Sit round a fire and share what's in your heart. It's good for the soul.

28/5/2017

A couple of nights ago I went to see some live music.

I’d never seen or heard singer-songwriter Chris TT before, his songs, played mainly on acoustic guitar were a mix of clever folk-protest and psych-pop, with some fun chat in between.

After a couple of funny protest numbers, including one about saving a tree, he introduced his next song as being “as close to the real me as you’ll ever get.”

After all the songs looking outward, Words Fail Me, he said was his attempt to tell the truth about what was going on inside.

It was beautiful and moving, and touched the audience in a way that was very different. We all felt the emotion that the truth can bring.

It's not something we do often but really speaking from the heart always resonates.

Settling into the soft stillness of the dark on a night walk

13/4/2017

Double checking the route for Saturday's night walk over the Downs with @natureschildling and Jake the Farrier. A few places left if you'd like to join us.

#schoolofthewild #wildtime #nightwalk #southdowns

Twisted, broken, dead. Taking the medicine of the moor.

27/3/2017

#spring #medicinewalk #dartmoor #stepup #becounted #wildtime #schoolofthewild #themystery

The Power of a Medicine Walk: let go of the need for control, and be open to how life reveals itself to you

21/1/2017

We're holding a few Medicine Walks this year. Our guide Rebecca Joy Card explains what a Medicine Walk is all about:

A Medicine Walk is a way of being with the land and yourself in a receptive, open and imaginal way.

It's an opportunity to leave "your familiar world to wander, opening to new insights and gifts through direct and immediate contact with the wildness of the world, and returning to share this gift for the benefit of one’s People and one’s Place." (John Davis, School of Lost Borders).

Essentially, this exercise has its roots in one of the oldest spiritual practices – of nature and human in a deep(er) conversation.

It is done consciously, in ceremony, making it different to just 'going for walk'. There is intention. There may be a question to walk with, a question that may be asked to the land, to the other-than-human-world.

What to expect? The unexpected! It is important to be open to the wonder and magic of how life wants to reveal itself to you. You may think you know how your life should be, but the natural world has its own way of mirroring back to you the 'medicine' you may really need, or another way of looking at things.

I have known people to go out with questions about how to proceed with their career when it feels stuck and uninspiring, and come back brimming with vitality, full of inspiration.

I have known people go out with questions about their career when it feels stuck, and come back brimming with vitality, and full of inspiration.

The Land as Container for the Mystery: first thoughts after a Medicine Walk on the South Downs

24/10/2016

On yesterday's Medicine Walk, I ate dandelion, ground ivy, yarrow and rosehips, made friends with a ladybird, saw a rat above my head, and sang to an appreciative herd of cows.

Am very much feeling my place in the family of things.

With much gratitude to Rebecca Joy Card and the land for supporting this mysterious journey.

For those who came, and for those who will come, the kettle is definitely on.

How the Land can Mirror your Inner Landscape on a Medicine Walk

16/10/2016

This time last year I was on an outdoors course in Stanmer Park.

As a group we met every Monday to sit around a fire and do some exercises to explore how nature can be therapeutic.

One particular Monday, Martin the course leader explained that we were going on a short solo quest.

We spent a quiet moment tuning into ourselves and then we each went off in a direction that we felt drawn, paying attention to what happened along the way...

Walking with the Ancestors: How Anglo-Saxon Beliefs Could Shift Your Experience of the World

3/8/2016

Walking with the ancestors. schoolofthewild.com

The Anglo-Saxons were the last people in Britain to relate to the land in the ways that humans have done for hundreds of thousands of years and throughout history.

The Celts, the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons all saw omens and meaning in the landscape, and in, well... everything.

From birds and animals that crossed their path, to thunderstorms, to rainbows, to the patterns in clouds and shapes in the landscape, all of these things connected them into a dynamic web of meaning and activity that they saw themselves as deeply participating in.

