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Gumtree Stories, Adelaide (2026)

05/06/2023

A few words on journaling and how this practice can help us grow and heal ✨🖌️

🖌️Journaling is not just about writing down your thoughts and reflections. There is something cathartic about it. It’s a way to pause and process without needing to set an outcome. There is something healing about letting go, setting no criteria or purpose. Something healing about letting your spirit guide you.
🖌️Having said that it can be hard to gift yourself this freedom and start if you haven’t practiced journaling before.
🖌️There are many forms of journaling and relaying your inner world onto pages. You might wish to start with some prompts, or ask yourself what a part of you wishes to speak (e.g. your inner child). Perhaps you’d like to start with just one or three pages, focus of what you feel grateful for. Some people also keep dream journals.

My two favourite ways are art journaling and nature journaling.
🎨Art journaling came to me as I realised some things can’t be put into words. Sometimes, words need soothing of soft lines, some colour or sparkly stars. Sometimes, words can’t describe the beauty of a day, but a leaf or a dry flower captures it perfectly. And other times, a sketch of a fairy tells more than words trying to describe a dream. My journals are words woven with art.
🌿Nature journaling is a beautiful practice of deep listening to the Mother Nature. I might pose a question, set an intention or simply be. The answers and messages are available all around me. Writing or recording them is the next step, and very important one. Our memories have a fleeting and changing nature, so it’s a good idea to write them down. As I write them, so much more emerges.

🖌️Whatever form of journaling you choose, I promise you if you give it some time and energy, it will help you expand, grow, transcend some experiences and heal.
__________________

05/06/2023

A few words on journaling how this practice can help us grow and heal ✨🖌️

🖌️ I’ve been journaling for many years. It started as a strategy for dealing with PTSD. It helped and became a very dear practice. From frantically releasing flashbacks, through writing my reflections, to expressing gratitude, journaling about my dreams and joys, this is now a daily practice that is sacred and still very healing.
Journaling is not just about writing down your thoughts and reflections. There is something cathartic about it. It’s a way to pause and process without needing to set an outcome. There is something healing about letting go, setting no criteria or purpose. Something healing about letting your spirit guide you.
Having said that it can be hard to gift yourself this freedom and start if you haven’t practiced journaling before.

🖌️ There are many forms of journaling and relaying your inner world onto pages. You might wish to start with some prompts, or ask yourself what a part of you wishes to speak (e.g. your inner child). Perhaps you’d like to start with just one or three pages, focus of what you feel grateful for. Some people also keep dream journals.

My two favourite ways are art journaling and nature journaling.
🎨 Art journaling came to me as I realised some things can’t be put into words. Sometimes, words need soothing of soft lines, some colour or sparkly stars. Sometimes, words can’t describe the beauty of a day, but a leaf or a dry flower captures it perfectly. And other times, a sketch of a fairy tells more than words trying to describe a dream. My journals are words woven with art.
🌿 Nature journaling is a beautiful practice of deep listening to the Mother Nature. I might pose a question, set an intention or simply be. The answers and messages are available all around me. Writing or recording them is the next step, and very important one. Our memories have a fleeting and changing nature, so it’s a good idea to write them down. As I write them, so much more emerges.

🖌️Whatever form of journaling you choose, I promise you if you give it some time and energy, it will help you expand, grow, transcend some experiences and heal.
__________________

03/06/2023

And it’s Winter again
May you slow down and find time to hibernate
May you be grateful for the hot cup of tea that warms your hands
May you have a soft blanket to feel cozy
May you have nourishing food to comfort you
May you catch sun rays to dry your clothes
May you have courage to cancel plans to stay in and read
May you welcome darkness, shadows and go within to find your light
May you watch rivers flow again and currents take what’s theirs
May you live in peace with the seasons and embrace their rituals.
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19/05/2023

Happy World’s Bee Day!! 🐝
Look what we’ve made to celebrate, honour and always remember how important, precious and special bees are! The kids loved putting this together and learning more about bees.

Also…did you know more and more research is emerging showing healing frequencies of buzzing bees? The frequencies resonate with organic tissues and promote healing and overall calming effects. There’s even some research in relation to healing PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)!
Bees are amazing in every way!

