Meditation in Nature
Switch off and experience deep calm in the beautiful surroundings of the Whitworth’s grounds.
Meditation in Nature is an opportunity to switch off and experience deep calm whilst enjoying the beauty of nature. At the end of the session, you will experience feeling lighter, less stressed and having a sense that you have connected to something bigger than yourself.
These sessions are delivered by our Natural Cultural Health Service partner, Lilasuri (Claire) Morris from Wild Awake Mindfulness. Please arrive no later than 5.45pm by the gallery’s Park Side reception area. Please note that our Park Side doors will close at 5pm, so entry after this time will be via the Oxford Road entrance.
Upcoming dates
Spring Equinox
Celebrate the spring equinox with a gentle Meditation in Nature experience in the Alex Bernstein Garden. This guided session will create an opportunity to pause at the moment of seasonal balance, when light and dark meet and new growth begins.
Through simple mindfulness practices and quiet observation, you’ll be encouraged to tune into the rhythms of the garden, reflect on renewal and intention, and reconnect with nature as a space for grounding, change, and possibility. No experience needed—just an openness to slow down and welcome the season ahead.
Thursday 19 March
6pm-7pm
Free, book now
Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai, Hiroshige, and ukiyo-e print
Join a Meditation in Nature experience in the Alex Bernstein Garden, inspired by the exhibition Beneath the Great Wave: Hokusai, Hiroshige, and ukiyo-e print and the poem Hokusai Says by Roger Keyes.
This gentle session invites you to slow down and pay attention to the small, fleeting details of the natural world, the play of light, movement, and texture that echo the spirit of ukiyo-e. Guided mindfulness practices encourage openness and presence, reflecting the poem’s reminder to “let life live through you,” and offering space to observe, breathe, and connect with nature as it unfolds moment by moment.
Thursday 16 April
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
Mental Health Awareness Week
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, we invite you to slow down and spend time in the Alex Bernstein Garden through a guided meditation in nature session. Together we’ll explore practices that support mental health by grounding the body, settling the mind, and tuning into the natural world around us. This session offers a supportive, non-judgemental space to rest, reflect, and reconnect. No experience needed — just come as you are and allow nature to do some of the work.
Thursday 14 May
6pm-7pm
Free, booking required
Summer Solstice
Celebrate the Summer Solstice with a guided meditation in nature session in the Alex Bernstein Garden. We’ll explore simple mindfulness and sensory practices that help us soak up the energy of summer.
An opportunity to spend time immersed in nature, soaking up the warmth, colour, and sound, while reflecting on what is flourishing within us, and what may need care as the season shifts. Open to all — no previous mindfulness experience required.
Thursday 18 June
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
Love Parks Week
In honour of Love Parks Week, we invite you to the Alex Bernstein Garden for a meditation in nature session rooted in gratitude and presence. Together we’ll slow down, practise mindful awareness, and deepen our connection to the park — noticing how these shared green spaces nourish both individual wellbeing and collective care. Open to all — no previous meditation experience required.
Thursday 30 July
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
Michaela Yearwood-Dan
In response to Michaela Yearwood-Dan’s solo exhibition. Join us for a meditation in nature session in the Alex Bernstein Garden. Guided practices will invite you to experience the garden through colour, texture, and sound, reflecting the richness and emotional resonance of the exhibition. This session offers space to rest, sense, and respond — letting art and nature support wellbeing and creative presence. Open to all — no previous meditation experience required.
Thursday 13 August
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
Autumn Equinox
As the year turns towards autumn, join us for a meditation in nature session in the Alex Bernstein Garden inspired by the Autumn Equinox. Together we’ll explore simple mindfulness and sensory practices that support grounding, balance, and care, as the garden begins to soften and settle. Open to all, with no prior mindfulness experience needed.
Thursday 24 September
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
World Mental Health Day
This World Mental Health Day, take time to slow down in the Alex Bernstein Garden through a guided meditation in nature session. Together we’ll practise simple, accessible ways of grounding the body and mind, creating space for reflection, compassion, and connection — with ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
Thursday 8 October
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
William Morris: Common Paradise
Set in the Alex Bernstein Garden, this meditation in nature session draws on the ideas explored in William Morris: Common Paradise. Through simple, guided mindfulness and sensory practices, we’ll spend time with patterns, textures, and living forms in the garden, reflecting on Morris’s vision of beauty and equality as everyday necessities, not luxuries.
Thursday 12 November
6pm-7pm
Free, booking link coming soon
Winter Solstice
Join us in the Alex Bernstein Garden for a meditation in nature session marking the Winter Solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year. This gentle gathering offers time to slow down, rest, and turn inward, noticing the quiet beauty of the garden in winter. Through simple, guided mindfulness practices, we’ll explore stillness, reflection, and care at this turning point in the year.
Sunday 20 December
11am-12pm
Free, booking link coming soon