ShiShi Beach Trail photo meditation
Calm mind and body with this 20-photo meditation from ShiShi Beach Trail in Olympic National Park. Spend 20 minutes or more getting lost in the textures and colors.
I hopped in my car this week and drove to the Olympic Peninsula. While I love living in the Emerald City, sometimes it’s healing and powerful to make a clean break away from the hustle and bustle represented by the sea of highrises towering over the Space Needle.
My destination was the Makah (Ma – caw) Indian Reservation, on the very tip of the Peninsula. The current community of 1,700 people lives on a small fragment of the traditional territory that once stretched to the soulful beach near the Lyre River — where I’ll facilitate nature retreats this fall. There are still spots available, and I’d love you to join me.
Tourists funnel out to Cape Flattery, the most NW point in the Continental US. But there is much more to this remote part of Washington State. I stayed two nights to avoid rushing. I need to experience the morning mist, the lighting of different parts of the day, and the changing tides.
The trail from the Makah Reservation to Shi Shi Beach in the Olympic National Park continues over rock stacks and along pebbly beaches for 73 miles. I certainly wouldn’t go that distance, but I remained open to the options.
These photos were taken as I wandered on an internal and external odyssey with the spirits of land and place. I lost all track of mileage and time — when I decided to turn around and head back. As it was, this nature immersion was a six-hour and 9.5-mile delight.
Allow the images to immerse you in a soulful place, and please take your time.
Spend one minute connecting with each photo. It’ll be a powerful twenty-minute nature meditation — a great way to kick off your day. Recent research shows that even looking at nature photos for 20 minutes can change the brain (for the better).
Get lost in the landscape’s textures, colors, and emotions, and let me know how it goes.
Happy nature walk! Matthew
