SETTING OURSELVES UP FOR THE SESSION

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As an attendee you just need to be sitting either: A. Indoors (looking out of the window at either a plant or tree or flower that is close enough that you can see it clearly OR, if it is likely to remain to be looked at for a full 20 mins, a bird or other animal (again, outside).  B. If it’s not raining and you can sit outdoors, just have picked a plant or tree or flower that is close enough that you can see it clearly OR, if it is likely to remain to be looked at for a full 20 mins, a bird or other animal (again, outside). 

 

It’s a 1 hour session - on zoom, sometimes on video and sometimes just on audio, as we turn video off to focus on the outside world, during the exercise itself - that is structured as follows...

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WE ARE NATURE/WILD BEINGS

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I (Alana) chat about the fact that we humans are born from our planet and therefore ARE nature (and what this truly means - in a very practical sense - and how it impacts and can alter our whole world view/way of life).

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BREATHING/GETTING PRESENT WITHIN OUR WORLD

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Ed leads us all through breathing, being present and already being part of the planet and being consciously aware of the world around us: not taking this session too seriously (trying too hard) and just making the most of the wild wonder that we are inviting to rise up in us.

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WILD WONDER EXERCISE

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I take everyone through the Wild Wonder Exercise, which is like this (although the exercise is so powerful and unique for each of us, so you are invited to find out for yourself)...

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1.  You start by choosing a life form (a tree, a flower, a bird, a spider or whomever you choose to focus on) and commit to starting from scratch (a blank canvas) with that being: be open to finding yourself in an absolutely new and unusual (for you) connection, within this space/time, with that animal/botanical creature. 

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 2.  Then you'll be invited to allow all of the words and names that you have previously given to that life form to float out of your head, starting with the most specific and leading up to the most vague.  For example…  If you’re looking at a Bluebell or a Thistle, you'll be asked to allow the word ‘Bluebell’ or ‘Thistle’ to float away and then you are left with ‘flower’; allow ‘flower’ to float away and then perhaps you are left with ‘plant’; allow any possible description (however generalised) to fade from your mind until your mind can think of no more names…  

 

3.  This is the wild, magic moment and only if you take part in this exercise will you fully be able to comprehend what this experience is like (and it is unique for each of us).  My experience - as I have practiced this exercise over the last 6 years - has been that the life form (tree or bird for example) becomes freshly more alive in front of me: a fresh vibrancy, stronger colours and a renewed relationship forms between us.  (It is not spiritual, not for me anyway.  It is just a potent feeling of getting to have a relationship - however brief - without judgement and without labels shaping, limiting & often blinding me to the life form that I truly see before me).  I wonder what this exercise will be like for you?

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SHARING OUR WILD EXPERIENCES

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We will spend the last 20 minutes sharing & chatting about any wonderful experiences we have had (and maybe any frustrations) and Ed & I will make sure that everyone has the tools to go away and do the Wild Wonder Exercise themselves.  (There will also be a free community online space offered to everyone who attends in which you can be supported and also share your experiences with one another, either from this session or from practicing the WWE on your own, ongoing).

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[ED & I WILL PROVIDE - THROUGH THE SESSION - SOME HELPFUL NOTES TO HELP YOU RELAX AND REALLY ENJOY (FALL INTO WONDER AT) THE WORLD AROUND YOU.  MOSTLY YOU WILL BE SUPPORTED AND SAT WITH IN SILENCE - WITH US TO HELP YOU IF YOU NEED IT - TO RELISH BEING FULLY LOVED BY (AND IN LOVE WITH) THE WORLD AROUND YOU.]

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