Today is International Forest Day! I am reminded of attending my first ever Forest Walk and Meditation session conducted by my friend Vaishnavi Viswanathan at Lalbagh Garden, Bangalore. I along with my life partner and a friend attended Vaishnavi Viswanathan’s Nature Session. I would like to share two incredible experiences I had on that day:

The first incredible experience happened during one of the exercises that Vaishnavi suggested us. We were asked to hug few trees on a random basis. That was the first time ever I had hugged trees. And the beautiful part of the experience was that one of the trees kept calling me again and again to hug it! Everytime I hugged it, I sobbed so much. I absolutely have no idea why I did that. But I felt good. It was such a profound experience! I felt a very deep connection towards this beautiful tree. I know I can recognize it [from thousands of trees] when I visit the Lalbagh Garden next time! When I look back, it is all so surreal and such a powerful experience! I will never forget it.

The second incredible experience happened while I was walking silently in the lush green garden. I observed closely all trees and raised my head to see how tall were each tree and how much each one of them had branched out. What I found amazing was that all trees through the branches and roots were some way or other interconnected! I marveled at this phenomenon for quite some time and realized that nature actually teaches us brilliantly the interconnectedness of our lives. The joy I had at that moment was incredible!

If we look around us, we know for sure that everything is interconnected. For eg. Humans and Nature, Body and Mind … Life & Money… I can go on and on… Isn’t it amazing!

What are your experiences with Nature? Would love to read your stories. Please do join in the conversation!

Picture Courtesy : Vaishnavi Viswanathan

This article was first published in Linked In on 21st March 2018, International Forest Day.