Finding home within myself is finding home within this universe. When I first practiced intentional meditation couple years ago, the sights and sounds of this natural world kept appearing in my breaths. As a deeper reveal in the disintegration of our climate came into my research, I realized how the power of us as a species collectively coming together can truly create change - no matter how small the steps are.
Earth is like a school where we come to play, grow, cry, experience - if we don’t support and treat it like a love of our own, how can we own this life we are learning to love?
And so when I found Natasha Giraudie (through experimenting with an Airbnb experience!) in San Francisco, I knew I found a practice I could lean into deeply. She ignited a precious reminder of an intersection with my meditation and my growing depth towards eco advocacy - that to return home to nature, is coming home to myself.
I’m honored to have her speak on my blog.
Natasha Giraudie - all images copyright to MicroDocumentaries - Follow Natasha’s magical adventures IG @rosa.guayaba
EL: How did you start your journey in meditation?
NG: I was quite sensitive as a child - still am. I often had experiences of what felt like the divine - usually in nature, at the beach, on the river or looking out the window at a patch of rainforest outside our apartment; a sensation of wonder when the light struck a certain way, or when I caught the scent of a certain plant, or when I recognized the song of a bird.
I grew up in Venezuela - and from a young age my parents would take us off road into the deep wilderness because they believed it was important for us to learn directly from people who still lived on their ancestral land and still cared for that land.
Those experiences stayed with me and have encouraged me to continue to learn from and be of service to native people wherever I am. Learning native ways has brought me closer to the natural world and has given me more opportunities to live in awe. It has also provided great guidance and hope when it comes restoring our relationship to the Earth.
EL: Tell us more about your Nature Practice - and how your experience studying with the Dalai Lama has shaped your work as a teacher and practitioner.
NG: I studied with the Dalai Lama for twenty years. His influence has been vast. Mostly he has taught me how to continue to stretch my heart - how to develop compassion; how to strengthen that capacity that we are all born with and take it to levels we never imagined. I am beyond grateful for my time with him.
A couple of years ago, my friends started asking me to teach them "my practice". I had never taught formally when it came to spiritual matters. I always had a fear of coming off as proselytizing - so I steered clear of teaching - even though I loved to teach and I loved practicing.
But when my friends asked me it was different - they created a safe space for me to explore.
That’s what (nature practice) I’ve been teaching for the last couple of years and it has been a very enriching experience to share this with all sorts of people -from humanitarian workers to politicians, tech workers to lawyers - not only for their benefit, but also to help us heal our relationship with the Earth. I realized that it was not only about meditating which I love - but that it was just as much as engaging intentionally with nature.
Where do you teach?
I became certified as a professional nature mindfulness teacher and also as a moon guide. I teach public programs and also host events for off sites for groups from the United Nations, Google, Airbnb, etc. We do mini nature retreats at the beach, at the botanical garden, at an Ayurvedic healing center in Bali.
The moon practice is also a beautiful one, which has changed my life. I’ve been teaching women how to align to the rhythm of the moon - so that they can tap into their natural creative flow that enables them to blossom time and again without burning out. I’m about to launch an online program for beginners to get started with this - which will be available in the spring.
You're a filmmaker as well! What stories are you interested in telling?
These days - in my filmmaking I’m also focusing on the intersection of nature and the divine.
I have two short films in festivals right now. Inmanencia is a freeform nature meditation piece we filmed in Cuba. We found good places to sit - places where we would naturally want to practice - and we turned on the camera while we practiced. It’s a quiet way to wake up awe and deep love.
The film has travelled the world and has been selected to be screened in festivals around the world from Boulder to Buenos Aires to Bhutan, where it won the audience choice award. That meant a lot to us. The people of Bhutan understand this deeply.
The other film, One Word Sawalmem I co-directed with Michael “Pom” Preston, a young native man from the Winnemem Wintu tribe of Mt. Shasta. He tells the story of one word from his ancestral language which has changed his life and then offers it to humanity as medicine to heal our relationship with the Earth. The film is fiscally sponsored by Robert Redford and the The Redford Center and was selected as a finalist in the Tribeca short film program If/Then. We can’t wait to share it with the world starting this spring.
Is there a mantra you follow - or a philosophy that you live by?
Since I was a young girl. - I’ve had this sense that if I were to die today, I would have already had a full life. That’s my philosophy. To live in a way that lets the love of the universe in to touch you deeply - to swim in that wonder and to share it with others. In that way you live a full life and you pass that energy to the generations of all species to come.
Till the next post, Liz Lazan x
*this conversation has been edited/condensed for brevity and clarity
All words copyright www.ElizabethLazan.com