Home · The Practice · Mother Nature · About Traci · Community · Welcome Home · Field Notes
Start with one breath.
You don’t have to solve anything right now.
You don’t have to understand everything you’re feeling.
You don’t have to know what comes next.
We are here with you.
The Practice of Noticing is not about escaping your life. It is about becoming present enough to meet your life without abandoning yourself.
It begins simply.
Not with the mind.
With the body.
With the senses.
With what is already here.
LAND
Be still and listen.
Go to Mother Nature with no agenda.
You do not have to find the perfect place. You do not need special tools. You do not need a prescribed amount of time.
Put your feet on the ground.
Sit beneath a tree.
Stand beside the ocean.
Step outside your door.
Let yourself arrive.
You are not looking for an answer yet.
You are simply landing where you are.
I am here.
NOTICE
Come into your senses.
What can you see?
What can you hear?
What can you smell?
What can you feel against your skin?
What is the temperature of the air?
Notice without immediately deciding what any of it means.
A feather can simply be a feather.
A wave can simply be a wave.
A flower can simply be beautiful.
Not everything needs to become a sign or a lesson.
Sometimes the practice is simply allowing yourself to be here long enough to notice what is already here.
BE
Let this moment be enough.
This may be the hardest part.
Do not fix.
Do not judge.
Do not interpret.
Do not solve.
Just be.
Being does not mean you have to feel happy.
You may be sad.
Angry.
Afraid.
Confused.
Exhausted.
Contentment does not mean everything is good.
Sometimes contentment is simply allowing this moment to be enough without demanding that it become something else.
This part of my life is still my life, too.
RECEIVE
Receive what this moment has to offer.
You do not have to make Mother Nature give you an answer.
Let yourself receive whatever is here.
A little quiet.
A little perspective.
Warmth from the sun.
Cold water on your hands.
The sound of birds.
A breath that reaches a little deeper.
Maybe what you receive is the reminder that the past has already happened and the future is not entirely in your control.
But this moment?
This moment is here.
And you are here too.
Sometimes clarity arrives.
Sometimes it does not.
Both are allowed.
RETURN
Come back to your life without leaving yourself behind.
Eventually, you return.
The problem may still be there.
The grief may still be there.
The decision may still be waiting.
The Practice of Noticing does not promise to make difficult things disappear.
It gives you a way to meet them without immediately abandoning yourself.
Return with your boundaries.
Protect your peace.
Notice comparison when it begins pulling you away from yourself.
You do not have to make a decision just because the world is demanding one.
Sometimes the next step is movement.
Sometimes the next step is waiting.
Notice first. Decide second.
Small Ways Home
The practice does not have to be elaborate.
Put your feet in the grass.
Look up at the sun.
Wash your hands in cold water.
Take one deep breath.
Write freely for a few minutes.
Ask yourself:
What do I treasure about myself?
One word is enough.
Do not immediately follow it with “but.”
Let yourself notice what is already here.
Comparison asks us to notice what we are missing.
This practice asks us to notice what is already here.
Eventually, we learn to notice ourselves with the same tenderness.
When Something Feels Uncomfortable
Let yourself feel it.
Then get curious.
Instead of asking:
“What’s wrong with me for feeling this?”
Try:
“What is this feeling trying to help me understand?”
Notice the trigger.
Notice what belongs to you.
Notice what does not need to be projected onto someone else.
Compassion does not mean avoiding accountability.
Feel it.
Understand it.
Then choose how you want to respond.
Offer yourself the same compassion you so freely give to others.
When You Need Clarity
Sometimes clarity becomes easier when our thoughts leave our head and land on paper.
Make three columns:
RELEASE | ACT | ALLOW
Write what you are considering beneath each one.
Then become still.
Ask:
Where do I feel peace?
Where do I feel contentment?
Peace is not always comfort.
A boundary can be uncomfortable and still feel peaceful.
A no can be difficult and still feel true.
Your mind may still have questions while your body feels at peace.
Give yourself time if you need it.
A pivot does not mean you chose wrong.
Changing direction may simply mean you noticed something new.
Choose.
Notice.
Adjust.
Choose again.
You do not have to know the entire path to trust your next step.
You Are Learning to Be Here for Yourself
Support matters.
Community matters.
Therapy can matter.
Teachers can matter.
The people at our table matter.
But support does not require handing someone else authority over your life.
People can sit beside you while you discover what you know.
You are not alone. And you are not without yourself.
Self-trust is not believing you will always make the perfect choice.
It is knowing that even when a choice does not unfold the way you hoped, you trust yourself to meet what comes next.
You can listen to others.
You can respect their perspective.
And still know:
The life I am choosing has to belong to me.
The Daily Return
Feet Down. Face Up. Breathe.
Feet down.
Feel the Earth beneath you.
I am here. I am supported.
Face up.
Look toward the sky, the sun, the light.
Breathe.
Make space.
Give thanks for something you can notice right now.
Then remember:
I can do hard things.
Some days this takes sixty seconds.
Some days ten minutes.
The amount of time does not matter.
The returning does.
Your Peace Is Yours
Elemental Illumination does not give you peace.
I do not give you peace.
Mother Nature does not hand you a perfect answer.
The practice helps quiet some of the noise so you can begin recognizing what has been within you all along.
Your peace is yours.
And maybe, little by little, you begin to know:
I can find my peace within.
And when you forget?
Return.
