into the wild and the unexpected gift of stillness
I had the privilege of ticking off a rather significant bucket list holiday last weekend.
My wife and I went walking and wild camping under the stars with some friends amongst the big five animals in Kruger National Park.
The thought of sleeping without even a tent to protect us from some of the most beautiful, wild and unpredictable predatory animals led to comments like “please don't do that again Brett” from my dad ;-)
Each night we took turns to keep the fire alight and scan the bushes for nocturnal hunters, adding an edge that I have never experienced in city life.
Being a constant student of wellbeing and of mindful practices for my own mind's peace and health, I have played with and continue to experiment with meditation, as well as create meditative practices and rituals for myself and for others, in business offerings using music and nature - feel it.
One of my closest friends Lauren, founder of Mother City Hikers, is amazing at bringing awareness to and a pause amongst the noise - to witness beauty in nature. Throughout the experience she asked each of us - what was our favorite part of the day?
A great focus on appreciative awareness but it was very tricky to pick one when in 12 hours we saw… (all on foot)
a troop elephants 150 metres away in the setting sun through a fever tree forest
walking towards curious and alert zebra and wildebeest before they scattered
or watching and being watched by 20 hippos in their pool as well as many hidden crocodiles and a few visible, a mere 50 to 100 metres away
…but my most sacred moment of that day was in my night shift with my wife as everyone trusted us to guard their sleeping bodies in the wide open bush filled with a night of animal calls just 150 metres away walking through water in the dark of night.
It was the stillness that most captivated me, the silence in my mind in focusing on movement, reflected eyes curious about what we were and the calmness it instilled in a deep part of my being… a part that found solace in this contrast of peace filled survival awareness.
I experienced zero mental noise of the emails I might have missed sending or projects I needed to action certain tasks.
Not one thought about should have this, or could have that or must have; came to visit me in those hours on watch in the darkness.
I had no problems in those nights other than; momentary time loss staring into a fire, keeping an eye focussed on our perimeter, ensuring the fire was alight and listening to the mild snoring of my fellow travelers amongst the sounds of animals moving through shallow waters or their mid night grunts and grumbles.
The relief of being exclusively focussed on one simple task rather than the myriad of what if’s became medicinal in being so present to what was being asked of me now.
It brought in an unexpected peace which is so rare in our modern city lives - unexpectedly in the most vulnerable I have ever been.
The nugget that I always like to find in life’s wisdom through breadcrumbs of what life might be inviting me to witness was the impact of the natural world and the power of deep immersion into a singular focus and how my nervous system adjusted… in a way I wasn't expecting.
Into a deep calm connection with my environment.
I find it curious and counter-intuitive that exposing myself to such a high level of real & literal life and death vulnerability in being trampled or eaten, actually brought in a deeper calmness to my nervous system and seemed to soothe my soul and reveal something sacred which I cant put into words…
In a world in such a polarizing moment in time, how magical it is to fully surrender into nature. What a wonderful life this truly is ;-)
I should do well to remember to lean up against a tree occasionally, play with animals when greeted with licks and purrs and stand barefoot for a moment with the sun warming my eyelids.
No AI used. All human grammar and spelling ;-)
