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... Like a mythic fairy tale, my quest started off through thick trees and dark undergrowth, and emerged onto a path where I was met by a woodsman who led me to a field with a wild playground, horses, a tree with prayer flags fluttering in the breeze, and ended with me finding the complete backbone of a fox.
(Yes, this is all happened in Stanmer Park!) For me, it was an unexpectedly deep and symbolic short journey, full of relevance. I wrote it all down (here), but because of time, we didn’t have a chance to listen to each others' journeys or get any insightful or honest feedback to help us find a deeper meaning. So I’m excited about the Medicine Walk and Council led by wilderness guide, Rebecca Card, that we’re running this Sunday. In a similar way to my solo quest, for this full-day event, we’ll start inside in a talking circle to find your thread of the moment, then you'll go out onto nearby Downs for some solo time walking, wandering, listening, receiving… Rebecca will explain ways of staying open to the land so that it can be a mirror to your inner landscape. When you come back to the circle, she'll invite you to share your story, in order that she can bring a deeper understanding to your experience. This can be an amazing way to help with a current theme in your life. There’s a couple of places left if you’d like to join us. Comments are closed.
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Author & CuratorNigel Berman is the founder of School of the Wild. Archives
March 2024
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