So perhaps next time you hear a buzzing bee, sit nearby, tune in and see how it affects you.
🥰😌🐝
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15/05/2023

It was a beautiful Autumn day, practicing Dadirri with some amazing kiddos!

What is Dadirri and how to practice Deep Listening and Quiet Still Awareness?

Dadirri is an Australian Aboriginal term for the deep, spiritual practice of reflective and respectful listening. It comes from the people of the Daly River region in NT (and many other terms and words are uses in different regions). It is a deep listening for truth beyond physical words and their logical meaning. This beautiful gift teaches us about special respect and reciprocity with Nature. It is about learning by watching and listening. There is no need to reflect too much or to do a lot of thinking.
In Aboriginal way, silence is not a threat, living with Nature’s quietness teaches us to be comfortable with it. Dadirri teaches us to be patient, not to rush, to trust the seasons and the changes.

Since discovering this beautiful gift, I realised just knowing and receiving it is not enough. Dadirri is a practice. And it can be a tricky one! Slowing down, trusting, talking less and listening more can feel like going against our nature of being proactive, productive. But our true nature is stillness, listening, peace and being in harmony with Nature. Practicing Dadirri has had a profound impact on my life. And teaching others, life changing! Nature has got so much to tell us when we are ready to listen.

Dadirri is a fundamental part of my work with children and essential to Gumtree Stories. I teach them this practice, but I also practice it as I work with them, less talking and more listening. Kids just get it, intuitively, without a need for definitions or explanation. Watching children described as having ADHD, ADD, ODD, embracing stillness, slowing down, noticing details and giving them attention and respect has been humbling. Children get captivated by most intricate features of plants and animals (bugs are always favourite!) Just a simple practice outdoors, a bit of time and they carry Dadirri with them for the day. Nature really does offer a place where we are in union with the ecosystem, others and ourselves.

If you’d like to read the full reflection by Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr, you can find it here: https://www.miriamrosefoundation.org.au/dadirri/

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14/05/2023

Happy Mother's Day to all those who share and extend motherly love, joy, nurturing and teachings amongst us.
And Happy Mother's Day to most generous, loving, strong and gentle Mama Earth. Thank you for all the joy and beauty you share with me and for holding and guiding me when I learn my life lessons ❤️
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28/04/2023

Ahhh…if you are in South Australia, I am sure in the last week you wondered what season we are in? 🤔 it’s Autumn yet it feels like Summer.

🍁A dear friend, reminded me of this beautiful phenomenon, a warm pocket of weather in mid-Autumn. In Europe, it is referred to as Old Woman’s Summer (in English, it is called Ballooning, also Indian Summer).
🍁Some species of spiders use this time to move around by releasing their threads and allowing wind and electromagnetic fields to transport them. I’ve read of this happening in Australia too (and can’t wait to witness it one day!) The air is filled with silver threads, glimmering in warm sunlight…the hair of the Old Woman Summer. One last time, she reminds us of the importance of joy in the cycle of life. She reminds us to find some rest and take a break as we prepare for the coming cold (traditionally after the harvest, preserving foods, gathering resources for the winter). She comes in to invite us to exhale.

🍁So this time of the Autumn…take a long exhale.

🍁Rest.

🍁Contemplate on your winter rituals.
___________

25/04/2023

What inspires Gumtree Stories?
Well…the inspirations are all around! The most profound, of course, Mother Nature and her human and non-human children✨🌿

Amongst so many things, studies, experiences and people are…books. You know those books that ‘change your life’? yeah, those kind of books. Having said that…there is a lot more and lots of fiction too.
Here are some of the books that contributed to the vision of Gumtree Stories. An interesting and eclectic mix, I think. What genre are they? Why is there a book by a psychiatrist next to one written by an Indigenous Elder or a Buddhist monk? 🤔
Yet this is exactly what my journey has been like and what Gumtree Stories encompasses: healing through reconnecting with Nature, returning to Indigenous knowledges, knowing our bodies wisdom and our spirit’s desire to heal, find joy, peace and harmony ❤️‍🩹🌿😌

