Woodland Wisdom

01/05/2026

Today is special for so many reasons.

It's Beltane, the 1st of May and a celebration of fertility, growth and the beautiful fiery energy of summer not far away.

The start of a month is a perfect time to cleanse your home and set new intentions for the month ahead. I do this by blowing cinnamon through my door and inviting new good energy into my space.

And we have the gorgeous Flower Full Moon tonight, in Scorpio. A time to review how far we've come, celebrate personal growth and reflect on what we want to take into the next lunar month. Plus the energy of the full moon is the best time to forage flowers and leaves as the energy is pulled up from the Earth into what grows above the ground.

I spent the early morning foraging dandelions in the sunshine, singing to the Earth and feeling incredibly grateful for this beautiful life on this beautiful planet.

Happy Beltane 🌞💜

28/04/2026

Such a lovely nature connection session today with some uni researchers focusing on colour and shade.

How often do you really look at a flower, and all its colours? Or examine a patch of grass and see the different shapes and shades of green.

I don't think I'll ever get bored of studying nature. It's too beautiful. Especially in spring 🌿💜

22/04/2026

This Earth Day's theme is a beautiful reminder that we have the power, and responsibility, to care for our planet.

So this Earth Day, I encourage you to pause and reflect about how you do this, and how else you could be using your personal power to make a difference.

Discover more about Earth Day on their website: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2026/

19/04/2026

It's really important for me to feel my feet against the Earth.

Not just because that's how we connect better to our planet's electromagnetic field (which reduces inflammation in the body among other things). But because I want to feel that connection to place. To better feel the energy of being held and supported and nurtured by where I am.

I'm lucky to live somewhere very pretty. During lockdown I wandered these hills exploring the paths, wondering about the people who created them, and who walked them before me.

Now I walk these paths feeling into the energy of what grows here. The medicines we have under our feet. The ancestors that would have known these lands and these plants and respected and cared for them in a way we've forgotten.

You might look at this field and see weeds. I see the healing powers of dandelion and ribwort plantain and daisy. I wonder at the stories they can tell us. The ways we've grown in community with them, in relationship with their gifts.

Nothing means more to me than recapturing that. One walk, one plant, one story at a time 🌿

09/04/2026

Yesterday I went to sit with the dandelions in my garden for a bit.

It's so easy to rush through life without really paying attention to it. Small mindful moments throughout the day help me to stay grounded, and dandelions are one of my favourite plants. I let them grow wild in my garden, much to my mum's disgust.

Ruby Wax has written some great books on mindfulness, and taught me that you can't think while you're using your senses. Mindful moments are a complete break from a busy brain. Very needed at the moment!

Not everyone is suited to still meditation, the kind where you're encouraged to observe your thoughts instead of berating yourself for having any, and weirdly that's often harder.

I'm an active meditator, which is why I like forest bathing. A brain switch off while I walk and smell flowers, touch tree bark and listen to the birds in symphony.

So this is your reminder to focus, for moments of your day, on how the washing up water feels on your hands, how the light dances on a leaf, the background hum of passing cars.

Life can pass quickly and your brain deserves little rests as much as your body does. 💜

29/03/2026

Dreary Sunday?

Life's too short for taking everything seriously, so here's a tree dance a friend filmed for me last year to add some cheer to your day.

Spot the baby Amanita Muscarias... Had to be careful not to trample them!

25/03/2026

Nature doesn't necessarily give us what we want. But it often gives us what we need.

Gone yesterday was the bright early spring sunshine, and in came the threat of rain and the blowing wind. Just in time for the first session in a new nature connection series I'm running with some University of Manchester postgraduate researchers.

Enough to add wildness to our sounds of spring invitation. To put off some of the group and make my first session intimate and ultimately more manageable for me and those who came. And to allow lessons from nature to speak more loudly.

The message from this beautiful Lawson's Cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), was very clear, with its tall branches, each supporting and protecting the complete structure as the wind gusted loudly through them and shook the whole tree: Take care of each part of your life, and together they will help to look after the other parts, and ultimately you, the whole being.

As someone who has many branches to my life, I often need this reminder. Trees are so wise 🌳

17/03/2026

Today's wisdom from the trees... Arms out, embrace life.... Even if it's messy and uncomfortable and not currently looking how you want. It's yours to transform into something beautiful.

I needed to hear this today 🌳💜

15/03/2026

It's (almost) spring, and it feels wonderful to be out in the woods foraging spring greens.

The garlicky scents, birds singing in the still bare branches, the squelch of mud, and raindrops on my glasses. And just being able to breathe in that calm, peaceful energy. I loved every second.

Today's findings included wild garlic, garlic mustard, cleavers, bistort, jelly ears, dock, and my personal favourite powerhouse of plants... stinging nettle.

Next week I'm taking a group from my climbing club out for a forage and I can't wait 🌱💜

What are you looking forward to foraging this spring?

10/03/2026

For the last year I've been doing some great work with Breathchamps CIC, bringing free, family-friendly forest bathing activities to young children in Manchester.

Teaching people how important it is to connect with nature is dear to my heart, and these activities allow children to engage in nature-based crafts, with materials they've foraged, and learn more about the natural world as they do.

If you have children in your family and friendship circles who may want to come along to one of their sessions, check out their upcoming events on Eventbrite 🌳

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/breathchamps-cic-30780685026

26/02/2026

Just like a seed has to break apart to grow something new and amazing, it's often essential for us to break apart for something else, perhaps something we'd never imagined, to emerge.

I absolutely love this episode of Asia Suler's podcast, drawing on plant wisdom she guides us through how to truly listen to our bodies and accept breaking apart as an essential part of growth.

Grab a cuppa and spend half an hour being soothed by her beautiful voice and wisdom 🌱

https://asiasuler.com/breakdown-is-how-you-breakthrough/

Show notes If hitting the ground running right now feels a little tiring, there’s a gentler (even equally as potent) way to enter the new year. In this episode, I share how to get crystal clear on your visions—so you can initiate a fresh new era in this upcoming year. If you have big goals...

19/02/2026

Beautiful words from herbal mother Rosemary Gladstar.

I watched her opening speech at the annual Virtual Herbalism Conference, run by the Herbal Academy and taking place all this week.

Her insights into how we can learn from plants to keep showing up as ourselves, and live in reciprocal community with others, were beautiful and inspiring 🌱💜