Connect to nature...a chance for fresh adventures in nature

Happy YOU day!

Our clocks have gone forward, evenings are stretching out in front of us and sunshine seems to be gracing us with its delight every now and then. I'm so excited as it's that time of year where we begin to feel the need to be outside, the air is crisp with a hint of possibility, sometimes warm and the heating doesn't need to be on inside quite so much either! Sounds like a perfect recipe of a clearer head to me :)

It was my birthday this time last week. I always expect my birthday weather to play by the rules! For as long as a can remember my birthday has been sunny and bright. Last year it didn't, it was grey but this year IT DID! It was a perfect mix of spring sunshine and crispness. So much so I had to get outside as quickly as possible and for as long as possible before I went across town to run a workshop in the afternoon.

I wanted to get away from the temptation to dive into 'being online' and 'getting work done'. Instead i wanted to relax and indulge my true wishes to be completely in my surroundings without worrying about what I should be doing. because to be outside was exactly what I needed to feel healthy and vibrant.

Once I went outside, I had such an amazing feeling of lightness and space, possibility and wonder. I'd been noticing that of course spring was springing but in that moment I took longer than normal to hang out and observe what was going on around me. I got creative with how I experienced the space.

Find and honour that special nature spot. A patch of Birch trees I found on my birthday wander. :)

I delighted in the variety of bird songs and squawks, the whizz of people going by on their bikes and the voices of children and families also out for a walk along the cycle path that leads through the length and breath of the city. A hidden space, a place apart from the rest of the city.

I breathed deeply, I filled my lungs with a much freshness as I could, I stopped to take photographs of patches of brightness and details that my eyes zoomed in on. I took steps off the established paved path and began exploring the sometimes barely visible path through the woods off to the side.

I noticed that someone- probably the council have been clearing and managing the woods, to make space for renewal and access, and to make the space for YOU and me. How lovely!

I felt so fortunate and blessed and full of possibilities.

As I wandered and wondered along the woods next to the local cycle path I felt like a little girl again, completely free for just a moment.

I've also just spent the last couple of days at my parents in the Highlands, tidying the garden, walking in the woods and pottering about outside. I felt productive, alive and creative.

I feel that this was just where i needed to be in each one of these moments, surrounded by a sense of peaceful playfulness, wonder and service.

What i've learnt is that we don't give ourselves this opportunity very often, to slow down, to feel peaceful, to go outside and be playful, to be creative, to get curious, to notice those moments and things that we might usually just walk by as we go about our day.  Even if we know how good it would feel.

I gave myself this extra special gift on my birthday, but it doesn't need to be on YOUR birthday. It can be any time your need a change of pace, a new perspective or your feeling a little stuck with something or you need to get your creative juices flowing..

If in doubt, think outside. Get away from technology and creatively delight in those natural spaces

Yikes!

Maybe the idea is daunting? Maybe the possibility of going outside and not knowing the first thing to do so you can 'be there' is sticking in your mind and keeping you away from the feeling and spaces you want to experience.

I really wanted to let you know that I know how you feel, and I've been there, especially in city nature spaces.

I really wanted to let you know that I can help you be, to connect, go on creative adventures in nature and find some special places to notice and nurture in your life.

I'd love to know about your special nature spots, or where you've been longing to explore. Join me over on the Made Curious facebook page

I wanted to remind you, or tell you about a little something for the first time in case you missed it...

STARTS 12 APRIL - JOIN US! 

This is a 4 week coached creative adventure into nature and is the result of a collaboration with the very lovely Morwhenna Woolcock. A talented artist, designer and creative adventurer  who's all about inspiring and connecting people by creating positive projects.

I wanted to let you know that the EARLY BIRD offer price of £44 ENDS on Saturday 05 April!

This course is for you if…YOU want to...

•  explore your creativity – but don’t know where to start

• have a sense of peace and connection in nature within your busy or stressful life

•  refresh, reinvigorate and develop a deeper knowing of your essential self

•  learn some simple, yet powerful mindfulness techniques

•  connect with your inner child and remember what it’s like to be curious & have fun!

You can take part from anywhere in the world, the adventures are delivered straight to your inbox!

We have a super early bird offer of only £44 (normally £88) which ENDS this SATURDAY 6th April!
You also get a tree planted for you with Trees for Life in the Caledonian Forest.

If you are anything like the last lovely community we had your will find your experience of natural spaces and of your own creativity changed deeply.

We'd love to have your along on these creative adventures in nature.

Would you like to be part of the Connect to Nature tribe?

For the full details and to book YOUR place at the early bird price, please make a dash over HERE

With peace and wonder

Jaimie x

My giant...

When I was a child I suffered from panic attacks.

Sometimes, very occassionally, I still do

Last year, I got curious and I found one way to deal with that feeling of panic and otherworldliness that a panic attack can bring. I begun to understand what I had experienced.

Turns out the thing that was actually to help me, was something I knew was there but thought it was a bad presence and always associated it with the negative experience of the panic attack. That was the truth for me.

When I got a panic attack as a child and occasionally when i've had one as an adult i've had the strangest of feelings. I felt like I was getting really small and really really large. Sometimes it was like I was flipping between the two, sometimes it was like I was both at once. A very small me inside a very large me! The feeling had always perplexed me.

This feeling of unreality and disassociation is in fact a normal part of a panic attack, but at the time, when I was small I was terrified and I would run to the safety of the nearest person for comfort and reassurance that my world wasn't going to fall down around me.

Last year I was having a coaching session with a new coach and part of that feeling came back to me. I had my eyes closed and I was considering something really difficult and painful.

But this time instead of flipping back and forth between small and large. The feeling stayed large and encompassing. I was intrigued and i sat with the feeling.

