Meditating outdoors on a March day

I have meditated outside before, but never in my back yard on a March day.

     This afternoon was so beautiful, and the setting so beckoning, that I pulled out a plastic chair, set the chiming timer on my iPhone app, closed my eyes and did it.

     It’s different than meditating indoors. More distracting in some ways, but that means there’s also more to incorporate into your meditation.

     A red bellied woodpecker bleats somewhere in the woods. Traffic drones distantly. The hot sun warms my face. The smell of fresh dog poop rises from somewhere in the yard. A chickadee sings its spring song. A gentle wind ruffles my hair. An early insect buzzes past. A spot on the back of my head itches.

     All these things register, then pass like overhead clouds as I return to concentrating on the waves of my own breathing.

     It is so peaceful.

     Then, for the last five minutes, my favorite part: “metta,” or lovingkindness meditation.

     I begin with myself. May I be happy, I say inwardly, with one rise and fall of my breath. Then: May I be healthy. Another breath. May I be free from fear. And last: May I be at ease.

     Then I picture someone I love and do the same: May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be free from fear. May you be at ease.

     Then a neutral person – a grocery store clerk, maybe, or the dentist’s secretary. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be free from fear. May you be at ease.

     And last, a person I find difficult (though I find sometimes the people I love and the people I find difficult are interchangeable). May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be free from fear. May you be at ease.

     Does all of these actually make anyone more happy, healthy, carefree or at ease? Does it really change anything?

     I don’t know if it changes them. But I think it changes me.

     Namaste.