How I learned to pray on a walk in the woods

Few teachings in the Jewish tradition have shaped me as much as the words of Rebbe Nachman's Tefilah 11, in which he writes,

"Holy One of Blessing, grant me the ability to be alone, and may it be my custom to go outdoors every day, among the trees and the grass and all growing things, and there may I enter into holy seclusion to talk with the One to whom I belong."

This prayer is the foundation of the Soul Strolls, the contemplative hikes I lead up in the Hudson Valley and elsewhere. Jodi Rudoren, the editor in chief of the Jewish Forward, recently joined me on one, and shared her reflections in this article, Wow, please, thank you: How I learned to pray on a walk in the woods.