The information age, with its monumental volume of communication, is waking up a craving in many of us. Intuitively we know that the burn out we feel by the pressure to be constantly engaged in the information stream can be eased with natural kind of cure.
We are craving what Thoreau called the tonic of wildness to be found in a connection to the essential, the pure, the natural world within & without.
Here are 7 Simple ways in access that tonic of wildness in the information age.
1. Unplug, on the regular. Experiment with turning your devices off at a certain hour every evening: perhaps at sun down. If you really want to have at this one, try a larger chunk of time (like the 5 days we do this at WILD WOMAN FEST). With a little planning, you may be surprised how amazing it feels & how supportive others are of your choice. Oh, and your nervous system will rejoice!
2. Check your email in the afternoon. This one is largely for the self-employed and those who can be in charge of their own hours of communication. Inbox mode & essential creative flow mode are 2 very different places. When you go into your inbox in the morning, your mind will inevitably be engaged in those streams of communication vs. your essential creative work. If you come to your inbox an hour or 2 before you finish work for today, you can respond to all the necessary threads & you get your head space back for your pure creativity.
3. Put your head on the ground. This one was given to me by the Sufi teacher, Murshid Wali Ali Meyer. It’s as simple as it sounds: bow your head to the earth (like child’s pose for you yoginis & yogis). Breathe with your forehead on the floor-if it is the actual earth, all the better. Give the mental impressions & thought forms to the soil. Let your breath help you here. This is on my summer practice list~I hope you enjoy as much as I do.
4. Keep your eyes on your own paper. For creative, helping entrepreneurs & makers: Stay tuned to your own channel. The information age brings with it a great awareness of people you would have never come across pre-internet. Yes, there are people doing VERY similar work to you, yet they are not you. My advice (especially early on as you are finding your voice) is: don’t look too close at those too similar to you. Allow yourself to be inspired foremost by your own inner depths-listen in, not out. And if you want outside inspiration check out people working in different mediums. If you are a painter, be inspired by a musician. If you are a healer, be inspired by a poet. If you are a film maker be inspired by an activist.
5. Create a unique relationship to social media. As in all relationships, don’t should yourself. So many of us can feel like slaves to social media. Feel free to experiment with cultivating a relationship to social media that feels authentic & even joyful for you. We are collectively co-creating the medium with how we engage with it. If you feel called, use your voice here in whatever way you feel guided to. We will all express differently, that’s the beauty of it.
6. Stay in the body. Engage in a physical practice like yoga, swimming, hiking, dancing~there are so many ways to use your body. Play! Enjoy being in your own skin. You can train your mind to stay anchored in your body and out of the overly mental realm of the info age.
7. Spend time in nature. We can forget the natural world these days; So much to do, to discuss. Among other things, Nature teaches humility. It can remind us how small we are in the face of all that is. This is a very important remembrance in this era of branding yourself, creating-bigger, more, faster. Remembering the scale of your own life can actually be a liberation if you let it.
It should be noted here:
* These are suggested experiments-you are the scientist.
* We will be doing some variations of most of this list together at WILD WOMAN FEST ’15. If you are burn-out, overwhelmed, needing some time & space to unplug and check in with your heart: joining in the fest would be a huge gift yourself & we would love to have you.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
I long for wildness, a nature which I cannot put my foot through, woods where the wood thrush forever sings, where the hours are early morning ones, and there is dew on the grass, and the day is forever unproved, where I might have a fertile unknown for a soil about me.
Henry D. Thoreau
On the Horizon
Join an international, intergeneration group of weird and wonderful wild-hearted Women in our online Cave (which lives on an app)!
We meet weekly in Circles, Workshops, Practices to keep our wild spirits lit!
Upcoming Weekly Gatherings:
Join us for an hour-long New Moon Meditation Adventure on May 7th!
Online, from anywhere.
Using a dynamic meditation journey, we will tune into the New Moon, to your own Inner Guidance, synced up with wild-hearted women from around the world. This offering will include music, storytelling, meditation, journaling prompts & intention-setting.
Can’t make it live? No worries. All participants will receive a copy of the recording with 24 hours of the session.
We have Wild Woman Project-trained Circle facilitators is 26 countries, and 44 out of the 50 United States.
Chris Maddox is the founder of The Wild Woman Project where she teaches women how to utilize the gifts of the Wild Woman Archetype in their everyday lives & how to lead women’s circles in their local communities. She is the organizer & facilitator of the beloved annual WILD WOMAN FEST, a women’s retreat-festival hybrid which fosters a deep connection to nature, a direct experience of the divine feminine & profound spiritual sisterhood among the women in attendance.
An ever student of the great mysteries of existence and nature itself, Chris believes women are holding innate gifts & tools that society at large needs – now more than ever. She is committed to helping women remember their special magic and to bring it forward into every corner of their lives, for the greater good of the planet.
