Step into the magical world of the forest with Meilin Ehlke as she shares her awe-inspiring encounter with an owl and the vibrant life within. Listen in this episode to be transported into the interconnectedness and liveliness of nature.
Delved into the profound experiences connecting with nature through gardening. Meilin shares how interactions with elements of nature like mushrooms, plants, wind, and animals have been healing and rejuvenating for her. She emphasized the importance of communicating with nature and exchanging energy, highlighting moments of intuitive guidance, such as feeling led by the beauty of a large mushroom.
One key takeaway from the episode is the significance of outdoor rituals to deepen our connection with the environment. Meilin described her morning practice of going outside barefoot as a way to uplift her spirit and health, emphasizing the impact of such simple yet powerful rituals on our well-being.
Three key tips that emerged from the podcast episode are:
1. **Connect with Nature:** Take the time to immerse yourself in nature, whether it's through gardening, forest explorations, or simply spending time outdoors. Nature has the power to heal and rejuvenate our spirits.
2. **Exchange Energy:** Engage in a dialogue with nature by exchanging thoughts, energy, and wisdom. Just as Meilin spoke with the wind and plants, find ways to communicate with the natural world around you.
3. **Create Meaningful Spaces:** Whether in your garden or home, infuse elements that resonate with your personal and cultural identity. By surrounding yourself with plants and objects that hold meaning for you, you can create spaces that act as soul medicine.
A poignant quote from the episode resonated deeply: "And there comes the rain again, cleansing what has just occurred and supporting you in becoming who you are and supporting you in creating, in a way, courage to change." This quote encapsulates the transformative power of nature and its ability to nurture our growth and transformation.
In her reflections on the episode, Meilin shared how her interactions with nature have influenced her daily practices and rituals, underscoring the interconnectedness and harmony within the natural world. Through her experiences, she highlighted the importance of embracing nature as a source of healing and inspiration in our lives.
Timestamped Outline:
(00:02:28) Therapeutic Healing through Immersion in Nature
(00:10:05) "Mushroom City: A Vibrant Forest Microcosm"
(00:16:18) Nature as Cultural Identity and Healing Essence
(00:19:47) Nature Connection Through Morning Barefoot Rituals
00:00:07 - Meilin Ehlke
Moving to oneness, nourishing curiosity, embracing differences, becoming one. One moment, the wind is howling just as I started recording. The next moment, the sun is peeking through the clouds that are moving really fast along the sky on this beautiful fall day. And whoops. And there comes the rain again, cleansing what has just occurred and supporting you in becoming who you are and supporting you in creating, in a way, courage to change. Welcome everyone. I'm Meilin Ehlke, your host of the Moving To Oneness podcast. And this fall, days here in Germany are just gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
00:01:24 - Meilin Ehlke
I was just outside. A little sad reason, but still encouraging or magical. I put plants into a shady area of my cat's Puccini's grave. He passed two weeks ago. Many of you have met him personally here on the podcast or prior on the radio show. He always appeared when he had something to say or support someone who was going through a physical change within the body. He was really good at that. And he's lying now next to his favorite friend, Judy. She was more the cat that came when the star nations brought these high vibrating energies for you to recognize the crystalline DNA within you or in you. So now they're both lying there beautifully next to each other. It's a gorgeous spot in the garden, and I planted and dug in the soil with my hands.
I love to feel the wetness of the soil. I love to sense and exchange my wisdom with soil and everything that's in it. I was really surprised how many worms there were. In German we say 'Regenwürmer', and they were plentiful, making the Earth soft, or changing it as the bacteria, the microbes and the fungi, etcetera, etcetera. Oh, there's a funny story, a beautiful story, really. I'll share with you in a moment about mushrooms.
00:03:08 - Meilin Ehlke
Yeah, but this is invigorating for me. I don't know how it is for you? But I feel then so connected, alive. Do you feel alive when you are outdoors and you touch the ground? Or maybe you do gardening as well? Or not just for vegetables that you eat, but also to beautify, or plant plants that are good for bees and all insects? That's maybe also now a really good idea, as I'm noticing, and you may have too, there are less and less insects around. So maybe I encourage you to build insect hotels or pile up some branches that fall from the trees in one area of your yard.