That feeling, it turns out, was MY GIANT!

In that moment I realised that the dissociation, was there to keep me safe, but this time instead of resisting and trying to chase the giant feeling away, I invited her in. I gave her a name – Daisy- the friendly flower- and asked for her help.

She enveloped the small scared me, she told me it was ok, she told me that she was there to help and keep me safe and importantly, that I was ok.

She still makes a visit to my life when I need her, wherever I am. I can draw that GIANT feeling to me when I need it.

She is always friendly. I know that I can ask for her wisdom and insight. She is an anchor and a kind of meditation.

The last time she came to visit, I was anxious about money, and the anxiety was bright red and swirling. I closed my eyes and she was there. I asked her to turn the swirling red anxiety into something peaceful. She stood with her back to me. First she turned that turmoil of anxiety into a big bunch of red gerberas – because they are her favourite- but I knew that I needed something else. A big deep breath and the petals or each flower had turned into a fluffy seed head. Just like a dandelion. The anxiety was now a completely gentle, and life giving force. I exhaled and the the seeds floated off into the air. I was calm,

It was and is a powerfully emotional experience, to be able to turn that feeling of deep uncertainty, fear and stress into a moment of calm and sense power in my core.

I am grateful for my giant.

Do you have a place, an image, an anchor in your life that helps bring you from panic and stress to calm and peace?

I'd love to hear about it if you'd like to share over on my facebook page

with peace and wonder

jaimie x

The importance of layers

Now we're just tentatively peeking our little red noses out of winter, and of course layers are important

I don't want to be too hot, or too cold.

Yes, we are all very good at talking about unexpected drops and rises in temperature and the weather but what that does is just remind us of how important layers are.

When I was out for a wander the other morning, I got to thinking about the kind of layers we can have in our lives.

There are the cheap, useless, chill you to the bone layers that serve no real purpose, and there are the expensive, valuable and keep you from dying from hypothermia layers.

You know the kind you hanker after but rarely buy when you're in the outdoor shop...( well maybe that's just me!)

I thought...well the same goes for the layers we put into our lives, hour by hour, day by day, month by month, year by year. The quality of the moments, events, experiences and people, that we allow to surround us in our lives, gives us the quality of our lives and the warmth and support that we so desire.

This Christmas/New Year holidays 2013 I had the total delight of having the company of my youngest niece, she came over from Australia for a sad reason but proceeded to bring joy and laughter to our hearts, just to have her near and get to know her personality.

We got to talking one day about the last time I visited her in Oz. A time when she was only 7-8 years old. Only about 6 years ago.

Now, I talked with much heartfelt enthusiasm about my memories of the time we spent together, special and deeply held for me.

It was during this conversation that I was reminded of the importance of layers...no not because we were both feeling a bit chilly after having been outside for hours in the Scottish winter, but because she could not remember many of the details I remembered of the last time i'd visited Australia and spent time with her.

Of course, it hit me! This was only ONE short moment in her childhood, where this previously fairly unknown Auntie Jaimie rocked up.

She made me laugh! The only thing she remembered vividly about my visit was watching me put my contact lenses in in the morning and being freaked out by it :) HA!

This visit to Scotland was another beautiful layer on the cake of our lives. She, older and more aware of the wider world, now has a stronger memory, more meaning and context to what family is and means, especially extended family...before this she had only met a handful of us and found it hard to connect the dots

Without layers we are just passing ships with no anchor to each other.

We connect to each other by building layers of our lives together, building trust, building memories, respect and love for one another- and sadly all too often by negative means too..

Side by side, interlocked, touching at points along the path as we experience, learn and remember.

This visit, my niece and I built our layers by walking together with her dad and mine, in the common grazing, avoiding jagged Gorse bushes, and climbing fences.

We went walking on the croft, down to the woods, where she witnessed and heard stories of where her dad used to go ferreting when he was young.

We went together to the neighbouring croft to see the animals. Where we met dogs, charismatic cows, shy sheep, rare hens and freezing fish. And we came home up the hill I walked each school day as a child, talking about the dens I built at the roadside and hours I spent messing around in the burn by the house.

She asked me as we walked, ' do you think it's better to be a child or an adult'... I thought for a moment...it was a tricky question and I answered as simply as I could

'For me both have been and are pretty wonderful, but I make sure I'm childlike and playful as a grown-up as much as possible'

That's how i want to build my layers, as a grounded and gracious grown-up BUT with the tendency to follow my nose,to discover and uncover the potential for playfulness and wonder.

Now, that gorgeous girl is back in Australia, I miss her and I can't wait to build more special life layers with her, whenever that may be.

with warmth and wonder

Jaimie x

Building peaceful magic

I've just been out building!

When my friend and colleague told me last weekend- whilst we were running our first Forest Families session- that she was going to be showing a group of teachers at a local school how to create their very own living willow dome in their school grounds, I knew I had to be there!

I wanted to learn this for real, not just read it in a book- that's so NOT my style- I wanted to be hands on and feel the process, feel the materials and feel the energy of everyone creating something together. For their school and for the children.

I arrived and the group had already started marking out the size of the dome. A couple of the children were there being fabulous helpers, measuring the space and piercing the ground ready for the willow to be planted.

We worked quickly and methodically, building the door frame and main upright structure and then criss-crossing to give the dome strength and form, neatening and tucking the ends over and under as we went.

The energy of the group was wonderful and the smiles and gasps of others as they came to see, geniunely delighted!

I was building with joy and with sunshine on my back and warmth in my heart.

I'm so glad i listened to my intuition!

The way i feel right now, been building an honest to goodness beacon of hope, a point of magic and a peaceful playful place in the world.

The world needs more peaceful playful magic!

in wonder and delight

Jaimie x