Posts by Shelly

There is something about the mountains, they have been there forever it seems. Some invite you to climb, others dare you to try. You can get majestic views from the top, and when you explore inside the mountain the views are just as majestic. Whether snow covered or tree lined they define the horizon and remind you that nature has been here for longer than we have and will continue after we are gone. They remind us that although they look solid and immovable they are actually the result of movement itself and have shifted throughout their existence either by pressure building up or erosion tearing down. Time does not matter to them, they are not in rush, don’t complain about the weather, and stand tall in their existence. They host streams, lakes, animals, avalanches, landslides, birds, and sometimes even people with the same solid presence. They are a mass of beauty.

Where in your life are you a mountain, holding both the beauty inside and out? Where are you immovable and yet shifting? Where do you hold both growth and destruction? Stand tall in your mountain beauty.

Summer is upon us

The promise of abundant sunlight, no school for kids, and some adults, brings the promise of carefree days with no structure, dreams of catching up on our summer reading or campfires with s’mores all swirl around in our thoughts. There is a template in our nervous system if we grew up with summer vacations and time off of school. When the first week of June rolls around and school lets up there is often a uptick of excitement and energy as our bodies remember the potential freedom of a whole summer. Playing outside until dark with fireflies dancing in the moonlight and then waking to the birdsongs just hours later means it is summer. The longest days of the year are enjoyed in the northern hemisphere and in areas where the winters are harsh, summer is sacred; and over in the blink of an eye. So cherish your summer this year, make some memories and reinforce the resourcing of your nervous system with time spent outside, connecting with friends, slowing down and going outside of your routine and just being. Nature is in full bloom and we invite you to bloom also.

Spring is a time of birth and rebirth after the winter. In April, we held our Spring workshop at Eastman Nature center. It was a beautiful day with plenty of time spent in nature. One aspect of Earth we worked with was muck. A combination of mud and water with the consistency to suck your boots off if you step in it. We think of getting stuck in the muck, mired muck and most people don’t want their feet to touch the muck bottom of a lake while swimming. There is a negative connotation to muck. But muck is also fertile. Cattails which are nature’s purification system grow in muck. The lotus flower grows out of the muck and is a symbol of beauty, rebirth, overcoming adversity and enlightenment. In Minnesota, we have the water lily emerging from the muck in our lakes- a symbol of rebirth. So next time you feel covered in muck or stuck in the muck consider turning your attention to what is trying to grow, is something trying to be birthed in your life? What is the adversity you are needing to overcome and heal in order to bloom? How is the adversity feeding your rebirth?

You are invited to join us at a future workshop to explore your internal process in the natural rhythm of nature. We would love to see you there.

Spring is the season of new beginnings. The season typically starts with snow on the ground and perhaps, one last snowstorm. By the end of Spring everything is green, flowers are blooming, baby animals have arrived and the sunlight is noticeably increased and stronger. It seems spring takes forever to arrive and there is a chaos to it’s entrance as it establishes itself. New beginnings in our lives are often a bit chaotic just like spring. There is a need to regulate our emotions and nervous system and it takes more skills to do so, analogous to most people during an April snowstorm. The temperatures vary from mitten weather to short weather and our ability to be prepared and adapt is at times tested. Just like the new beginnings in our lives, vacillating from looking back to the familiarity of those mittens and looking forward to the freedom of wearing shorts all of the time. Spring is full of surprises, just like the new beginnings in our lives. Newly planted plants and ideas begin to grow and sometimes get nipped by the frost. Within all of the chaos there is order, the hardy plants thrive, the effective ideas begin to take form, and a path starts to emerge and we follow feeling a little more in alignment with what is starting to manifest. We can start to see the order, the organization and our nervous systems follow suit and settle. The sun does come up tomorrow, the moon cycles with it’s waxing and waning, the new growth becomes stable and blooms and we have survived another new beginning and perhaps learned something about ourselves in the process.

We had a couple of amazing experiences on our retreat and fall workshop. For the retreat we had amazing weather, swimming comfortably in a northern Minnesota lake on the last weekend of September, drumming and dancing, using the sauna and restoring our souls.

