Meditating with flowers & nature

I used to find it pretty hard to sit still and/or meditate to give my mind a break from the freneticism of life. I found it easy to ‘do’ but virtually impossible to ‘be’. But I have found a mechanism that I mention here in case it helps you access instant and/or everyday ‘windows of calm’.
 
Method 1
I pick a flower from the garden or even just find a close-up picture in a book or magazine of a flower I like and then by deeply focussing on the image and all its intricacies, the ‘normal noise’ of my mind disappears whilst I’m truly looking at the flower. The first time I tried this I was amazed how long I’d been sitting still... and it was so enjoyable rather than the usual battle I had to quieten my mind! I try to fit in a 15 minute window each day which I find is short enough to ‘make time for’ and sufficiently refreshing to encourage me to do it frequently. And if you put an inspiring picture in your wallet, then whenever you have a few moments to ‘chill out’ and recharge a little, you can focus on that image. 
 
Method 2
I sit beside my favourite window and observe the birds, or the wind on the barley field, or a variety of flowers and leaves in my garden. By really watching what is going on in nature, I have found my mind stops ‘stressing’ and afterwards I feel refreshed. And if my mind wanders onto a topic that I don’t want, then I just focus especially hard on one part of the garden, until the natural calm is regained.

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself

Henry Miller