rewilding
The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,
is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can’t breathe.
No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.
~ Margaret Atwood
What we mean by rewilding…
Earth body
Rewilding has become a bit of a buzz word over the last few years. It has come to mean, for us anyway, a way in which we as humans can practically support the rest of life to be more vibrant, thriving and regenerative – in fact, how nature is supposed to be without any or too much human intervention. How natural systems were before many of the predators were killed off, before the introduction of agriculture and certainly before pesticides and other economy-driven practices came into being.
In practice it could mean just leaving an area of land well alone. Do nothing and let an incremental process, or natural progression, take place where the plants, insects, birds, mammals, trees begin to grow, feed (sometimes on each other) and thrive.
It could mean an amount of research and planning happens in order to introduce a species of mammal to graze or browse the land. Then an observation period, then perhaps an introduction of another species (this will depend on the land size). It could also mean planting native trees and shrubs to speed up the process and not have grazing animals in order to generate a more wooded landscape.
For us, it will be one main way in which we meet our vision and core values to live and practice ecological awareness in service to the earth and wider earth community.
The deeper meaning of the word rewild can be akin to decolonisation. Both lean towards the unravelling from a cultural narrative that we believe is not life enhancing and holds within its paradigm a power-over dynamic that we wish to avoid. By rewilding the land and ourselves we are, by default, decolonising both. Indeed, the two go hand-in-hand.
Human body
Another main way that we might do this is to be in the conversation around rewilding ourselves ~ our minds and bodies. This also feels like an essential part of co-creating regenerative culture and there are many beautiful and connective practices that invite this. What we mean by this is re-membering how to inhabit the human body and mind, or psyche, in a more natural, life enhancing way. To allow something more vital and alive to come through and be expressed in order to show up as the fullest version of ourselves, in service to life. To embody ourselves in ways that bring inner safety, nourishment, peace and connection.
Nature-based practices can offer us a route for healing trauma in our nervous systems and rewilding our bodies. Think about the relaxed and focussed attention that is required to forage; we need to be paying attention to our environment; colours, textures, smells, tastes, different locations. Doing this helps us to feel more connected to our environment and more grounded. Paying attention to these sensory things helpfully ‘tricks’ our nervous systems into telling us everything is alright; and drops us into our parasympathetic nervous system / rest & digest state. When we are in a fight/flight or a dissociated place we aren’t taking in lots of detail and we might be more in our heads than our bodies.
There’s something beautiful about how connecting with the earth helps us to reconnect with our bodies and therefore feel happier and more resilient. It feels for me a calling back to ourselves from the Earth. And when we are more embodied and resilient I believe we make better choices for ourselves, the earth and the other beings we inhabit the earth with.