Category: Meditation

Posted on by

Water Meditation: Using Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans for Emotional Healing

Water Meditation

Water has long been a symbol of purification, transformation, and renewal across cultures and spiritual traditions. Whether it is the gentle flow of a stream, the still surface of a lake, or the powerful rhythm of ocean waves, water meditation invites us into deeper states of presence and introspection. Through the practice of water meditation, we can harness the calming and restorative power of natural water bodies to support emotional healing and psychological resilience.

This practice is a core element of Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy, which integrates mindfulness with immersive nature experiences. When combined, mindfulness and water-based nature therapy offer a profoundly grounding, sensory-rich way to process grief, soothe anxiety, release emotional tension, and reconnect with the self.

The Emotional Symbolism of Water

Water is a natural metaphor for human emotion. Like water, our feelings rise and fall, crash and calm, stagnate or flow. In many indigenous and psychological traditions, water is associated with the emotional body, the subconscious, and the process of letting go. Sitting by water or immersing oneself in it while practicing water meditation helps us attune to the fluid nature of emotion, inviting awareness, acceptance, and movement where there was once constriction or stuckness.

Spending time near or in water has measurable benefits for emotional well-being. Research shows that blue spaces, or environments in or around natural water, are associated with reduced stress and improved mood (White et al., 2020). Simply being near water can lower heart rate, decrease anxiety, and support emotional regulation. This is one of the reasons water meditation is so beneficial.

How Water Meditation Supports Emotional Healing

1. Promotes Emotional Flow and Release

Stagnant emotions such as unresolved grief, anger, or shame can weigh heavily on the mind and body. Water meditation encourages emotional flow by providing a sensory-rich, symbolic space in which feelings can be acknowledged and released.

Sitting near a river or stream, for example, invites the mind to follow the current and visualize emotions flowing downstream, letting go of pain with each breath.

2. Encourages Mindful Presence

The rhythmic qualities of water lapping waves, trickling brooks, or crashing surf naturally draw attention to the present moment. This kind of environmental mindfulness reduces rumination and helps calm the nervous system, allowing deeper access to the emotional self.

According to Kabat-Zinn (1990), mindfulness is the act of paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and without judgment. Water’s gentle presence supports this kind of attention by offering a soothing focal point.

3. Offers a Safe Space for Reflection

Water often creates a boundary between the outer and inner world, offering quiet, reflective spaces where we can slow down and listen inwardly. Lakeshores and tide pools provide places of stillness, ideal for introspective healing and journaling. Oceans offer the vastness to hold big emotions, helping people feel part of something greater.

For people coping with trauma, heartbreak, or emotional overwhelm, these quiet “blue sanctuaries” can serve as safe containers to process difficult feelings without judgment or interruption.

4. Enhances Somatic Awareness

Water engages the body as well as the mind. Feeling cool waves against the skin, dipping toes in a stream, or listening to the gurgle of a brook encourages embodiment—the practice of being fully present in the body. This helps individuals become aware of where they hold tension or emotion, and gently release it.

Somatic-based therapies often use this approach to help people access and express feelings stored in the body (Van der Kolk, 2014). Water meditation, especially when practiced with touch, supports this healing pathway.

How to Practice Water Meditation

You don’t need to live near the ocean to practice water meditation. Lakes, rivers, fountains, or even a bowl of water at home can be effective. The key is intention and presence.

River Release Meditation (for Letting Go)

  1. Sit beside a flowing river or stream.
  2. Close your eyes and take several deep breaths.
  3. Visualize placing your emotional pain on leaves or petals and letting them float down the current.
  4. With each exhale, imagine releasing part of your burden into the moving water.
  5. Continue for 10–20 minutes, allowing the river to carry your pain away.

Ocean Breath Practice (for Soothing Anxiety)

  1. Sit facing the ocean (or listen to ocean wave recordings if you’re at home).
  2. Match your breath to the rhythm of the waves: inhale as a wave comes in, exhale as it retreats.
  3. Focus on the sound and motion, allowing tension to wash out with each outbreath.
  4. Let the ocean’s vastness hold your worries.

Still Water Reflection (for Self-Compassion)

  1. Find a calm body of water (lake, pond, tide pool).
  2. Gaze at your reflection without judgment.
  3. Silently repeat phrases such as, “May I be gentle with myself,” or “I am allowed to feel this.”
  4. Let the stillness of the water help calm your mind and soften your heart.