00:03:55 - Meilin Ehlke
It's also good for the 'Igel' hedgehog, I think, in English. Oh, you know, the one with that rolls up like a ball and has these spikes, really cute. They need it nice and warm now. And they're starting to look, first of all, for food, right? They eat a lot of worms and mushrooms to fatten up so they can survive in a warm place the winter.
00:04:20 - Meilin Ehlke
Yeah. I told you about the beautiful story that occurred to me. I gifted my son as he's changing now from school into life, finding out who he is and deciding where he wants to go and what he wants to do with his life. I gifted him an energetic haircut. There's a really interesting man here in Germany that developed. It's not really new. It is re-looking at an ancient traditions that we carry a knowledge, that the hair and our body is in unison. The hair carries our life experiences and provides us with wisdom. We take the hair also to connect to each other.
They're like antennas, like all of the hair on your body, right? The eyebrows, the whiskers on an animal, for us the eyelashes, the hair on our skin. And that why it's important to have a lot of it. And you can look at old pictures of about hundred years ago and prior women had long hair. They carried it with pride. And lot of inuits, they carry also the long hair, men and women. And that's a whole other story. I have to invite Reinhold to speak with us because that's a really interesting story anyway. But here figures out if you live your purpose, to make it short, your hair is how it should be.
00:05:57 - Meilin Ehlke
And if you're not living your purpose, your hair is not as it is. Yeah. So we'll keep that interesting story for another episode. Naja. I wanted him, my son, to experience through that lovely lady that does the energy healing. And she's also little shamanic, and she is a shaman and also a haircutter, hairdresser, you call it.
00:06:23 - Meilin Ehlke
And I go there once in a while just to be letting myself go and communicate with my hair to strengthen the connection to myself and to see, am I on target or not. And it's always nice to have someone else support you. We do not have to go anymore alone. And we have a support team. Yeah. So that was in the countryside, an hour away from me. So I went for a walk and I let my body lead me. Even when I'm driving, you know, intuitively, I turn left or right, go that way or that street. Then there were...
00:07:06 - Meilin Ehlke
There were cows, and they all had youngsters, calves. And so I turned left and then I saw a small path into a tiny village, I mean, even smaller village, maybe 20 houses, right? And passing on through there into the woods. And then I parked the car and went for a walk. And as I was raising my head, I saw an owl that came out, or flew out of the woods. And while I was saying woods, you know, left of me were trees and right of me was a meadow, and I was on the path in between. And she mentioned to me to go into the woods right there where she flew out. And as I approached exactly there, I saw a huge mushroom. Twice my hands? And it invited me in. I knew I had to go in. You know, when your whole body just knows, you know, and you're so excited to figure out why.
00:08:06 - Meilin Ehlke
So I was. The owl showed up because since my son is little, I went for walks with him. I always let him lead the way in the forest, because I wanted him to explore and figure out where he needed to go. And I followed him. I remember the first time we both saw an owl when he was about two. And since then they kept appearing for him. So I knew, okay, that's important for me and for my son. So, I walked into that little world. Little, you can't say it anyway, the huge evergreen needle trees, a lot of moss.
00:08:45 - Meilin Ehlke
So there was a darkness really quickly within the woods. There was the Earth, wet, right? It had rained a lot. The sun was shining now, though. And in there, in the moss, in the roots, on the ground, there were mushrooms. And, you know, I saw them and I thanked the forest for letting me in or inviting me in and leading me to like a little area, like a glade where the light shined in. There were a lot of smaller trees, also beech trees, but I didn't even have to go in. That was area was just calling me. I stopped prior because it was really the mushrooms or the life like in a city. It was a whole city of mushrooms. With each tree there was a new way. And I was so mesmerized by the pine cones that had turned into a spiral almost, or engulfing tiny mushrooms and berries. I mean, there was even an interior life in that little micro climate, I mean, Mini, smaller than my hand.
