‘I’ve Opened Boxes’
What does being in the woods mean to you? What does being in a community mean to you? What is one thing that you are proud of being, doing or learning this week?
Happy Friday!
And green greetings from a train rushing south.
For those of you new around these parts, welcome 👋
My name is David and I’m a writer, outdoor instructor and cyclist-at-large with Thighs of Steel. In this newsletter, I write stories that help you and me understand the world (and ourselves) a little better.
Welcome to edition 395.
‘I’ve Opened Boxes’
I have spent the last five days studying for the eQe Level 3 Certificate in Advanced Wilderness Therapeutic Approaches. Bit of a mouthful and it’s hard to use the word ‘studying’ when fifty percent of the course looked a lot like this:
To be fair now, the other fifty percent looked more like sixteen antsy adults staring glassy-eyed at Powerpoints in a classroom with bars on the windows, presumably due to live risk of jailbreak.
I haven’t had loads of time to debrief myself, but earlier today I invited a few of my classmates (woodsmates?) to share their answers to three questions.
What does being in the woods mean to you?
I feel safe when I'm outdoors. There’s something about being in nature that feels supported. Nature accepts me as who I am, where I am, when I am. I don't feel a big pull to do things: I'm happy to sit and observe, or lie down and have a nap. I find the woods very restorative. I feel healing. I feel acceptance.
I think being in the woods means escaping stress and the busyness of life, social media, the internet, uni work and reconnecting with nature: just being, being in peace again.
If I'm going on feelings and sensations, being in the woods is the feeling of peace. It's the feeling of humbleness. I’m a fan of simplicity and the woods remind us of our primal roots, of being as one with nature and opening up our senses to how we truly feel. In today's society, we lose some of our senses because we're so caught up in the rigmarole and rat race, and the algorithmic patterns we live in.
To me, the woods are something that I can use to help people. The woods are somewhere I've escaped to previously and I think people can benefit from the experience that I've gained to enable them to experience their lives from a different perspective.
For me, being in the woods is like finding a bit of internal peace and clarity, separate from the everyday normal stuff, which is stressful.
What does being in tribe, council or community mean to you?
For me, the tribe or community is about trust and acceptance. Rites of passage when joining a community are very important to me, especially small ceremonies like we had this week, looking each other in the eye and saying: ‘We respect and we will look after you.’ What the tribe implicitly and explicitly says to each member is, ‘We believe in you’, ‘We’re proud of you’ and ‘We accept you’.
Tribe or council can be a dangerous thing if you're in the wrong tribe and you're not aware. It can mean more pain and battles, ambivalent attachment or avoidant attachment because of the situation we're allowing ourselves to be in. But if you're in the right tribe, you've got each other, you feel safe and you feel connected, like mycelium in the ground, linking us all together in wholesomeness. It's like family.
Coming from a military background, tribe and rituals are very important to the sense of security that I feel. Being in a tribe outside of the military means I get that feeling of belonging back and that feels safe and secure.
I don't know what it means — it’s just good. We're not designed to be by ourselves. Being in the woods has forced us, quicker than we would have done normally, to become tribe with one another. It's made us bond quickly and be more aware of one another and you need to be able to do that in life. A tribe is good for your heart and your soul.
What is one thing that you are proud of being, doing or learning this week?
I am proud of showing up: recognising that I needed to do this thing, committing to doing it and then doing it. Also: making fire with a flint and steel.
Coming here at all. I nearly didn't come and then I nearly didn't stay. I’m proud of pushing through, allowing myself to be vulnerable and riding it out — and then being really glad I did.
Because of my upbringing I've always felt like I don't fit in. I always worry that I'm different or not right in my head. But I'm not feeling that with this class, with nature and the people here. I just feel home, feel safe. I feel cool. Everyone's family to me and I'll be a safe space for them if they ever need me.
The one thing that I've really taken from this week so far was my experience with the timeline [one of the therapeutic approaches we learned]. The timeline didn't feel like therapy, but it had a massive impact on me. I've opened boxes that I hadn't opened for a long time, but it was done with support, and I have benefited massively.
Normally, if something is hard, I'm more likely to get frustrated and give up. I've not felt that this week. If I can't do something, I've been excited to watch somebody or ask somebody and learn. And if I still couldn't do it, I know I can just try again. And that has been very good for me.
How about you?
Now I invite you to answer the same.
What does being in the woods mean to you?
What does being in a tribe, in council or in a community mean to you?
What is one thing that you are proud of being, doing or learning this week?
If you feel like sharing, I’d love to read your answers by email or in the comments. Or share them with none but the wind if you prefer.
Talking of wind, I’m going to leave you with one of my favourite activities from this week.
On a day with a gentle wind, go to the woods. If you don’t have any convenient woods near you, find a tree in a quiet corner of a garden or public park.
Lie down on the ground (don’t worry, it’s only for a couple of minutes). If you can’t lie down, then please sit down or lean up against a tree.
Look up at the tree tops. Notice what you notice. Notice how the wind sways the treetops. Listen to the wind as it moves through the branches and leaves.
Take a deep breath in. As you slowly exhale, mimic with your breath the sound of the wind. Do this for a few rounds of breath: inhale, slow exhale like the wind.
Ponder for a moment: the wind that blows through the treetops is the same air that you are breathing. You are part of nature.
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Big love,
dc: