. Our true essence is light, free, and unconditional love. Forgiveness uplifts your vibration and permanently disconnects you from suffering. Nothing on the level of form, outside of the mind, needs to be done, unless there is specific guidance from Spirit to do so. Forgiveness and commitment to the daily practice of non-judgement accelerates the undoing of the ego, which cannot survive without judgement.

Forgiveness is an act of nurturing unconditional self-love. Forgiving another is really forgiving yourself. When the painful life stories and characters are forgiven, whatever was based on divine, unconditional love, always remains. Those that were not rooted in divine love naturally fall away on their own. This creates an opening for more of that which is based on love to come into your life.

In Oneness,
Maya Bringas

~Freedom comes when you remember the magnificence of who you really are~
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~Published in the September issue of Sibyl Magazine: For the Spirit and Soul of Woman. As it is a paid subscription magazine, I also share my monthly articles for Sibyl Magazine for 2018, here on this page. To find out more about Sibyl Magazine and to read wonderful, inspirational articles on the topics of spirituality, conscious living, mind/body/spirit, for a low annual subscription fee, you can visit their website here. 

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I sit in silence, breathing in the fresh cool air. My eyes gently closed for a moment, I enjoy this quiet stillness. I gaze up and notice the fluffy white clouds that fill the blue sky. How lovely they look, as they very slowly and gracefully move across the sky. I look in all directions above from where I now sit to notice the variety of shapes they form. How peaceful it is to merge with the clouds as I watch them float by.

I am filled with serenity and calm in this present moment. All other thoughts and cares have melted away. I am in bliss with nature in this now moment. What beauty nature offers, if we just look, listen, sense, and feel. Here in my garden, the rustling sound of the leaves bring additional soothing comfort to my mind and whole being. I now hear the song of a bird in the distance, its melody bringing cheer and upliftment to all who will hear. More birds now add to the chorus. How sweet they sound!

I close my eyes again for a moment, drinking in the fresh spring air. I am grateful for this now moment and for the harmony it ushers in. I hear the rhythm of my wind chime quicken as it sends out its tune in all directions. Ah, such bliss this is. I am content in the now, nothing else comes to mind. I sit here in nature immersed in its delights.

The warm sun shines on me now, as the tender breeze brings additional comfort. Being here in this now moment, there is no other place I would rather be. Everything is right here, right now. I am filled with more gratitude for the stillness, tranquility, peace, and joy that the now moment brings. I hear the call of what sounds like gulls overhead in the distance, as if in agreement to the thoughts that have now just passed.

As I look further into the distance, I see all that is growing and beginning to bloom. Spring is here. How wise nature is. The plants and flowers need not be coaxed or told how to grow. Each year they just do their thing. They begin to emerge, bloom, and grow all on their own, as they always know when the time is right. They don’t force nor resist, they just be what they are. I notice the color green emerging everywhere and the little flower buds beginning to make their appearance after the long winter. How joyful I feel for their arrival. They are friends from nature that return this time of the year.
 
As I write from this place of stillness, I am grateful for so many things like this quiet time and for all nature offers. Another gift has now appeared for us all. I hear a call directly above. Three majestic birds are soaring freely and happily in the sky. Let us soar together right here and now.

In Oneness,
Maya Bringas

~Published in the June issue of Sibyl Magazine: For the Spirit and Soul of Woman.