I was honored when a friend of mine ask me to interview for a women’s studies class she was in. You never know who in this world looks to you as a strong influential woman, and when they do, I feel as though it kind of makes you take a step back and evaluate yourself and not the negatives parts but what it is that makes people look up to you. So here is how I responded to this:
Okay so like I said in the text I’m in Women’s Wisdom and Nature for block, it’s pretty cool I think you’d enjoy it. We have to do an interview of a woman whose connection to nature inspires us, and someone we think we can learn something from! I thought of you Immediately, I found a lot of inspiration from you even in the short time we spend together I’m not positive what I’m supposed to ask you, so I apologize if the questions are kind of vague, I’d be more than happy to clarify!
How do you connect with nature? Do you have practices that help you balance yourself? How do you find time for yourself, if you do at all? Do you feel like nature has had any kind of influence in your life’s path? If so how? What do you try to do in times of high stress? In class we’ve talked about the moon’s connection to the woman’s menstrual cycle, do you believe in this? If so how do you feel the moon influences you? What kinds of emotions has your menstrual cycle caused for you? Like for me, I’m just annoyed by it =] Hehe.
In times of high stress do you feel that grounding yourself helps? Or other kinds of maybe meditations, or yoga?
My response:
When it comes to nature, I feel more at home when I am in it [nature] than ever. I tend to find myself in a state of mediation when say, I am in the woods on a hike just enjoying the fresh air. It’s very calming. I even the other day was sitting outside and thought to myself ‘I sleep so much better when I am outside’. Which is truth, so nature in itself is an overall blessing to me and I appreciate and respect of bit of it. From sitting by a creek listening to the sound of water or climbing rocks. It’s all the same to me. I feel very much “home”. When I do find time, seeing as I am a new mother, I take every minute for all it has! It may be just going to the bathroom and fixing my hair or when the universe allows to go out and play in nature. Life is an endless trail and for me it’s all about choosing the right path, so I guess you could say that nature has everything to do with my life. It is the air I breath. Literally. Also with nature, I am a river guide so the connections follow me every where. For example, when you are guiding, you have to learn to read the water, if you can’t read it, chances are you are going to get stuck on rocks or flip your raft, you name it something is bound to happen. Once you have become a master at reading water, you then learn to look ahead, set up, and prepare- always three steps ahead. In my daily life, I try to always use this teaching. Look ahead of what life is throwing at you and plan and set up for it. I think I would be a mess if it were not for what the river has taught me. It has been an amazing connection between life and nature for me.
Goddess of the moon! How I love thee! I am a firm believer in the the connection between the moons gravitational pull it has on women. I love every thing that the moon does for me. I am usually always in sync with the moon with my menstrual cycle, when I am not on the same cycle as the moon, it seems that I am always off in some sort of way, a way that I am still learning about. When I am off the cycle my emotions tend to be more intense and more chaotic. When we are in sync I feel very balanced and very in touch with my feminine side. I may cry more than others and may be very quiet sometimes. I think it depends on the moon and what she is offering me that month. Every month is different for me. I really enjoy the connection though and it is really amazing to be so in tune with our bodies as women that we even have to opportunity to share such a beautiful cycle with something as big as the moon. It is very rewarding to share that bond.
Stress. That has been a big thing for me lately as I have become a new mother and my husband is also new we are both learning, and to top it off I am exclusively breastfeeding so that can be very stressful since it is seems like a non-stop job! This all can be very stressful and wearing on an individual. I once was very bad about dealing with stress but I am in a new phase off my life with my daughter, I have had to learn how to handle stress. With my current life, stress is passed on to my daughter who is very sensitive to what I am feeling so being mindful of this is key. What I have done is arranged for one night a week to join other women in the beautiful art of belly dance that incorporates yoga. It has been an amazing stress reducer, very refreshing, and shared with other women with their own shit, and just once a week we cone together and let it all go. I leave the negative behind and bring all the positive home. It has been working out great! Since I don’t have this positive setting all the time, I to really just breath in moments of stress and I try and talk about it with my partner or best friend as soon as I can so that way it is not festering in my mind and body all day. Stress is hard for me sometimes and I take it as it comes, and i like to stretch it out, laugh it out, or even wine (a delicious red cup that is) it out! ;)
I really enjoy being able to look into myself for these answers. I have found that we don’t engage ourselves in enough conversations like this everyday. I think it is essential to stay aware of who we are and what makes up the wonderful people that we are. As a mother I find that it is extra rewarding to find these things. I am blessed for the wonderful ladies and women in my life. If it were not for them, I don’t think I would be the woman I am today.
Namaste~
