Hello friends and fellow earth lovers and welcome to another podcast Nourishing Time with Salema.
An evolving space dedicated to self enquiry, prompts & practices to be well, mean well and live well in the age of technology.
In this weeks post Lessons from Wood, Water and Algorithms - I’ll be talking about the idea of Kinship with nature in our techie world to help us find more zen in our lives.
Weirdly enough l had planned to write about something else this week. Well actually part two of a trilogy of exploring and finding balance in a tech and ai world.
However, like always in life things never turn out quite the way you think! Yet as l sit writing this from my waterside deck, it suddenly becomes clear that what l had planned to talk about can be woven into the fabric of this theme KINSHIP with nature to help us find a healthy balance with living in a techie world.
The nature aspect of this piece inspired by a wonderful intimate writing group meet last weekend with Elena Brower. We came together and pondered upon the importance of cultivating a kinship with Mother Nature and Earth (part of the Zen philosophy). Always such insight, joy, creativity and meaningful debate arises from these sessions. The first book she mentioned and read an extract from was ‘Wild Mind Wild Earth’ by David Henton, an instance resonance emerged with a longing to explore this author’s concept further.
WATER
In this group discussion we also interestingly got to talking about the bodies of water near us and what it means, and what it represents to us individually? Especially prevalent to me as five years ago l uprooted myself from my London life to living on a floating lodge. Writing and recording a podcast on this back in March, an invitation for you to revisit about the benefits of living, on or near water awaits you below.
WOOD
Anyway back to the wood! In renovating my Lodge, l began to witness a real shift in my mental health alongside a new found sense of connection with what l was creating from scratch. My hands on wood, in paint and soil. l started to consider what l could repurpose, to save from using landfill, this included the kinds of paints l was choosing as well as furniture and yes of course WOOD!. Building, creating and painting large exterior pieces as well as crafting small interior ideas and pieces my interest and kinship began to grow further.
But something else was emerging….Getting back to basics and simplicity alongside cultivating a greater appreciation for nature began to stir and awaken my creativity and healing, this was huge (and still is). Changing my perception on life, the environment, community, relationships and what really matters (to me at least!).
This connection with Nature and the environment has continued to evolve over the past two years. Learning more about plants and gardening (previously rubbish with these two topics!). Surprisingly, l’ve also now become a proper gardener. Something l didn’t really connect to in the past, often mistakingly thinking of gardening as an older persons pastime. Oh yes but l forgot, l am now old!, which leads me to enquire are these connections part of growing older and wiser? (Also part of our discussion). Of course this idea has been changed somewhat since the rise and popularity of gardening TV shows over the last two decades, alongside Jo Whiley talking about her garden and making it hip.
Anyway back to my gorgeous WOOD, seeing and touching wood there is something instantly familiar about this connection. A connection to the past, our past. Representing stability and commanding a presence, ingrained within wood bark are cycles and patterns from stories past. Inadvertently Tree’s have become the silent witness to mankind’s behaviours. Maybe that’s why we like to hug trees, we are wanting unconsciously to connect to that deeper wisdom of life’s cycles, and to be comforted and held by natures wisdom and realism.
Nature, Nurture and Simplicity - the silent healers and balancers in our tech world.
So why is this type of connection important? Well for a start it get’s us away from our screens and allows us to view the world simply and purely with no ai or enhancements. Another invitation awaits you below to view a previous related post.
Some lessons from nature included the importance of fortifying our strength and presence helping protect us against predators and how everything is impermanent (also part of the Zen philosophy).
As a global community, technology runs a large part of lives, escalated from the pandemic. We have become extremely reliant upon technology and ai, often helpful and convenient for our busy lives. However, the algorithms that drive this technology are astonishingly powerful observing and predicating our every move. Algorithms are the unseen predators that affect the chemical balance in our brains, as well as our behaviours and disconnect us from nature, from being human.
With the climate crisis and speed of technology, never has there been a more important and fundamental time to nurture nature and find a balance in using technology. Our very existence as humans depends on it.
Being outdoors, connecting with nature away from screens we can begin to re cultivate and restore healthy doses of Vitamin D, Dopamine and Serotonin, which screens and our interaction with technology reduce.
Below is an extract from a presentation and radio show l did pre Covid it makes for a very interesting read especially if you are a scroller! Therefore, setting a schedule that includes limited time on social media can not only benefit your neurotransmitters in your brain but can also free up time to get on with the real living!
Digital Dependency and Distraction decrease our Dopamine levels which effect our inspiration, creativity, adaptability, motivation and performance.
The human brain contains four major dopamine “pathways,” or connections between different parts of the brain that act as highways for chemical messages called neurotransmitters. Each pathway has its own associated cognitive and motor (movement) processes.
Dopamine is tied to your reward center, so if you don’t feel interested in specific activities or learning certain subjects, then dopamine levels will decrease in your prefrontal cortex. If this happens, then your brain will not feel the motivation to remember the facts presented to you.
Three of these pathways—the mesocortical, mesolimbic, and nigrostriatal pathways—are considered our “reward pathways” and have been shown to be dysfunctional in most cases of addiction. They are responsible for the release of dopamine in various parts of the brain, which shapes the activity of those areas.
I leave you with a poem that arose out of this writing session.
Until next time my friends.
Nature & Me
2 sides of the same coin?
Blending into the environment
Reflecting life, a two way mirror
Cycles embedded
Held by the comforting wisdom of the trees
Learning from stories past
Cycles embedded
Receiving, giving and returning
Reminded of the ebb and flow of life
Water somehow knows which way to go
Freedom within conformity?
2 sides of the coin
An interesting ponder indeed
Coming into alignment
Now balanced with a sense of ease
Planting new seeds
Nurturing a different kind of freedom emerges
Creativity blossoming
A new sense of peace arises from watching and being with all that is
Simplicity in action
Nothing more to be said
salemaveliu©2024
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