On Being in Nature

Some of the best things you can do for your heart, soul, and physical and mental well-being is to be in nature - to explore this beautiful world that God has created for us, that serves us and aligns to nurture us.

I recently went on a two-day hiking trip with a close friend to Yosemite National Park and Mammoth Lakes... a much-needed getaway. Along the way, I discovered so many things I hadn’t noticed before, and I’d love to share a few of them with you, hoping they might inspire and motivate us all to spend more time in nature - to truly disconnect, become present, and mindfully notice the life moving around us.

I truly believe we were never meant to remain cooped up within four brick walls or caught up in the hustle and bustle of the city. We are meant to be free like the birds - so we can deeply understand what Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught us when he said:

“If you were to rely upon Allah with the reliance He is due, you would be given provision like the birds: they go out hungry in the morning and come back with full bellies in the evening.”

I’ve always been someone drawn to water: lakes, oceans, beaches, creeks. But lately, I’m beginning to love mountains too.

Oh, these mountains - how magnificent they are! I never truly appreciated them before. I always thought they were just hard and big - who cares? But something has shifted. I’m not exactly sure when or how, but perhaps it started when I made my way to the maqam of Ibn Mashish, hidden in a beautiful valley in the mountains of a small Moroccan town called Moulay Abdessalam.

Since then, I’ve begun to see mountains differently. That’s the power mountains have. Without even moving, just by their sheer presence and weight, they radiate a quiet energy of transformation. Just like the saints, who have been gifted the strength of mountains and more - merely being in their presence, catching their gaze, or even laying eyes upon them can change your inner world.

The same power exists in the oceans, forests, and trees around us. This is why we must make time and effort to regularly immerse ourselves in nature. Watch how the morning sun shines differently on the lake at 6 AM compared to how it glows right before sunset. Notice how the shadows dance across distant mountain ridges and how every sunset is unique, even from the same spot.

For the first time, I also noticed my love for twilight - the soft, liminal time after the sun has set but before night fully arrives. Right now, it might be my favorite time of day: the cool but gentle touch of the moon, the few early stars, the calming energy that begins to settle over everything, and the shimmering reflection of moonlight on small ripples of water - all bringing a soothing stillness within.

Perhaps these moments reveal something about our inner state. Do we feel agitated under the blazing midday sun? What does that tell us about what we need? Or do we come alive at sunset - what might that reveal about who we truly are?

Through these quiet reflections, we can learn to love ourselves more deeply - to become our own best friend. And this doesn’t require long, faraway trips. It can begin simply: pausing each day to go for a morning walk, watching the sunrise or sunset, noticing how the moon changes nightly, and asking ourselves gently, “How do I feel right now?”

Because we are all connected - to the sky, the mountains, the rivers, and the trees. Everything outside us reflects and affects what is within us - and in turn, shapes how we feel and how we heal.