Back to Nature

I love where I live, I like to refer to this place as a concrete jungle. Right in the heart of the city, surrounded by double digit story buildings, glass everywhere. Elements of designs through the decades can be seen. The hustle and bustle of people - life being lead, ideas being born, struggle and growth live the walls of these places. Sometimes I can hear the preacher man with his microphone claiming we're all sinners and need to repent or protests down the street about a social movement or Government control. Live music echos between the buildings, I can just picture the electric guitar man wearing his shiny, sequent, silver jacket and sequent purple hat. His long white beard and sunglasses, jamming to his tunes. I also remember when I moved into the first building I lived in the heart of the city, I would open up my tiny window to hear the music the bars would play. It made me feel alive!! It made me feel like I was in the thick of things. It gave me this sense leaving a life behind and starting fresh. The idea of a larger city intrigues me, more stories to discover, but I love where I live right now.

I grew up in a small town. I would go rollerblading down Main Street at ten o’clock at night in the summer. I would sit on bench with my best gal pal and watch traffic go by, we’d often count how many times the same car would pass us. I would walk along a paved road that would turn to gravel to meet a friend, she would turn around and we’d keep going till we reach her place. The smell of fresh cut hay or newly rained on grass would fill our lungs. It was something to do in that small town - we always found ourselves outside. Now, years later, I find myself in the middle of brick and rebar - the concrete jungle. Patches of grass are hard to find and the only nature I seem to be in contact with is whatever I can keep alive in my tiny 600 square foot apartment. When I drive on the outskirts of the city, windows down and I get a smell of something….fresh. Or, I’ll walk the trials along the river and get that same smell. Flashes of childhood enter my mind as I close my eyes and breath it deep into my lungs. It smells fresh, clean - what I imagine life to smell like. It leaves me wanting something more, it brings a longing for a feeling of home as I traipse back into the creations of man.

There’s a lot to be said about nature. When the green comes in the spring it brings me to life. Or when the season changes to fall I feel like something is going to happen - things are shifting and changing. The same cycles we experience as humans can run parallel to what Mother Nature has to offer. That's exactly it, nature is mother. I have come to realize that when I don't connect with Mother Nature I feel like there is something inside of me that feels a little mad, a little...lost, like I said, longing for home. I'll openly admit when the days are short and the nights are long and cold, I'll sit on the floor next to my biggest plant and just soak it in. But, it never feels the same as when I can let my bare feet touch the ground. The connection to the Earth brings a recharge to my batteries. And I think that's what we all need right now - a good recharge!

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A few pictures of my favourite model - nature!

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With the world in a battle of opinions, confrontations of our pasts and tests of relationships , if you're like me, you might be finding yourself in a bit of a tail spin. I feel very lucky and privileged that I have an opportunity to escape and ground. In the summer, I send a text to my Uncles and ask if I can sneak away from the concrete jungle and spend sometime in the woods at their cabin. An escape from the world, people and (TBH) life. I go there to literally do whatever I want that isn't connected to people but only to myself. I have been fortunate enough to take some yoga classes through Cathrea Coaching and Wellness, so I bust out some of the moves Elyse taught me and do some yoga and end with savasana on the

Elyse in the wild with her mad yoga skills

grass. I picture cords, like power cords, coming out of my body and just rooting in the ground. I lay there for wwaaayyy more time that what I was taught and I just...recharge. I bring a journal and lay out there to just write whatever comes to mind, what's bothering me and what I want to become. I'm not a reader, so I wander taking pictures and videos. The Uncles have created trails that I have yet to explore and there's opportunities for water sport activities - but for right now I lay in the sun or watch the rain and just, be.

When I finally saunter over to their place for dinner and a visit we eat outside or go sit by the fire and just hanging out in the moment. No distractions just the rustle of leaves in the background or the fountain running. I think we take for granted the simplicity of nature and what it has to offer - how it can enrich ourselves. The connection we can feel to ourselves and to each other. The connection we can feel to being home.

Home in the sense of not only coming back to the roots of many ancestors ago who lived off the land and forged, but home in the sense of self. That's where I've really started to discover the best pockets of joy - sitting with my sense of self, or as Elyse would saying coming home to myself. Sure it can be uncomfortable to start with. This weird sense that someone is watching as you sit on the ground, hands palms down also connected to the ground, closed eyes and deep breathes. And, you know what, maybe there is someone watching you if you are in the river valley...but who cares, sometimes you just gotta stop and soak in Mother Nature or hug a tree to get a quick recharge. If you are not quite at the hugging a tree in public point and you still wanna come home, start with a yoga class from Elyse this fall.

As for me, I've already got my next cabin time booked, I've even convinced my sister to join me (she needs a little time in nature too right now). I also have the rest of my summer mapped out to get in as much "time at home" as possible before the winter months hit and I have to

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One of my best Judys is starting yoga classes in the fall,

as of the post time and dates have yet to be determined,

but keep up with her Instagram to stay connected so you know when you sign up!

I know I will be there.

Click the photo to visit her website.