Take a look at Foxy attuning to nature 

November is suddenly here and since my last newsletter our landscape is shifting yet again.  Deeper into Autumn and deeper into lockdown.  My pondering for the day is, what happens in our minds and hearts as we navigate change?  Can we stay open to connection in the midst of change?

One response which I have been observing in myself over the last few months is how I unconsciously shut down my feelings.  I think I’m doing just fine and then later realise that I’m feeling stuck or my body is sore.  When I connect in, I notice that actually I’m a bit numb and underneath there are parts of me that don’t feel ok.   I discover that if I can’t feel it, how can I take care of these tender places?

Often this numbness is an unconscious strategy that we carry from way back when it was a useful protective response from being overwhelmed.  Some of us might feel we may really need this response right now and it’s good to recognise that, but for others we might find it no longer serves us.  We may feel that it reduces our ability to connect with others, from receiving and giving support to our friends and communities, in ways that are still allowed.  Yet we are relational beings and most of us need relationships to survive.  So how do we stay connected to ourselves and others?

I often look to nature for inspiration.  Last week I took this video clip of Foxy attuning to nature.   I love the way she’s sniffing the air, sensing the environment with her whole being, from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail.    It reminds me not to see only with my eyes but to recruit all of my senses.  To be more fully alive in this precious moment, this wild and windy day, this colourful season.

Connecting with nature is one way that helps me to be more in touch with how I am feeling and allow it to move.  I like to think of emotions as messengers.  They give their message as sensation in the body and these usually create thoughts.  Ideally, we hear the body mind message so the messenger can move on.  I love how ‘motion’ is part of the word ‘emotion’.

When I connect with my senses in nature it takes me away from my head back into the language of my body.  Whether I’m looking at the sky from an open window or walking on the beach, I can connect my senses to my body as I see and hear and smell and taste and touch.  From the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail.

Time and again, nature connects me back to knowing how I feel and so knowing what I need  In relationship with myself and in relationship with others