For many people, winter is a bleak time of year. The chilly weather, barren trees, and short days often get the best of us. During this season, it can become increasingly difficult to find inspiration in day-to-day life. For this reason, it is even more important to actively stay connected with the earth.

It’s during winter that nature reveals the bones of her landscape; offering up a beautiful foundation upon which to find insight, imagination and inspiration.

To find inspiration, it’s important to be mindful and observant. Mindfulness is essential to be able to truly take in our surroundings. In this fast-paced society, slowing down our minds enough to focus on only one thing is no easy task.

A simple exercise to achieve this could be taking a walk or hike through the woods.

Start off by taking a few breaths, there is no pressure or expectations, mindfulness takes practice. Over the course of the walk, practice being aware of your surroundings. Take note of the many layers that nature holds: the towering trees, shrubs and bushes decorating their trunks, the ground carpeted by moss and leaves. Don’t they compliment each other wonderfully?

Observing the environment around us may seem like an obvious technique, but it can be surprising how much detail can be overlooked if we aren’t making the extra effort to take them in.

Noticing ordinary occurrences that are usually overlooked opens our minds to many of nature’s beauties.

Pay attention to how branches become thin and spidery as they climb higher up into the trees, the pace of clouds drifting across the sky, curiously shaped rock outcroppings, berries in varying hues of red. Take a moment to notice the many textures within nature.

Here is a great place to actively use your sense of touch: run your fingers down the surface of bark on a tree, brush them over the needles of the evergreens, feel the paper-thin, dried leaves.

The more each sense can be engaged, the better.

Regardless of whether we realize it or not, we are connected to nature. In the modern world, it is all too easy to lose touch with it. Nature is a force rejuvenating to both the mind and body. When these practices are implemented, our imagination can take off.

All it takes is one intentional act to connect with nature to inspire you in ways you never thought possible.

Nature is my muse. It inspires me and fuels my creativity. It weaves its way into all of my floral, garden, & container design work.

Xenia