Sensing the Land: exploring the inner and outer landscapes of the South Downs

13/6/2016

"When you walk into the wood, think of it as a community: walk with a feeling of reverence, a bit like going into a church,” says Alistair.

Walking in to ancient woodland, Butcher's Wood

It’s a clear fresh morning, and we’re standing inside Butcher’s Wood, the first stop on Sensing the Land, a guided woodland and downland walkshop that we're doing around Wolstonbury Hill and the South Downs, in Sussex.

Butcher's Wood is a small patch of ancient woodland that’s just a few minutes walk from Hassocks station and quite close to the London to Brighton railway line.

Pictures from our latest event: Simultaneous Awareness with Ben Rayner

6/6/2016

It was an uplifting and inspiring summer's day.

Walking barefoot in the woods, listening to the birds, smelling the woodsmoke and feeling the soft touch of the breeze.

Simultaneous Awareness with Ben Rayner was a hit. Thanks to everyone who came along.

What are Simultaneous Awareness and Natural Movement?

11/5/2016

Simultaneous Awareness is a way to use your senses to become aware of everything that's happening around you at the same time.

Apache Scouts like Stalking Wolf had this extraordinary ability.

Developed by Ben Rayner after a serious skydiving accident, and then time spent alone in the wilderness, Simultaneous Awareness is based on Native ways of experiencing and relating to the world.

It includes easy-to-learn tools and techniques that will help you discover a profoundly different way of being.

In this short video, Ben explains more about it and how it can bring benefits.

Simultaneous Awareness and Natural Movement, June 5th. More details and booking on Meetup here.

How to Be More Animal & Discover Powers of Perception You Didn't Know You Had

9/5/2016

Blindfold in the woods. School of the Wild

You use them every day to gather information about the world around you. Your senses that is.

You have sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing... you have amazing powers of consciousness, reason, and creativity.

But your body is chock full of 'extra' senses that you may not even be aware you're using, like some of the mysterious powers that other animals possess.

You can access them if you drop out of your rational, thinking mind.

If you pay attention to what you feel in your body, you can detect and feel things around you that you can't see: objects, movement, emotions...

To try this out, at our last School of the Wild session, after some centring and grounding exercises, then fox walking and owl vision to get into the 'zone', we walked blindfold through the woods.

The results were extraordinary.

Introducing the Way of the Horse

21/3/2016

Why We're Running Workshops that Help You Explore the Powerful Wisdom of Your Body

I was listening to comedian and actor, Eddie Izzard, on the radio this morning. He’s just finished 27 marathons in 27 days. (!)

They ask him if he’s taking a rest, or if he’s already planning to start running again.

"You're asking this now?!?" he jokes.

Then after a moment's thought, "I expect I'll be doing half marathons every couple of weeks,” he says. He pauses.

“I need to move... like we did when we were kids...

"At some point as adults, we decided that wasn’t a good idea, but we’re natural animals, and we need to move. We forget that."

He’s right. We are animals. And I know I forget that.

How I Find Some Backbone on a Medicine Walk

11/3/2016

Today we sit inside the willow dome, instead of our usual spot outside by the fire. I notice I'm feeling uncomfortable.

I like having full view of the plants and the sky, and today, even though it's not totally blocking everything out, I'm feeling hemmed in by the structure.

I say this. It's not universal. "I prefer the womb-like feeling of being in an enclosed space," someone else says.

It's funny because I've been thinking a lot about structure this past week. I'm working on a presentation for work, and have been wrestling with getting all my thoughts and ideas organised into the right framework.

Martin says it's a question I should keep in mind for today's session. And he begins, explaining the Four Directions, as understood by the School of Lost Borders.

West, where he's sitting, is about adolescence and struggle. North is about adulthood and responsibility, East about spirituality, death and rebirth, and the South about childhood and playfulness.

We spend a quiet moment tuning into ourselves and then each go off in the direction that we feel drawn, paying attention to what happens.