The Science Behind Blue Mind

Marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols coined the term “Blue Mind” to describe the mildly meditative state we enter when near water. According to Nichols (2014), exposure to water triggers a neurological response that increases dopamine, lowers cortisol, and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system—supporting emotional regulation and creativity.

“Being near water,” Nichols writes, “can make us happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what we do.”

Final Thoughts

Emotional healing is rarely linear or easy. It often requires time, space, and patience. Water meditation offers a compassionate, sensory-rich environment where this healing can unfold naturally. Whether you are grieving a loss, managing anxiety, or simply feeling emotionally heavy, the rivers, lakes, and oceans offer a timeless sanctuary for reflection and release.

Nature doesn’t rush. Neither does healing. By sitting with water, we are reminded to flow—gently, courageously, and with self-compassion—toward our emotional freedom.

References

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. Delacorte Press.

Nichols, W. J. (2014). Blue mind: The surprising science that shows how being near, in, on, or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what you do. Little, Brown Spark.

Van der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.

White, M. P., Elliott, L. R., Gascon, M., Roberts, B., & Fleming, L. E. (2020). Blue space, health and well-being: A narrative overview and synthesis of potential benefits. Environmental Research, 191, 110169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110169

Posted on by

Tree of Life Meditation

tree of life

The Tree of Life meditation is a grounding and centering meditation. Begin this grounding and centering meditation by finding a comfortable place to practice. If at all possible, this place should be outdoors. If you have a sacred space that you use for your spiritual practice, go to it. If your sacred space contains a tree, sit comfortably underneath it, with your back resting against the tree. By resting your back against the tree you are able to draw energy from the tree, so the tree chosen for this meditation should be a tree whose spirit is friendly to your own spirit.

If you must do this meditation indoors, sit comfortably in a quiet area that is familiar to you. Before beginning this meditation, center yourself by emptying your mind of all distractions. Start with a few cleansing breaths, making sure that your exhalations are longer than your inhalations. As you breathe, direct your attention inward. Do not proceed until you feel that you are centered. When you feel centered, go on to complete the meditation by following the steps outlined below.

  1. Begin the Tree of Life meditation by thinking of a color that gives you peace and serenity. This should be a color that brings you happiness, joy, and relaxation.
  2. Now visualize a small sphere of light in this color, radiating from your solar plexus, just above your navel. Picture this light flowing downward, out of the tip of your spine, into the earth below you.
  3. See the light branching off like the roots of a tree, drawing strength and energy from the earth. With each breath, you are drawing more energy out of the earth and into your spirit body.
  4. Your spine is becoming the trunk of a tree. The energy channeled within your spine is becoming the Tree of Life. Feel the energy rising from the ground to become part of your being. Feel the energy rise through the trunk of your spine into the crown of your head. See the energy as colored light, bursting forth from the top of your head. The light energy emerging from your head is branching off in all directions, reaching out to touch the heavens above with each exhaled breath.
  5. Watch the energy rise far above you, like the branches and leaves of the Tree of Life. Feel yourself becoming a part of all that is. You are merging with the life force of all existence.
  6. The energy beneath you is reaching deeply into the center of the Earth, drawing upon the life force of Gaia herself. The energy branching out above your head is reaching beyond the Earth. It is reaching to the stars. It is expanding into eternity.
  7. Now that you are completely grounded, seek your own supernatural aid by sitting quietly upon the Earth. You are not trying to go anywhere. You are not trying to do anything. You are simply enjoying the bliss of being. You are waiting quietly in the silence for your supernatural aid to present itself and to speak to you in its own way.
  8. Meditate on the silence, allowing your own supernatural aid to speak to you when and if it will.
  9. When you feel you are ready, you may close the Tree of Life meditation. To close this meditation, see the roots and branches of energy slowly returning to the center of your being. The energy of the life force is not leaving you, it is simply concentrating itself into your center of being.
    When you have returned to this world, open your eyes, and open your spirit to the world that surrounds you. Be ready to receive your supernatural aid in whatever form it chooses to manifest itself to you. If your supernatural aid did not make itself known to you during this meditation, then the meditation itself and the stillness it brings is its own reward. You may try again on another day to seek wisdom from your supernatural aid.

Tree of Life Meditation Video

The video below contains a Tree of Life guided meditation.