The fall workshop at Eastman Nature Center was also beautiful fall weather with all of the fall colors and sunshine. We worked on clearing the sludge of our ancestral lines, the family legacies that keep us mired in familiar patters that no longer serve us. We often don’t think of healing the patterns we inherit from our ancestors, the epigenetic or transgenerational wounding. But what a gift we give our descendants when he heal. Some say it goes both ways, and the ancestors also heal. The best part is how we get to be free of the no longer helpful lineage experiences and live more authentically. At the workshop drumming assisted releasing that sludge and a sense of calm with some playfulness permeated the group.

Thanks to all who participated. We hope to see you again soon

I travelled to see the eclipse in totality this month. The experience of taking it in through all of the sense is so different than seeing it on a screen. The visual, of course, is spectacular but there is more. The sensation of the temperature dropping, it becoming darker in the middle of the day, the songs of the birds changing from their normal chatter all add to the experience. In the pasture I was sitting in, the cows broke through the fence and the snakes became very active in the pond, moving like lightening to and fro. It seemed as if there was a void of time, 4 minutes of a pause, of possibility, the possibility of shifting something that seemed permanent. The felt sense of reality as we know it, to actually be an illusion, woven in the tapestry of something much bigger than us and what we know. And then the eclipse is complete and we are back in the pasture, trees dotting the landscape, we are breathing the air, listening to the cows moo, back to our own thoughts but yet somehow changed. Changed once again by the power and magnificence of nature.

Early Spring Blog:

Happy Spring although winter felt fleeting.  I had the opportunity to visit San Diego a few weeks ago to speak at a conference.  A great place to walk and visit with nature.  Kayaking seeing harbor seals and many shore birds was such fun.  I am sharing one photo with this beautiful tree I hung out with.  I was reminded that anywhere I go I can seek out and be with nature in any form that shows up.  I was with a colleague, and she said let’s just show up there and not make any plans for our free time, well I thought okay yet I just made one small shift to make a reservation for kayaking and it turned out to be big fun.  In this non planning nature crept in as she always does and we danced with the sea, curled up with the trees, was kissed by the sun and greeted by many amazing canines.  I have gratitude for being able to get away, share knowledge in our workshop about working with horses for healing and walk upon the earth in a new location.  I hope you are able to be outside, get kissed by the sun, walk tenderly upon the earth, and enjoy and engage nature-as nature surely does nurture!

As we go into March with sunshine and warmth, please consider joining us for our one-day restorative workshop in Apple Valley on Friday March 22^nd.  Come join us as we welcome spring and find balance in our lives. Even though it was a unique winter, nature still knows and can teach us a few things about finding balance in our lives. 

This Authentic Restoration Workshop is a self-care experience to refresh your life force energy and step into an authentic alignment with yourself. Discover where your energy is stuck and connect with your capacity to balance through mindful exploration in nature, movement, body focused activities and self-inquiry.   

Please see more information and sign up on our website, amidstthetrees.com

Dancing into spring,

Molly D

Waldeinsamkeit is the feeling of unique solitude while being alone in the woods, a feeling of connectedness to nature; a union with the ancient rhythms of the Earth. It is a German word that when translated directly means loneliness and woods; however has a much greater meaning of connectedness and the sense of inner peace while communing in the woods. Lisa, Molly and I spent a recent weekend practicing the connectedness to nature, the regeneration of our energy, the settledness of coming in the our bodies with settling into the snow- yes we went far enough north to find snow and cold.

There is a sense of wonder in the feeling of being grounded in snow. A sense of peace and quiet and coming into the rhythm of the winter, a replenishing and slowing down. A getting ready for the next germinating phase or thing in our life while taking time to rest, relax and find again our own rhythm and pace

We played in the trees, on the trees and surrounded by trees. All the while connecting with the consciousness of the trees and joining with them in the joy of being, nothing to accomplish, no deadlines, just “being” connected in the web of life. It is amazing how something so simple can shift your perspective and restore your energy. Trees don’t really care how cold it is and we practiced sharing that sentiment.

Whether you have a week, a weekend, a day or a few hours. We hope you can get out and enjoy the connection to nature and all it can bring to you. If you have a day, consider joining us for our next workshop or even the retreat next fall. We can practice waldeinsamkeit and learn to make it a practice in our daily life.