Why is a field trip into the nature so important for students?

Pema Dorji is one of the senior LME students, he said, “When we walked down to Deuri river, I was not feeling tired, it is because of my excitement. Yeshi Wangchuk and I had the responsibility to look after the younger monks. We were so worried about the young monk’s safety.”

The entire field trip starting from planning to a post-trip is designed to engage students to take responsibility, to work as a team, and to promote communal harmony. We are very happy to witness senior students take good care of younger monks throughout the trip. Besides, we assigned responsibilities to other students such as meal preparation, organize smoke offering, collecting garbage along the trail, bird watching, fetching banana leaves, etc. Through these activities we were able to teach our students the importance of working together, taking a leadership role, and spirit of mutual aid.

One of the junior students, Karma S. Yoezer said, “I could hear the birds chirping and saw many stones with different shapes and sizes.” This is undeniably a wonderful opportunity we wished our students to observe.

“I saw the skin of a snake and I heard the birds chirping.” Thinlay Dorji, another senior student said. Once our students are into nature their five senses are on alert. They hear different sounds; see many uncommon things that are missing from our daily life; experience the warmth of the sun and the coldness of the water, and are exposed to breathing fresh air. Through all these experiences, gradually we aspire our students to understand how many things put together creates a phenomenon called Nature.

One of the objectives of the trip is to provide an experiential and contextual learning opportunity for our students. Moreover, it is to recognize the practicality of integrating Mindfulness and compassion practices in nature. This is what Kinzang Namgay had to say, “This is not only a walk, but there are many lessons that we learned. First, we learned how to make fire and to cook food. We learned to install birdhouses and to pick up garbage. I look forward to taking part in a similar trip in the future.”

Here, the students recognize nature as a learning laboratory, where they experience learning different things through different activities. Further, they are involved in cleaning garbage created by other people through their unwise choice and mindless act. As a result, we created an opportunity for environmental education and an understanding of interdependent existence.

Therefore, the environmental knowledge and skills earned through “Mindful Nature Walk’’ is important in promoting positive attitudes and sustainable mindful actions in achieving a greater goal of environmental conservation and self-development.

Through this activity, we wanted to show our students that there are alternative for the food choices we make, that are healthy, eco-friendly, and sustainable. Except for these three items including salt, sugar and cooking oil, the rest are organic, locally produced and plastic-free.

Therefore, essentially the nature walk program is holistically designed, to educate the importance of conscious effort, in determining our act that is mindful, holistic, inclusive, selfless and sustainable in nature.