I’m so grateful for these books and their authors! How amazing when people allow themselves to be creative vessels. I truly admire their courage and efforts. And… I feel so grateful and fortunate to come across them as they now help shape what I am creating…or rather allow to be created through me 😊

Have you read any of these books? What books inspired you? Perhaps changed your life or helped shift some perspectives and contributed to your creations? I’d love to to know and add to my inspirations! 📚
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Books:
“The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma” by Bessel van der Kolk
“Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Sand talk” by Tyson Yunkaporta
“Being Peace” by Thich Nhat Hanh
“The Secret Therapy Of Trees” by Marco Mencagli, Marco Nieri
“Nature Is Never Silent” by Madlen Ziege
“The Heartbeat of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben
“The Dreaming Path” by Paul Callaghan
“The Power of Attachment” by Diane Poole Heller
“The First Astronomers” by Duane Hamacher
“Songspirals” by Gay'wu Group of Women
“Waking the Tiger, Healing Trauma” by Peter A. Levine
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22/04/2023

Happy Earth Day! 🌏❤️

May we celebrate Mama Earth every day and every moment of our life.

Quoting Robin Wall Kimmerer (from Braiding Sweetgrass):
“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”

Today, you might hear and read more on how to help the environment, how to be more sustainable, how to prevent climate change…at times it can be overwhelming, so much harm has been done and so much healing needs to happen. Don’t be discouraged, don’t think your small changes and actions won’t make a difference.

But most importantly, take time to connect. Get down… to the moss, mushroom, roots. Place your hand down on earth, feel her Heartbeat, feel the pulse of Life. Celebrate this aliveness! And practice reciprocity, every day, every breath 🌱
___________

18/04/2023

Hello and welcome to Gumtree Stories! My name is Agnieszka. I am a teacher, writer, artist, student of life, survivor of childhood trauma and a passionate wellness practitioner.

Let me share a little more about Gumtree Stories. The idea of this therapeutic program evolved through years of work with children who experienced trauma as well as walking my own healing journey. Those experiences pointed at profound healing powers of Mother Nature and creative arts. This led me to studying Graduate Diploma in Creative Therapies and then Nature Based Therapies.

Along the way, more Teachers started to show up in my life. Some of them, beautiful humans, others non-human, such as plants and animals. One of my favourite teachers are Gumtrees. In many Aboriginal cultures, it is believed that each human has a spiritual connection with a gumtree. They have a reciprocal relationship and support one another. Since the colonisation, those relationships have been lost. Many gumtrees stand alone and many humans are lost without their gumtrees.

The mission of Gumtree Stories offers programs for children and schools as well as for adults (individuals and small groups. Its mission is to provide safe spaces to share stories through art and connection with Mother Nature. Those stories don’t need to be told through words. They are often creative expressions. Art has been known to be a great tool assisting healing and integrating trauma. It is a non- confrontational way, often does not require recalling stressful events. Rather it is about creating space to feel the emotions trapped in the body. Creative therapies, such as visual arts, music, movement are very client- centred and don’t require any technical or artistic skills. They do however require willingness to get in touch with your inner child 🙂

Gumtree Stories also encompasses wellness practices that are based in nature and aim to enhance our connection with the ecosystem we are all a part of. Many studies show that exposure to nature brings relaxation and relief from stress as well as a sense of belonging that helps see daily issues from a different perspective. Tuning in to the natural world using our senses, can ease the busy “monkey mind” and help become more aware of the present moment. Again, Gumtree Stories offer gentle and client focused therapeutic activities that help build a bond with nature for a long term reciprocal connection. Some of the experiences include: mindfulness, connection with Indigenous knowledges, holistic health assessment/ plan, nature journaling, creative arts, counselling among some.

Gumtree Stories operates in the spirit of Trauma Informed Practice.

Gumtree Stories acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as enduring custodians of our ancient land and offer my respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. Gumtree Stories acknowledges the deep feelings of attachment and relationships of the Kaurna people to country. Gumtree Stories embraces the spirit of Dadirri.

Gumtree Stories

05/06/2023

05/06/2023

03/06/2023

19/05/2023

15/05/2023

14/05/2023

28/04/2023

25/04/2023

22/04/2023

18/04/2023

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