Enter a Liminal State to Access You Nature Intuition from Anywhere

Originally published in elephant journal

As a nature intuitive and nature therapy guide, I spend a lot of time out of doors, communing with the natural world and developing a reciprocal relationship with the nature beings all around where I live and walk. And yet, nature intuition does not require being “outdoorsy” or living in the country. You can practice nature intuition from anywhere. The key is to allow yourself to enter a liminal state of being.

Liminality is a sense of being between the worlds or two states of consciousness at once. A liminal state requires a shift in awareness that usually occurs when we are fully present in the moment. Your attention might sharpen to the details around you. You might suddenly notice sensations that you did not feel before. Your mind might open to new possibilities that earlier seemed irrational.

For example, just the other day, I went for a walk in the woods. As I crossed the old wooden bridge that straddles the trinkling creek, I entered the home of the trees and their soft shade, the lichen covered stones, the mycorrhizal webs below my feet, water striders, swallowtails and all the other nature beings seen and unseen. I heard birds and the breeze through the leaves. I felt the warmth of sunbeams on my skin. I smelled dried pine needles on the forest floor. I could taste a mouthful of water as I slurped from my canteen. In my body again, I was home. I relaxed and welcomed the world around me through my sensory experience. The trees greeted me with a wave of their branches, and I sensed that they were calling out to me. I stopped to have a conversation. As I listened, I felt an overwhelming emotion of joy and found myself suddenly in tears. I began to sing a song I had never heard before that drifted from my lips effortlessly like an ancient chant. No, I was not on psychedelic mushrooms, I was in a liminal state.

You may have experienced a liminal state of heightened awareness before while deep in a creative project or spending time in nature or meditating or in a movement practice such as qigong, yoga or ecstatic dance. I’ve heard people say they experience liminal states while trail running or mountain biking, when everything slips away but the next rock, the next step, the next moment. It’s like having one foot in and one foot out of the mundane world. You might imagine this as your body still very much in the physical realm, but at the same time your consciousness is adrift on a sea sailing through exotic lands where the imaginal can be real and the real can be imaginal.

Liminal states are both ordinary and magical. For example, you might be working on a painting, something that you do regularly as a hobby, but at the same time your awareness might be embedded in the brush strokes and the formation of shapes. You might feel a sense of channeling a mystic muse from somewhere beyond your body. Liminality allows us to experience magic in the mundane and to encounter the world in a new light.

There are many doorways into liminal states. These doorways are called thresholds. How do we enter these liminal states? What are the thresholds in our lives? As you go through your day, notice where you might feel your attention shift; it might sharpen to the outside world and soften within like the case of a hiker or yogi, or it might soften to the outside world and attune inward like the case of a meditator or artist. You might feel as if you are in a dream-like state and when you’re in these states, allow yourself to sink in and truly notice what’s around you. Let yourself receive your imagination fearlessly without worrying if you’re crazy and making it all up. When you discover where you enter these states, notice the threshold to entering them. Perhaps it’s stepping on the trail. Perhaps it's a cup of tea before you meditate. Perhaps it’s pulling your guitar out of its case or opening your notebook. These can all be thresholds and as you enter the threshold allow yourself to enter the waking dream. For every threshold in, there is also a threshold out, so notice these too.

The liminal state is a great place to tap into your intuition. This is a perfect time to ask any questions that you have or to solve any problems that you’re having. You might notice you receive answers more easily. You might also discover unexpected paths to healing.

If you are at home, you might channel your nature intuition during meditation, while creating art or during your movement practice. You can use this state to discover a plant medicine that could assist you with any health or beauty issues. You can activate your crystal pendant to create energetic boundaries around you or attract only the people with just the right vibes for you. You can communicate with a potted plant in your window and ask it what it needs. If you are in the wild, you might use a liminal state to activate your nature intuition to befriend a tree or ask for protection from the spirit of the forest.

There are many applications for nature intuition. The more you practice entering liminal states, the easier it will become and the more you can access your nature intuition and develop your own special connection to the natural world and the nature beings all around you that long to be in relationship with you.

How to enter a liminal state:

• Notice the thresholds in your daily life that shift your attention into a more receptive state
• Liminal states are most likely to occur when we feel safe
• Participate in activities that help you get out of your rational mind like art and movement
• Slow down
• Welcome your imagination when it arrives like an old friend, do not shun it for being silly or irrational
• Tune into your 5 senses one at a time and then all at once, notice how your awareness shifts
• Trance/journey/guided meditation/visualization work

DISCOVER YOUR NATURE INUTIVE TYPE HERE