I’ve been forest bathing a lot in thunderstorms…

Not like in a super hero way, where its all drama and cape swirling, more like slopping along a soggy path in a forest that is hunkered down with looming dark clouds and echoing booming skies. It’s been a bit eery, definitely scary at times, but I’ve needed to do it.

You see, there is a lot going on. Pandemics, work stresses, family. Plus, I find winter tough.

I know I live in a country where we have supremely mild winters. In the Southwest we do not get snow, and the days are still relatively long. I should not complain. But I do find the shorter days, cold and stormy mean all I want to do is snuggle inside and watch storms from my window, safe, warm and dry, hide away from life. Hibernate.

When life is tough, it just feels like there is so much going on, and endless things to do, so in winter I feel like it is easier to just burrow under a blanket and not come out.

But I can’t. I need to walk, to move and to breathe. I need to see, touch and smell.

I need to not shut down because life is hard, I need to keep showing up.

So I walk. Whatever the weather, and sometimes, because of it.

So I’m walking in thunderstorms. It’s quite beautiful, wandering through a wet forest in the rain, when a storm is overhead. The big rumbles echoing around a dripping canopy. The stillness- no sound but a few brave frogs squelching, as the booming fades away to pattering rain. Waiting. A pause.

It’s eery.

Of course the benefit is you don’t see anyone else but your mad self and the mad dog walking with you. There might be a bright flash of an orange fungus on the path amongst the deep greens, the moss and the brown wet trunks of trees. It’s beautiful. The world is quiet, waiting for the next big crackle and moan from the soggy grey sky.

But I didn’t think it would be so- peaceful. Clearly the wet sky is hushing the world, dampening everything, muting the normal bright blue skies and yellow sunshine of WA.

I did not expect it would feel so calming too. I feel safe, I’m still wrapped in a huge dark shaggy wool blanket- it’s just the canopy above. Yes it’s wet, but it’s hushed from the noise, clamour and glamour of summer. The great earth is drowning, marinating, creeping in green. Tendrils of fungi are spreading, linking and connecting everything with each other. No-one is alone, they are just silent together. Holding hands, patient.

And it becomes clear to me that the reason I feel safe and calm is that I now feel burrowed and protected, but also holding hands with the world around me and connected. It’s ok to be still, to marinate, I am not alone.

We are all waiting.

Adi Da Samraj said ” Relax, no-one is in control”. Ha! Yes. This is a comfort.

This storm, it’s dramas are bigger than me. So my dramas feel much smaller. They are just a tiny part of the great show of life, and all is well. To trust that in the chaos of the storm, with all the action and noise, that you can stand fast with the Marri tree, and feel connected to the earth, and just observe.

It sounds like a cliche too, as they say, Spring will come and all will be well. Spring is the season of rebirth and of hope, after all.

But right now though, with all the stress, fear and worry in the world, I cannot say for sure, I do not know what tomorrow will bring.

I do know that certainly, this storm will pass. I know I am also connected, and that is enough.

It is ok to not know, and to just soak in the rain for this time. The rain makes me plump, I am full to burst. It feels rich and expansive.

I don’t know what you are experiencing just now, but I hope you can find some comforts like this.

Because this storm soaking, it feels real. A truth. Connection.

And we can all do wth more connection and calm. And because whatever is happening, we all need to keep showing up. Not in a superhero way, but in a way that feels authentic, calming. Whatever dramas you have, I hope you can feel connected, and that peaceful sense that nothing can be done, but to be present, prevails over your days and nights now.

Because to witness, to be wet, waiting, plump and expansive, is enough, for now.

If you want to come for a walk- perhaps not in a storm (!) , but to experience some calm, please call or email me.

We are all in this together.

xxx Big winter love

Jac xx