Hello wild ones,
Things are moving slowly around here, tension and anxiety have been high in me as the Summer Holidays press on and ask for more and more of my resources. Do you feel it too? The holidays and events, expectations to be places, and work continues all the while, our attention being pulled in several directions. I wanted to talk to you all about how I find solace and healing in Nature, when faced with overwhelm.
We are all cyclical beings, ebbing and flowing with the seasons within the year, with different phases of our lives, with different struggles in each week and day. I find myself in a particularly challenging phase this month, but the wild beings have my back and it’s these more-than-human allies that I turn to. Poplar tree, Jackdaws, Self-Heal, the sea.
I haven’t always had this practice, although I have always walked outside when my mind is racing. Walking is a wonderful medicine, clearing your head, getting your body moving and encouraging stagnant thoughts and energy to flow. Most of us will have experienced this at some point, if not regularly. But it was when I started to take notice of the wild things around me that the true healing came; I would stop and take deep breaths of the air under trees, sit for a while in a secluded spot and just look in amongst the grass to notice what was growing there, or watch an unknown bird creep along tree branches eating insects, and keep watching until it flew away. In this way I gave more and more of my attention to what was outside of me. And in this way I felt more and more that I was a part of everything.
Tending connections
Here are some suggestions of things that I practice, that help me feel more connected to the Earth and the more-than-human world.
Greet plants as friends
When I do my favourite/routine walks from my house, I greet the trees and plants that I pass. Not every single one, as I wouldn’t really get anywhere! I follow my intuition for this - if a tree strikes me as particularly pretty, or a plant is in flower and makes me smile, or a blackbird stops ahead of me on the path and makes my pace falter, I greet them. I say their names in my head or under my breath, say hello or thankyou, whatever comes to me. It might feel silly, but give it a try! You might even begin to feel them greet you back.
Make an offering
I love to take a little gift to give to the land (or a particular tree, or the sea, or the river) when I go for quiet time outside. It’s a practice I also do when foraging; reciprocity is so important to me. The offering itself is often something that I have picked up elsewhere and had in my home or my pocket - like a shell or pebble. Sometimes it is a little handful of sunflower seeds or dried fruit. Occasionally I make something to gift to the land - tying a feather to a stick or picking a posy of garden flowers; there are no rules except to use something biodegradable/natural. I walk with an open mind, slow my steps, and let myself find the right spot to place the gift, tucking it into the crook of a branch or putting it on a flat stone perhaps. I say ‘thankyou’ quietly as I place it, and know that it is welcomed and it is enough.
Be there
The last practice comes in a variety of forms, but what’s taking place is a deliberate intention to just ‘be’ with Nature. Sometimes I do this by leaving my phone at home for a walk (I find it constantly in my hand nowadays as I instinctively want to photograph beautiful things when I’m outdoors) allowing the place that I’m in to have my full attention, right now. I find it helps me to appreciate what I’m seeing more, and not having that camera always in my hand encourages me to take even more notice of what I’m looking at. Other times I take a deliberately different route when on a familiar walk; picking my way through the woods on an animal track or through the undergrowth forces my pace to slow down and my brain and body to pay attention to my surroundings, more than the to-do list in my head or the repeating thoughts. Maybe ‘being there’ would show up in a different way for you?
So, I snatch these tiny moments whenever I can in these busy weeks. Sometimes I haven’t even made it outside, struggling with migraines and exhaustion, but at those times I have sat on my bed with the window open and let my gaze fall on something green. I’m lucky to have a beautiful Apple tree in my front garden, and I’ve been noticing pairs of Jackdaws coming to peck at the fruit. It gives me so much joy, and when I felt very ill it was almost like they were friends visiting me. And perhaps they are!
Breathing deeply under a tree heals us. Letting our eyes look on green things heals us. Feeling grass or ground beneath bare feet heals us. We don’t even need to ingest this medicine for it to work magic.
What ways will you connect with wild allies this month?
See you outside,
Jo xx
P.S. Remember there will be no Wild Hygge this month (August) as I traverse the difficult weeks of juggling work and parenting, so for those of you who are local, note that the next session is September 15th, but I will be in touch nearer the time!
It’s a beautiful way to be- kindred soul here 💚🌿