Body as an Antenna

Experiencing the world through our senses can be a rewarding and healthy way to engage in the world .

In this blog post I share a wild conversation between myself (forager and somatic educator) and Miles Irving (founder of Forager Ltd). We discuss nature, the body, what it means to be whole, human and how to find our way back to the things that really matter.

We finish with a rambling conversation about foraging songs and me sharing/singing a few.

Soma means to experience the body from within. Thanks goes to Miles Irving and Forager Ltd for this opportunity to explore these themes.

NOTES and general timings of themes

(Timings are approximate).

• 0:00 Introduction from Miles Irving
• 7:05 Podcast begins - Polyvagal nervous system, the importance of relating and 'tend and befriend'
• 16:35 The wisdom of the body, anchoring in the body, felt-experience of nature verses an objective experience of nature and how to relate to nature.
• 25:50 Free food verses and a sense of wonder, benefits of nature (Richard Louv - Last Child in the Woods)
• 30:00 Sensing through the body, movement verses stillness, intuition and instinct
• 40:00 Body intelligence, risk and moving through trauma
• 55:00 Instinct and intuition, the intelligence of breaking down in order to become more whole.
• 1:05:00 Vulnerability, the importance of play and pleasure and how to THRIVE
• 1:13:00 How time outdoors supports the biology of our body and the value of relational living
• 1:19:40 What is wildness? Is it scary or predictable and how does it relate to living fully and trusting life?
• 1:31:17 Foraging, nature and connection. Navigation and maps verses interrelating with the landscape (Tristan Gooley)
• 1:40:17 Creating support, brain and body plasticity. Stuck verses movement, choices verses limits, being verses change.
• 2:01:00 Foraging songs - non-verbal communication, learning through music and expressing something 'else' through songs

If you enjoyed this (or parts of it), you may also like some of Mindful Wild Forager blogs or my foraging songs. My philosophy also underlies how I teach and run my foraging courses.

Related posts:

The Singing Forager Making Nettle Pakoras (with Nettle Song) Getting Intimate with Wild Foods How to be Wild and Free (inspired by Virginia Woolf)