You live green and you're eco-conscious, but if you're an urban or suburban dweller, your lifestyle may feel disconnected from nature. How then to experience the value of what you're working to save?

It's really as simple as starting at the nearest park. Unless every inch of it has been pastoralized and pruned beyond all wild recognition, you can take a breather and really relax there, and reconnect with nature. Here’s how.

1. Find an inviting tree and sit under it. It was no accident that Buddha found enlightenment under a tree.

2. Breathe deeply. The air around a tree is sweeter and fresher than air close to the road.

3. Sit quietly for a while and just observe. No iPod, no cell phone, no distractions. Watch the birds, the ants, even the people (hey, as odd as they are, they’re part of nature, too!)

4. Become intimate with the area. Keep coming back regularly to the same park and the same tree and watch how things change. The tree may blossom, or begin to lose its leaves. If it drops seedpods, gather them and put them on your altar.

5. Start keeping a written or drawn journal of your observations. Even one tree in one city park goes through so many changes, and once you become intimately aware of them, you've connected with nature. These are the subtle things worth saving.

It’s as sweet, quiet and simple as that.

Image: MegElizabeth