With visible breath I am walking.
A voice I am sending as I walk.
In a sacred manner I am walking.
With visible tracks I am walking.
In a sacred manner I walk.

—Prayer for Bringing the Sacred Pipe, White Buffalo Woman

As you walk the Way of the Ecospiritual Shaman, realize that you are not alone. When you set out to fulfill your destiny, things have a way of working in your favor. The stars align to assist you. Doors open. The Universe puts things in your pathway to assist you in your travels. Jung called this process “synchronicity.”

When you set out on your path, it is easy to get discouraged when things don’t always go as planned. The purpose of supernatural aid is to give you an otherworldly confidence in your ability to complete the tasks that lie ahead. Remember that as the trials appear, their purpose is to teach you what you’re capable of.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes along the journey. Mistakes are learning opportunities. If you never made a mistake, you’d never learn anything, because you’d be doing what you already know. Learning involves risk, and that is why your supernatural aid is there…to help you manage the risks along the way so that you may learn from them and not be overwhelmed by them.

As you set off on your own personal journey, rest assured that this is the path chosen for you. All the events in your life up until now have led to this moment. When things are difficult, keep this in mind. This is your destiny, so you will succeed. How could it be any other way?

Share Your Thoughts on the Tree of Life Meditation!

What do you think about the Tree of Life Meditation? Was it helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Posted on by

Sacred Space Meditation

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Facilitator Certification Program MBE sacred space meditation

About Sacred Space

Since one of the core elements of mindfulness is the ability to focus on the present moment, sacred spaces naturally facilitate mindful states. From a psychological perspective, setting aside a sacred space allows you to enter that space, step outside of time, and do your own work of contemplating the essence of being. If you have a special place set aside for this activity, and only for this activity, then entering it more readily puts you in a special state of mind.
Psychologists call this situation-specific learning. If your sacred space becomes associated in your mind with relaxation, meditation, and contemplation, then after a while simply entering your sacred space will put you into a meditative state (Nadel, 2019).

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a natural place that calls to you, you may make it your own by placing symbols and signs there that mean something to you. My own sacred space is marked by statuary and wind chimes. The gentle music of the chimes lends itself well to contemplation. When I am at home with the windows open, sometimes the wind blows through the trees, stirring the chimes. When this happens, I am reminded of my sacred space and the peace found there. Even if I am busy working at the computer, the music of the chimes reminds me for a moment of the happy times I have spent in my sacred space in meditation.

If you don’t have access to an outdoor place to create your own sacred space, you can create one indoors. Set up a small table somewhere in a corner of your home. Cover it with things that help you to achieve a meditative state. You may use candles, incense, house plants, or pictures of nature scenes or loved ones. You can use anything that might help you to connect with your True Self.

If you’re out walking in the woods, you may come upon a place that attracts you. Stop there and meditate for a while. If this place is particularly meaningful for you, you may mark it for others by making a small pile of stones. This has been a tradition of mine for decades now, and when we do ecospirituality workshops, students often do this. Coming upon a small pile of stones left by another can be a powerful way to connect yourself to others who have walked the path. It also allows you the opportunity to be in a sacred space that others have enjoyed before you.

Whether your sacred space is indoors or outdoors, it can be a useful place for finding your center and connecting with your True Self.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE MINDFUL ECOTHERAPY CENTER’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Sacred Space Meditation

Prior to performing this sacred space meditation, you must first have your own sacred space. If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to find your own sacred space for the purposes of this activity. This should be a place that is fairly easy to access for you. It should be as free of man-made artifice as possible. This means that it should not be a place with manicured lawns and trimmed hedges if at all possible. It should be a pristine place, undisturbed by modifications due to humankind.

Of course, this is the ideal, and you may not have such a space readily available to you. If not, that’s okay. Just try to get as close to a wild, untamed environment as you can. If that’s also not a possibility for you, then you can include as many natural elements as possible in this meditation by playing recorded sounds of nature or filling a room in your home with houseplants, or just visualizing an outdoor scene that fills you with a sense of peace and harmony.

For the purposes of this meditation, the fewer reminders you have of the modern human-built world, the more successful your meditation will be. Once you have found your sacred space, make sure that you will be undisturbed here for the duration of the exercise. When you are ready to begin, watch Sacred Space Meditation video. This exercise is part of the Ecospirituality Group Program by the Mindful Ecotherapy Center, LLC. Learn more at mindfulecotherapy.org.