**Under the Stars** reflects on the quiet wonder of shooting stars, the forest, and the subtle ways nature awakens memory, recognition, and a sense of connection within us. Meilin Ehlke invites listeners to notice how the woods can cradle and restore us, and to become more mindful of our relationship with the living world around us.
Connection with the forest and nature is often described as more than simply appreciating a scenic place; it can be a relationship of mutual presence, healing, and responsibility. Meilin Ehlke sees the forest as a living partner that offers calm, emotional support, and a sense of belonging through its colors, textures, sounds, and overall presence. She believes the relationship should go both ways, shaped by the idea that humans can bring their own gifts, knowledge, voice, and songs into nature in exchange for what they receive, and her perspective reflects a deep awareness of how all forests and trees are interconnected across the world.
(00:01:49) Subtleness of Sound and Tones of Color
(00:05:36) Rebuilding Forests with Leaves, Trees, and Microclimate
(00:13:46) Moss, Mushrooms, and Pine Cones Reciprocity
(00:16:07) - Song for you
The movie I watched and spoke about in this episode is called 'Whispers in the Woods' by Vincent Munier 2025.
Original french title is 'Le chant des forêts'.
I spoke also about the German documentary film "Der Waldmacher" by Volker Schlöndorffs in English it is called The Forest Maker - Volker Schlöndorffs.
Moving to oneness. Nourishing curiosity. Embracing differences. Becoming one.
00:00:45 - Meilin Ehlke
A gentle, cool breath is very welcoming to me, even though I've loved this unusual warm August and July days we had here in Germany and maybe where you live as well. And especially because when the days are so warm and you can go and jump into the pool and swim a few rounds, the nights are warm. You don't need a jacket. Or I should say, I don't need a jacket. And I love that, especially in August when you can watch the shooting stars fly through the sky.
Hello everyone. I'm Meilin Ehlke, your host of the Moving to Oneness podcast.
And those shooting stars, they enliven everyone. They put a smile on one's face. Children gasp. Adults as well. I do as well. There is just magic connected to them.
00:01:49 - Meilin Ehlke
Or maybe it is recognition. So why do we react so joyously? That is a good question. And one of the longest and brightest and fattest tale, I should say, of the shooting star that I saw was one night when a group of us sat outside in a friend's garden to watch a beautiful movie. And it's a touching movie. It is a movie about nature. So all of you nature lovers, listen up for a second.
It's a French movie called Le Chant des Forêts by Vincent Munier. He is a wild animal photographer and documentary filmmaker. And in English, the title is Whispers in the Woods. It came out last year, (2025) but I know it's on all the film platforms online. I don't know if I'm supposed to allow to say the names, but anyway, you can find it, Google it. And you'll see already in the trailer what images I'm talking about. The subtleness, tones of color, the subtleness of sound that you find in the forest. And when you're patient, as your patiently sitting under the stars in the evening, right, four hours, you maybe look up and there you do not see a shooting star at all. But then one comes, or two or three, and you hop.
So what is the reaction your body has? They're really fascinating. Is this a memory that is in our DNA, that is awoken, a recognition? So we are much more than we think we are? I love that. And we're anyway much more than we think we are. Especially again, if I go back to the movie that was filmed in the French woods, Vosges and in Norway, if I recollect correctly, you could feel how you touched, how the moss provide humidity to you, the smells of the forest, what you experience in your forest.
We all have different ecosystems where we live. So what is your forest alike? And then, you know, the vegetation changes even in the height, altitude. You're on. I have here woods that have a lot of oak trees and what's the oldest beech trees? About 500 years ago, almost no tree was left here. Nuremberg at that time was huge. And the region and they stopped and let nature rebuild. And so the beech trees, as I remember from college and ecology class, is the last tree that moves into a forest. So it takes about 250 years if you start with a meadow, for beech tree to feel comfortable and start growing. Yeah. So the beech tree is a tree that is also very connected to me. And there's cedars and maroons, the ones you eat in the winter when it's cold, or maroons.
00:05:36 - Meilin Ehlke
Chestnuts. That's it. I had to think a moment. Right. I love to eat chestnuts. And what is also beautiful, I think, recollecting what is going on in the world. They're more and more people interested in saving our forests. Yes. You know, in Asia, there are a lot of big killings of forests. I do hope we start with that. So buying less foreign tropical woods would help. And instead of planting and then cutting, you know, planting and cutting, instead of going into these old growth, these.
These tropical forests have a difficulty re establishing. They have such a specific microclimate once they're cut down to the ground. And the sadness comes right over my head. And I wanted to talk about all the beauty of the forest, but we go with the flow. We talk what is happening. Right? It's all one in this world at the moment.
But to look at the forest as something that really nourishes us, trees that are in our gardens and that we plant more. You heard me speak about it. I invite you to plant trees. And there's so many individuals that are creating beautiful large areas by planting, planting and letting the leaves also fall. Re-establishing a forest. Water is being brought up to the surface through that. What's another good movie? Oh, I also talked on the podcast about the Waldläufer, the Woodworker or something.
("Der Waldmacher" - Volker Schlöndorffs) (The Forest Maker - Volker Schlöndorffs)
It plays more in. In Africa and the Sahara countries. So that's also an interesting movie to look. If I remember. I'll put it in the show notes.
