Healthy Nature Healthy You

15/03/2026

15/03/2026

There is something very primal about climbing trees. After all, it's where we began to evolve, and sometimes it is very easy to forget that we are primates, the same as monkeys, chimpanzees and orangutangs. These are our closest living relatives, sharing up to 99% of their DNA with us. Oh, and don't forget the 17% of us that is tree!

When I am called to climb a tree, it isn't neccesarily a conscious, pre-meditated decision. It's more of a feeling, an invitation from the tree itself to clamber up and sit in it's canopy. There is an instant connection as I take in a tree's eye view of the world around it as the branches dance and sing in the wind.

And it isn't just a connection to the tree itself, because the tree is also the connection between Mother Earth and Father Sky as well. The roots anchor it into the lower world, it's branches carress the upper world, and it's trunk stands in the middle world, sharing it's space with us and the other than humans that call this place home.

The canopy of a tree is an amazing place to be, but don't just take it for granted that you can climb up into it as a given right. Show the tree some respect and gratitude. Be sure to ask if the tree is happy for you to climb between worlds and to learn from it's wisdom.

Be primal, be primate. Close your eyes and feel the branches dancing, press your ear to a branch and hear it sing. You never know - you may even learn something about yourself...

30/11/2025

As the Gregorian, year draws to a close and the Autumn marches relentlessly on towards Winter, the time is coming for sitting around the fire to tell stories of ages past, reflect on the year gone by and perhaps make plans for the year to come.

At least that is how it should be and once was, but in this world of consumerism and Black Friday deals we are more likely to be drawn into the world of filling every second with 'doing something', and 'not wasting time'.

How can coming together as friends or family to watch the flames of Grandfather Fire instead of the light of Best Friend Smartphone be a waste of time? I was absolutely thrilled to be able to join my brothers around the Sacred Fire at Fickle Field on Friday for 2 reasons: firstly, very positive circumstances had meant I had missed the previous 3. The second, and most important one, was that this was my last chance this year to gather together under the stars and Mother Moon to watch the flames dance, listen to the owls calling and do just what I said in the opening paragraph of this post. For 3 hours we sat, talked, listened, laughed and raised our spirits; sometimes this was punctuated with silence, when no words or thoughts were needed. Silence is something that not everyone is comfortable with, but it is healthy and sometimes necessary. When it finally came to the time for heading home again, our hearts were full of hope, energy, love and positivity and all felt right with the world.

Perhaps if there were more of these gatherings and coming togethers, there would be more joy, more peace and more understanding in a world intent on judgement, greed over need, obscene wealth, distrust, and hate.

So why not take a step back now that the darker, colder months are upon us and slow down, make time to catch up with others, and perhaps, most importantly, yourself? Wintering is a word that tells us to be more like our other-than-human relations that welcome this time of year in order to renew, regain, and replenish so they can be ready to step into the lighter, warmer days of Spring with new energy, new hope and new beginnings.

I welcome Winter with the same gratitude and appreciation to Spirit as any other time of year, as it allows me to make time to count all the blessings that I have been given over the previous months by acquaintances old and new.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin (All my Relations)