Embrace Your Wild Side this Autumn

Hey League!

On this late autumn morning, I encourage you to get in touch with your wild side – the part of you that still carries DNA from thousands of years when humans were connected to nature. 

In my world, summer is always insanely busy. It isn’t only that we feel the need to pack as much into our short non-winter season as possible, but everything just feels frantic. It feels as if there will never be enough time to soak in the warmth of the long summer days and the sense of aliveness that carries through a season focused on growth. Once fall arrives, everything starts to calm and I think back on the past months so I can draw up a plan for the following summer. 

It seems that in our world, we often live in the future. We think about what we need to do later in the day, or what we need to plan for the coming holidays. During winter, we might be planning and training for summer adventures. I’ve found over the years that taking time to connect with the cycles of the wild helps to ground me in the present. Shedding the demands of our domestic lives allows me to tune out anxiety and tune into my senses and instincts. 

Please use common sense with any of the suggestions below, as they should be catered to your abilities and safety for the environment you live in. 

Walk barefoot outdoors
Whether in your yard, at a grassy park, or on a dirt trail, being barefoot outdoors changes the experience. You will likely notice that you feel not only a variety of textures, but also different temperatures and humidity levels. They are things we never notice while wearing shoes, but are evident when we go barefoot. Often, I put shoes in my backpack so I can walk barefoot for a while and then put my shoes on for more rugged terrain. Even in temps around 35ºF, I have been surprised that my feet don’t get as cold as I thought they would. 

Try skinny dipping
Often relegated to teenage antics, this is one practice that I think we abandon too early in life. Obviously, you need to be smart about this, don’t get arrested at the local beach or pool! But should you find yourself in a remote area, enjoy a quick skinny dip in the water. Just as with being barefoot, it changes the experience of the water and definitely feels more wild than a bathing suit! 

Eat with your hands

I know a lot of people will struggle to get past this one, but give it a try. It is common in many cultures to eat with fingers instead of always using utensils. It connects you with your food. When I write, I find that what comes out is different if I am writing with a pen and paper versus on the computer. It is the same for me with eating. If I eat with my hands, I can slow down and enjoy my food more. One of my favorite things to eat with my hands is a bone-in pork chop. Too often we are swayed by the “ease” of meats that are cut from their bone. But bones in meat products add a lot to the flavor. There is something wild and primal eating with our hands. Of course, I don’t do this with everything. Spaghetti and meatballs by hand would be quite a mess. But unironically perhaps, I find that the foods I can eat with my hands tend to be whole foods that come more directly from the planet.

It is the same reason I love to forage. I recently read this quote by Jarod Anderson: “I never loved the taste of morels, but I would eat them for tradition’s sake and because I liked the idea of physically absorbing the essence of the woods.”

There is nothing more wild than eating food that the planet produces!

Eating outdoors can give the same sensations. As a kid, any time I was in the woods with my dad, we ate food cooked over a fire. They were simple foods, easy to carry in a pack. But they tasted so much better in the woods over the fire than they did cooked in the kitchen at home. If you need a reason to make some S’mores, go for it! 

Prepare your food wildly

Go back to the basics and make some of your food by hand, from scratch. While it can be tempting to save time by purchasing the pre-cut fruits and veggies from the store, you’ll connect with your meal better if you cut them yourself. Plus you’ll save a lot of money AND avoid throwing more plastic in the trash. 

Bake a loaf of bread from scratch. You’ll likely be surprised how sore your hands and forearms can get from kneading the dough – all movements that we’ve outsourced and as a result, are missing out on the benefit. 

Try grinding some spices by hand. I add spices to my morning coffee and love using a little mortar and pestle to grind them up. Something about it is more satisfactory than using a coffee grinder or buying pre-ground spice. They area also fresher, much the same as grinding your coffee beans results in a richer taste. Last week, I got lucky and found some chaga. It needs to be broken up into smaller pieces before it’s dried, and often I make a mess in the kitchen when I try to use a knife for that task. This time, I took the hunk of chaga and brought it out to our garden, and used a rock to break it apart. Sometimes, our fancy modern tools aren’t the best ones for the job. 

With the holidays fast approaching, consider if there are a couple of items you can make the “old fashioned” way. Even though they take a little more time, I find doing so helps connect me to the feast we are making and I feel like I am truly putting love into the things I make and serve others. Plus, they are usually healthier. Boxed mashed potatoes simply can’t compare to the peeling and mashing them by hand.

Carry your food

Rather than always using a cart or basket at the store, change up how you carry things. Sometimes I go without a basket so I can avoid buying things I don’t need, especially if I find myself at the store hungry. Having to balance the food while you walk around challenges areas of your body in ways that we often don’t. Bonus points if you do this at an outdoor farmer’s market! 

Once you have your food, carry it home. It probably isn’t feasible to balance a tower of groceries in your arms for a long distance, so don’t forget to bring your ruck! 

Go for a walk and leave your phone at home

When I have to walk in town, I often put on a podcast to listen to, as I find urban walking to be a bit boring. More recently, I have opted to leave it at home or unused in my pocket. No podcast, no audiobooks, no music. Just the sounds and sights around me. It’s no secret that I prefer to be in the woods, but there are signs of wildness all around us if we choose to look, even in the busiest cities. Our phones can be great tools but they can also be great distractions. There are many wildlife encounters and nature sights I would have missed if I was engrossed in my phone.

Take time this weekend to connect with your wild self. The modern world has changed quickly but our brains and bodies were forged in the wild. Reconnecting with that part of ourselves can help us to feel more grounded and calmer in a world that is always moving fast. Too often, we find ourselves trying to live in the future so we aren’t caught unprepared. The magic of life happens in the moment. I find these wild practices help me to live there more often.

Embody wildness!

Kim