00:10:05 - Meilin Ehlke
And I thought, wow, I, you see, I don't even have words for it, but I did have my telephone along, so I had to take that on the way back photographs. I went and engaged and deeper. I first photographed from the top because the form, some of those mushrooms grew in clusters, some huge solo, some with a few friends. And there were the berries with it and the sticks that had fallen down and the beautiful leaves. And always on this moss bed, most of the time, I should say. And then the whites, the yellows, the browns speaking with each other. You can't even paint a beautiful painting like that. You can't even invent a color scheme like nature provides for us. So I took the camera and I went even then, after a while, after photographing from the top and put it down, but that wasn't even enough. I had to turn it so the camera was touching the ground, you know? And so I could photograph in a way upward or toward the mushroom to give, to present their presence.
00:11:21 - Meilin Ehlke
And then you could see how intertwined everything was, harmonious. So many different species together in the smallest place. But in a way, from one tree to the other, sometimes there were 4ft or 3ft apart, then the microclimate changed again, and there was a new species of mushrooms. And even the moss varieties changed. The colors of the leaves changed because and their form. So just in a small space, all of this life, it felt lush. It felt. Anliving? No, that's not the word. Invigorating. I used that again, but that's really how it felt.
00:12:06 - Meilin Ehlke
There was this sparkle, there was this tingling within me. I could hear the joy, the excitement. Sounds... It's like life. Sounds... And this enjoyment of the fairies there. Right? And the tree people and so many other beings. And I could hear the owl again, speaking with me and sharing part of her life with me, what she always observes. A little mouse running here. And then you could see also worms. But how the micro organisms and the network of these mushrooms work, right? That's a plant, which has the longest roots in the world, if I'm not mistaken.
They have a network from one forest into the other. They communicate, they grow on different places of the world at a similar time. I think that's amazing. And we're invited. You're invited. I'm invited to really feel this liveliness within me, this playfulness. But there was also this tenderness and the light in these small mushrooms right there, so fine. They're so delicate.
00:13:44 - Meilin Ehlke
And everything there was delicate, but it was right next to those sturdy, tall trees. I'm looking for another word, but majestic. Providing a safe haven for that environment to grow. And I took many pictures of all these different mushrooms. And you can't really photograph the complexity because that glow of the energy that is there. Sounds... You can still hear it in my voice just when I think about it. So that is also, for me, a beautiful thing. Whenever I maybe feel a little down or tired, I just need to think about this experience of Wednesday and boop.
00:14:33 - Meilin Ehlke
My body pops up and maybe you have also an experience in your life where you replenish yourself that you can remember to provide energy to move forward again, to change. Right? And then as I was walking out, I acknowledged one more time this beautiful, huge mushroom that had given me the okay. And like, for me, sometimes I need a double acknowledgement that I follow my intuition that when he was there, said, yeah, this is the path. Come in right here. So I thanked him again and walked home. And I'm happy to be able to share that with you. Yeah.
And the wind, right? The wind also gently blew with the breeze through there. And later, again, a little stronger as I was getting back to the car. And this information that I experienced, I exchanged with the wind again, I talk a lot with the wind, you know that, you've been listening to me for a while.
And he takes the energy, he takes the information, my thoughts, and shares it with the world. And so someone else in the world can pick it up. Maybe you have picked it up wherever you live around the globe. And that was also when I was outside in that grave planting these beautiful flowers, these grasses. And I, you know, he's an American. Puccini was American. I brought him over here. So I took some plants that I knew so well from my landscape architecture years in the US and provided that in his grave.
And I really made it pretty, but also the Asian in him, so I really looked. What does he recognize as part of him? And so what do you recognize as part of you. What culture? What country are you connected to? Because that's for him, medicine. So these plants suit him, fit him as they also suit me. I've been always interested in Japan and Korea and many other asian countries during my 20 years in the US.
00:16:53 - Meilin Ehlke
Right? So it's important that we have things in our life that are medicine for us. So bring in maybe some plants from outside or bring something from you outside. Often we just bring plants inside. Right. Or what do you take outdoors that's yours. So you can communicate or provide your wisdom and your purpose to nature or animals or other people? That's a good question. Like the stonemason that created the beautiful stone sculpture that I have out there, Japanese. And a candle to light that I can see from far away and always be reminded, there he lies.
