Gentle Foraging.

Gentle Foraging. 

I turn off the lamplight and shut down the wood fire as a wind starts growling from the darkness outside. Here on the farm, strong wind means falling branches. I continue to listen as I climb into bed. The trees start moaning and rocking under the hand of the powerful thrusts that seem on a mission to blow everything far away from where it wants to be. This force of nature is so much more intimidating at night, with its sounds of cracking and deep low grumbles making it hard to get to sleep. 

 

By the next morning the awful wind has moved on. A few chairs are tipped over but to my relief, no major damage has occurred. Something inside me is both relieved and a little unsettled from the wild night of commotion. A thick carpet of leaves surrounds the base of the giant eucalypt, that stands like a monument just over the garden fence. I circle the tree slowly, looking at the display that is as stunning as any great artwork. 

 

I reach down and carefully choose one thin pink leaf. It is not dry and grey like the others. It still seems to have some sort of life about it. Flexible to the touch and softly scented, its malleability an indication it was not ready to be tossed to the earth so inconsiderately. It still had some growing to do. The lumpy dry leaves have stories etched on top of their veins reassuring the newly fallen, that it’s not so bad here on the ground. And they all look up to a sky of orange dappled light. 

 

Activity

I invite you to take five to ten minutes and take yourself on a Gentle Foraging Journey into nature. When something catches your eye, take a closer look. Perhaps it is a stone, bark, a leaf or a plant. What does its texture feel like as you touch it. Does it have an interesting aroma, sound, colour, shape, markings, lumps or bumps? Does it have a story? Can you sense it is old or young? Are there similar objects nearby? 

 

Move slowly around the area with curiosity. Bring your attention to your breath. Tune into the way the breath feels in this moment. Value the simplicity this simple experience. Take a pilgrimage across the message this moment hands to you. 

 

The importance of activities that calm the nervous system.

When the body doesn't have an opportunity to relax and recover from stressful times. the nervous system can forget it has an ability to settle and the immune system can be compromised. This can leave us in a state of agitation or overwhelm. Ongoing worry, anxiety, busyness, time pressure and hardship also keep us activated. 

 

On a graph, the nervous system should look like a series of zig zags. The line going up when the sympathetic nervous system is activated and the line going down when we self-sooth and relax.  Our whole body can feel activated in an instant but calming can take up to twenty minutes.

If stress, worry, pressure and deadlines are constantly a part of our life, with little to no downtime, the graph is no longer zig zag. It becomes an ever-climbing line, indicating constant sympathetic activation. This is not sustainable in the long term and eventually the nervous system will stop functioning properly. This can leave us low in energy, unmotivated and overwhelmed.

Gentle observation, thoughtful self-care and a willingness to hold both the stress and the wonder at once, is important. Try a range of simple mindfulness tools until you have your own coping tool box. Seek support, connection, friendship and the harmonious lessons nature offers too. And when you are not sure what to do to settle yourself down well, take yourself on a ‘Gentle Foraging Journey’ outside and for a little while, just breathe.