5-Minute More-Than-Human Savoring
Time needed: 5 minutes (90-90-120 seconds)
Setting: Any space where you can notice life beyond human
Purpose: Cultivating appreciation for non-human and more-than-human presences
Non-Human Life Appreciation (90 seconds)
What: Notice other beings sharing your world:
- Find one non-human life form nearby (plant, insect, bird, pet)
- Watch its movement or growth pattern closely
- Consider its own experience and purpose (not related to you)
- Notice its beauty, resilience, or unique qualities
- Send silent appreciation for its existence
Notice: How it feels to center other-than-human life, where wonder arises, sense of shared world
Why: Decenters human experience, builds interspecies appreciation, recognizes inherent value beyond utility
Elemental Presence Savoring (90 seconds)
What: Attune to more-than-human forces:
- Feel wind/air moving around and through you
- Notice sunlight/moonlight touching your skin
- Sense water in atmosphere or nearby
- Feel earth’s solidity beneath you
- Acknowledge fire’s warmth (sun, heat, energy)
Notice: How elements sustain your life constantly, ancient forces at work, your body as made of these same elements
Why: Recognizes fundamental dependencies, builds elemental gratitude, honors non-human agencies
Reciprocity Moment (120 seconds)
What: Consider your relationship with more-than-human world:
- Ask: “What has the more-than-human world given me today?”
- Consider: “How might I give back or care in return?”
- Notice one small way to reduce harm or increase care
- Send gratitude to one non-human presence
- Make gentle commitment to reciprocal relationship
Notice: Sense of kinship beyond human, responsibility that feels good, belonging to web of life
Why: Builds reciprocal ethics, moves beyond consumption mindset, strengthens ecological identity
Closing: Bow slightly to the more-than-human world
Notice: Shift from separation to kinship
Why: Honors interconnection and mutual belonging
Tips:
- Practice “de-centering” human importance gently
- Let non-human beings be themselves, not symbols
- Notice daily dependencies on more-than-human
- Build regular reciprocity practices
- Learn names of plants/animals/places near you
- Consider Indigenous ecological wisdom