00:17:39 - Meilin Ehlke
And I can keep on communicating with him or Judy. Or if I think about many of the animals or cats in my life, they're always here and supporting me. Cats are my medicine, physical medicine, also feeling them on my skin. And it's the first time in oh, decades and decades and decades that I'm without a cat. So let's see when the next one arises and shows up in my life to partner up with me. Or two or three, who knows? Let's see. Yeah. Going back to what to bring into your home, for sure the wind.
00:18:18 - Meilin Ehlke
Yeah. This life that is out there, that is so invigorating, can you bring it into your home? We close it so often, open the doors, let the wind come through, open the windows and maybe two rooms, not just one room, so it can just rush through, go into corners, spiral around, refresh those corners, bring a fresh breeze into your curtains, into your bedding, into your furniture. And that they also get invigorated. Right. That is so important because whatever you sit on is medicine, the material you sit on. I have a lot of natural materials in my home. I've spoken about this. That's another interesting episode we can do. And yeah, that wind then takes what you've created, maybe what you've written about, what you have thought about, what you have put in your journal, what you have created.
00:19:17 - Meilin Ehlke
If you create products or a painting, or if you're a cook or you make sweaters or the jewelry, the list goes on and on. There's also an exchange. And maybe you cannot go outside or are maybe a little older or you can't move. So well then for sure, a few times a day, open it up. Cold, wet, dry, different winds. Let them just blow in and see what they do, feel them in your hair.
00:19:43 - Meilin Ehlke
Otherwise, go outside and do that. I do go outside every day. Normally, Puccini woke me up and said, ah, especially when the sun rose, come outside. And I would go outside onto my balcony or terrace or my grass and welcome the sun. Sometimes I would see the sun and the moon on special days. And then I would go back to sleep, but I would go out barefoot and just to acknowledge the morning, the day, or the leaving of the evening, the night.
00:20:19 - Meilin Ehlke
And that was always, or is, I should say, I just said always because Puccini is not here anymore. But still I go outside in the snow, in the mud, in the dryness and wherever I am, especially if I come to new places and new countries on vacation or for jobs, because I can familiarize myself with the landscape, with the micro environment right there, and they can provide their wisdom to me and my whole body, my system, my immune system just gets uplifted.
00:20:57 - Meilin Ehlke
Oh, there's a good idea talking about medicines today for yourself is, if you travel, eat honey from wherever you go, that you eat honey that's from that area you really get embodied into that place where you are really quick and exchange the knowledge, the wisdom, the history and be more creative while you're there and relax more into who you are and share yourself more. So, yes. And then the weather, why I started probably with the wind and the courage and the change and the rain, because every time you do that, the rain comes then and cleanses the whole environment.
00:21:41 - Meilin Ehlke
That's why I said, let the wet wind in as well into your home. It just has a cleansing, a refreshing way of being. And it also, the rain sweeps over the landscapes, right? And it cleanses, takes away what stagnant energy that is not needed. Sometimes a little rough. As many countries, the US, Thailand, even, we had strong, strong winds and rains and floods.
00:22:13 - Meilin Ehlke
But what is there stagnant and needs to go and look at that in yourself? What desires to leave now and give it into the wind and let it take it along so you can be fresh and perky in a way again, I feel that joyfulness that I felt and I really wish we can have that all the time. And I do know it will come, that we will feel that more and more and more.
00:22:46 - Meilin Ehlke
That's how we should feel. We're so separated from our structures and they're squares. They should even be squares. We don't have the magnetism below our feet, most of us, not anymore. We have wooden floors or we have plastic carpets, right? And not natural or stone on the ground to keep us in a good vibration and have this magnetic field to uplift us. And so there take a lot of showers, wash your hands, touch a tree to feel that over and over. Or go walk outside with bare feet or touch anything outside and play with the wind. Dance in the wind or the rain or the sunshine and feel it on your skin and let that tingle go to every spot that it can go. Get that tingle back into your life. I would love to know how you are getting it in your life, how you sense it and feel it.
00:23:51 - Meilin Ehlke
So maybe join the Moving To Oneness, a Facebook group and there share it with me and the others. Because community is so good for uplifting each other, giving each other tips of how to enrich our life. So I wish you the best. I'm Meilin. Have a wonderful sparkiness, bubbliness around you and within you. Bye bye.