Despite a thought to go west, a place of struggle, I feel drawn to the south. Playfulness. It's a direction I haven't walked in from here before, perhaps because there's a hedge in the way, and it has felt closed off to me.

I cross the threshold of the space, and start off east, turning south when I hit a track.

I'm calm, and content to just follow whatever happens.

Behind the hedge, south from where I started, is a field I feel drawn to get into. But I can't. It's surrounded by fences, with no gate. Behind it, further south, is another field where horses are grazing. It looks nice, and I decide I'm going to find a way in.

I continue south, down the track, and turn off west into a small thicket, thinking I might find a way into the field behind.

I look down. There's a beautiful grey, black and white feather at my feet. Wood pigeon. I smile, "I must be on the right path," I think, and pick it up. The thicket is overgrown and dark, and I claw my way through the undergrowth, following a faint trail made by an animal or child... my coat rips on a thorn. It all feels playful, and also strangely symbolic, like a descent described in mythic stories.

Why I'm Setting Up A New Weekly Nature Connection Course

16/2/2016

I've just set up my dream course as part of School of the Wild - the project I decided to really 'go for' after doing The Journey at Embercombe in the summer of 2015.

At the end of The Journey, I pledged to stand up for what I believe, and this is it: The Nature Connection course.

The aim of this course is to experience a deeper, more participatory relationship with nature, learn new skills, and discover new ways of seeing yourself and the world.

The idea is that because it's local, and because it's weekly, we'll all go on a bit of a journey and the relationships and the connections - to the participants, and to the trees, animals, birds and plants - will continue beyond the course.

I've set this up because I truly believe that our separation from nature's health sustaining, nonverbal wisdom is responsible for the world's environmental problems, and many of the emotional and health issues that we suffer from.

If we can get the connection with nature back, we'll become better stewards of the planet, and of ourselves.

We are part of nature after all.

What can the South Downs teach you about yourself?

3/2/2016

SENSING THE LAND
A sensory walkshop on the South Downs - Sunday 7th Feb

We're lucky in Brighton.

We're lucky because we live just 15 mins from truly beautiful countryside on the South Downs, a rich tapestry of wildlife, landscapes and tranquility, that 'weave together a story of people and place in harmony.'

But what do you know about the history of the Downs? How do you feel when you're on them, when you're part of them?

And what can the South Downs teach you about yourself?

The South Downs have been inhabited since ancient times and there is a rich heritage of historical features and archaeological remains, including defensive sites, burial mounds and field boundaries...

On this nature connected woodland and downland 'walkshop' - Sunday 7th Feb - we'll explore the inner and outer landscapes of the South Downs.

You'll learn about the geology, and natural and human history of the Downs, and explore some relaxed practices to experience the landscape through your senses and your body, to learn more about the land and yourself.

Join us.

Details and booking here: www.meetup.com/School-of-the-Wild-Sussex

How Trees Can Help You Appreciate Other People

20/1/2016

A brilliant quote from Ram Dass relating how we feel about trees, to how we judge ourselves.

"When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees.

"And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever.

And you look at the tree and you allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way.

And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.

The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying “You’re too this, or I’m too this.” That judging mind comes in.

And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are."

Ram Dass, writer and spiritual teacher

The Spirit of Nature: a meditative journey into wilderness philosophy

17/11/2015

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It's autumn. We're about to embark on the Spirit of Nature, our latest workshop.

It's a Sunday morning in late autumn. The weather is clear and bright. We gather at a new indoors venue in the dip between Newtimber Hill and Devil's Dyke, for the Spirit of Nature session. There are 20 of us.

By popular demand, Robert is running this shamanic journey class, but he has reservations. "The techniques I'm about to show you come from the Lipan Apache tradition, handed down by Grandfather (Stalking Wolf).

"I usually teach this class as part of a longer course that includes practical skills, to make it more grounded," he says. But due to popular demand, he's teaching it for us anyway.

[Click the Read More link to see more]