About

This technique's foundation is the skill of being present and equanimous.

"Being Present"

"Being present" refers to the ability of having the mind in the same physical space as the body — free of thoughts about the past or the future.

I found it terrifying, fascinating, confusing, and amusing to become aware of how my mind tends to constantly & quickly jump from one thought to another. Training it to stay in the present moment has been a hard but greatly beneficial challenge.

Equanimity

Once in the present moment, the next challenge is to strengthen the equanimity of the mind.

I discovered that besides the two dimensions my mind loves to teleport to — past or future — it also has two main settings.

One setting craves for things it thinks it wants or needs, as well as for the permanence of good sensations and circumstances.

The other setting generates a lot of aversion towards what it categorizes as unpleasant sensations or situations.

It turns out the mind is constantly dissatisfied.

Therefore, i find it valuable to strengthen the ability to accept what is in the moment. To simply observe what is, without craving or having aversion.

Summary

All in all, the mind seems to be pretty agitated.

To have a new experience of a forest, i discovered that i need to be completely in the present moment while also being equanimous.

This means being in the forest without having thoughts about the past or future, without labelling things or romanticizing the moment, and free of wanting more or less of something.

However, even when i am present, i catch myself craving for scenarios like "oh this forest is awesome, i'd love to live in a place like this where i can quickly walk among redwood trees as soon as i wake up". Or even when i am in the moment and i go up a steep path, i catch myself saying "this is terrible".

Therefore, i realized that i can only experience forests in a way that i haven't before only when these two elements exist — being present & equanimous.

Personal Background

For expectations' sake, i think it is important to know that i have been practicing multiple meditation techniques that strengthen the skill of being present & equanimous for ~ 9 years now.

The technique that i suggest to practice in the forest is built on top of the ability to be present & equanimous.

Therefore, i think it takes some disciplined training of the mind with eyes closed first & body sitting still, before adventuring into the forest with eyes open. However, i do not think it needs to be a blocker. They can be complimentary, or maybe this technique i present will work independently for you. What works for me doesn't necessarily have to work for you.