Yeah, but I wanted also look at the. Like getting back to the chestnuts in Switzerland. They're revitalizing and. And cleaning out overgrown woods and establishing the whole culture of hundreds of years of eating, harvesting, propagating, planting, more acknowledging chestnuts. The ones right. You can eat in the US there are not really many left. I think there was a disease that killed many, but maybe one can start back with that. But there again, it's like a certain height southern Italian area of Switzerland. Going into the Rätoromanisch Romansh.
They have. Wow. I think over 80 different styles and variations of chestnuts you can eat and make food of, etc. So there is an interest in re-establishing something that is really important to us. And I hope we can do it faster. And it's important that we look what is regional and not take information from one place to the other and really look at microclimates, pocket forests and all these things. But you know about that you are very connected to nature.
00:08:57 - Meilin Ehlke
What the movie Whispers in the Woods did. It helped me remember fantastic or unique experience. Every encounter is unique. When you go into the forest, right? I even learned from one of my professors, you go in and ask that the forest unfolds for you and that you want to go into relationship with the forest when you enter. I think that's so beautiful thing to do. Acknowledging its beauty, watching where you put your feet, but also feeling nourished by wherever you put your foot. Right. Maybe there's moss, maybe there are mushrooms, leaves, pine cones, needles, the earth. The smell brings memory for you, right?
00:09:52 - Meilin Ehlke
And one of the. I had totally forgotten. I remember my son was in kindergarten. I had just moved from the US To Germany again. And I went into the woods, in the Southern Bavaria region. I did not know so much until then. And I found a region or a small area where everything was covered in moos. And Mars takes eight years to grow. So it's very special. Okay, I got an unique relationship to moos. It was like a bed. And that's what I used it for. I just laid down onto that moos and there was like a little mold. Not mold, dip. So it was even more embracing, comforting. And it fed me information I can remember. It gave me strength, it gave me courage. It made me more awake again. At that time I had been. Yeah, emotionally also a little down things that happened in my life. But I felt cradled, embraced. And so where do you find this cradling of the forest, of the woods in your life? And in French, if I had to think about it, right? It's called Le Chant.
So the song, right? Like the One sound and the trees are in the One sound they have. They're connected. And they're connected to trees all over the world. So that connection we can remember when we are in the forest, the similar connection you can find when you see the stars, when you observe the stars when you're under the stars or when you see a shooting star.
00:11:45 - Meilin Ehlke
So we're still in August, and they're still shooting stars. So go out and observe how you react. Sometimes maybe we just go and I've done the same. And look. Oh, where can I find one? Oh, I found one. But observe how you're reacting, how your body is reacting, or what thoughts come after you've seen one. Do certain memories come up similar? Like in the movie, right? What experiences in the woods came up or which are will be coming up for you.
00:12:24 - Meilin Ehlke
So dip into there. And that green and brown tones, right? They are calming. And green is one of the big healing colors, right? Soak the color in through your eyes, soak in that healing. But also go into the forest to bring your healing, your knowledge. Because all of you who are listening to this podcast, you're here for a reason on this earth. So you also bring information. So share your information with the forest, with the trees, with the bush, with the ferns, with the moss.
Maybe you also sing to the woods, to the trees, right? What can you bring? Can we change it? And what is what you're giving to the stars? I just love that. So as it's important for us to step into our roles of who we are, of who I am, of who you are, so this earth and humanity and nature can move into what it is to be fully. You also move into it, right? You don't have to sit alone at the couch and look at the Internet for all that information.
00:13:46 - Meilin Ehlke
In nature, you open up wide, you're very connected. And maybe you want to go barefoot outside if it's cold or even if you have snow wherever you live, maybe in the southern hemisphere, feel that crispiness under you, feel that texture under your feet. Touch everything with your hands. Maybe touch something with your cheek or your forehead. The forehead on a stem, the forehead on a rock, the forehead on the soil really goes into fast communication with whatever you create and maybe take a piece with you home. So your memory and ask, what is gift the woods have for you?
Or maybe you have a gift, maybe a crystal, maybe a fruit you can bring to the forest, right? Or a bead, something sparkly for the fairies. So there is again this exchange taking place going into relationship with nature now, especially the woods, because it goes into a relationship with you and you become more easily relatable.
00:15:07 - Meilin Ehlke
Oh, that so relatable, you will be able to express easier how you want to go into relationships as you speak more and more out with your voice, what you're all about. As you speak through your actions, more and more what are you about. Right? This will support you so what is a tree telling you? Zone in. Maybe now by listening through your favorite tree or maybe it's light, you can look outside and you have a tree in front of your window. Oh, I got so many outside. Old ones too. And they're so ancient and old and as their roots connect to the wisdom of others, they can share so much with you.
00:16:05 - Meilin Ehlke
And here's a song for you.
........
00:17:08 - Meilin Ehlke
Keep on opening your heart, your body, your beingness to nature that is around you.
Whisper to the trees and hear what is whispered to you. Take the time and sit still or lie still in the forest. Feel the breeze on your skin, communicate with the wind and to the sounds that is created in the leaves.
And maybe also you sing in the woods or whisper to the trees. And then you together can co create what is desired and needed in the moment. I wish you all the best. Enjoy being you, enjoy being embraced by these magical trees, all the different species and connect to the stars. In the song there was really emphasize or emphasizing the connection between the ground and above. So between your feet and your scalp. Feel how everything within you connects as you connect with everything out around you, or outside.
I'm Meilin, your host of the Moving to Oneness podcast. I wish you all the best.