Welcome back to 🌿🌙 THE EARTHY WRITER: My Rewilding Year 🐝✨
This is episode 14, where I’ll share lessons from my latest rewilding challenge. I’ve been pretty busy, but I managed to stick with my challenge, which has been another important game-changer for me.
In this Rewilding Episode you’ll learn:
- Lessons from the Snowy Owl: Discover how this Arctic bird’s adaptation to new territories can inspire us in navigating unfamiliar challenges.
- The importance of strength training: Understand why building physical strength is crucial, especially for women as we age.
- My daily rewilding routine: Get insights into how I structure my day to support my physical and mental well-being.
- Nutrition and supplements: Learn about the dietary choices and supplements I use to maintain my health and happiness.
- Connecting with your local ecosystem: Find out how daily walks can help you learn about and ground yourself in your environment.
- The value of a simple, nature-aligned lifestyle: Understand how living in harmony with natural rhythms can bring joy and contentment.
About your host:
Hi 👋, I’m Gisele Stein. I’m a novelist and a nature-lover, writing magical women’s fiction from my cosy cabin on Wadandi Boodja in Western Australia.
Get my free novella ONE WILD EMBER, the prequel to an intoxicating new urban fantasy series. ‘Practical Magic’ meets ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ in this rich and rebellious story of magic and matriarchy, love and loss (series title & full blurb tba)❤️🔥
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Episode Links:
Episode Transcript:
Happy Full Moon, everyone and welcome to another episode of The Earthy Writer.
I’m so happy you’re here with me today. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge the Wadandi People, the traditional custodians of the land I’m speaking from today.
We are in the full moon episode, so that means today it’s time to share some lessons from my latest rewilding challenge. I have been incredibly busy over the last couple of weeks. Honestly, I don’t know how it is September, but I did manage to stick with my challenge, and it’s been another very important game changer for me.
I got the idea for this one from this lovely book that sparked the whole rewilding year idea in the first place. It is called “Speaking With Nature” and you can find it in my Rewilding Library on my blog.
But this book describes a beautiful passage about the snowy owl which can be found in Northern America. And so, the Snowy Owl migrates South en masse ever since the ice caps began to melt more and more. They are Arctic birds who now see themselves faced with the challenge to fly much larger distances to feed themselves, so they nee to navigate entirely new territory in order to survive.
And this is something I think a lot of us are feeling right now. We are entering unfamiliar, dangerous territory, and there is also that risk of being seen. You know, just like the Snowy Owl, who up in the Arctic, in the snow, could hardly be seen and was able to stay under cover, but now, further down South, where the vegetation is much greener, much more colourful, suddenly the owl stands out with her snow-white feathers. And as we, as women, try to rewild ourselves, try to show who we really are, that can often feel just as scary. Suddenly, we are just as visible as the Snowy Owl, when we come to live in our own truth.
And another thing the Snowy Owl reminds us of, according to Speaking With Nature, and this is why I chose my September challenge, is that the Snowy Owl, being a nomadic bird that now needs to cover vast distances, cannot afford not to care for and groom her body. In order to fly that far, the owl must stay strong.
And so, as my rewilding challenge for the last few weeks, I chose to become stronger in my body. Because, you see, us humans – we are nomadic in nature, too. We used to travel vast distances, that is what our bodies were built for. To walk and to hunt and to run and get down to the ground and forage and pick berries and I don’t know about you, but I sit a lot.
I’m a writer, so I spend pretty much my entire day sitting behind a computer desk. And I have tried to mix it up, I’ve tried standing, I’ve tried writing outside, on my lap. But at the end of the day, that is the job, and when I need to reach my word count, I’ll always end up back at this desk.
So, but that is why I it was so important for me this year to incorporate strength training into my daily routine. Because I need something to counter all the sitting.
And I wanted to make several disclaimers before I tell you more about it because I think this is important:
- I am not talking about being thinner – this is not about vanity or beauty. It is about getting stronger in this body, this vessel that I use to get around this earth, and,
- We need to always remember that the ability to go outside and run and jump and lift weights and get fit – is a privilege. Health is such a privilege, and as I’m getting older (I’m 37 now), I’m realising this more and more.
But that is why I felt like this year was a good time to address the body on my journey. Because, for a very longer time, I have very much been a mind-person. I live inside my mind. I think a lot, I make up characters, I make up stories, so the rest of the body got a bit… well, not neglected, but it definitely came second over the last couple of years.
And so, what I did for the past three weeks – and remember, this is just the start. Every challenge I have done is meant to keep going in my life. So, I’m doing these things for three weeks straight, so that I find a way to include them into my daily life going forward – so for the past three weeks, I have gone outside onto my little porch every day, and I’ve been doing weight training.
And this seems like not like a very ‘wild’ thing to do, going to the gym and doing weight training, but – lady – let me tell you: It is wild.
When you lift weights, you’re not just building muscle. You’re lowering your risk of all kinds of chronic illnesses, you boost your metabolism, improve your balance, and even your mental wellness and your hormones. It can help prepare your body for pregnancy and childbirth, if that’s something you’re interested in.
Here’s something that blew my mind:
Our muscle mass peaks at 25. And if we don’t do anything about it, we lose 8 to 10% of our muscle mass every decade after that.
Same goes for bone health: Our bone mass peaks around 30, and after that, we can lose up to 5% of it each year, depending on our life stage.
That’s why strength training is so crucial, especially for us women as we get older.
And let’s talk about posture. In our lives with screens and phones, we’re all becoming a bit hunched. Don’t we? And strength training can help correct that. It literally helps us stand taller and more confidently in the world.
So when I step out onto my porch each day for my strength training session, I’m not just lifting weights. I’m fighting against that muscle and bone loss. I’m boosting my brain power. I’m connecting with my body’s innate wisdom. I’m preparing myself for whatever challenges life might throw my way. I’m rewilding myself, in a very real and physical sense.
And if there is one thing I would like you to take away from today’s episode, it is that strength raining is so, so important for every aspect of our lives, especially as we get older. And it’s never too late to start. You can start with very light weights, two, three times a week, you can do that even when you’re watching tv.
But if you’re lucky to have a body that can be strengthened, make the most of it. Because, and this is something I notice whenever I’m out in nature, watching wildlife: Animals are fit. Animals cannot afford to be overweight or have bad posture or not be in tip-top form. And we are animals. We are supposed to move – a lot.
And I think the best way to go about this is to find an activity you enjoy.
I used to run, when I still lived in Berlin, I used to go on runs, but I could never quite stick to it. And that’s because, for the most part, I do not enjoy it, and there’s actually a lot of recent research that has come out about the negative benefits of running because it can lead to spikes in cortisol, causing your body to go into a stress response.
But so, I never enjoyed running. But what I have always loved is walking. I’m like a Jane Austen character – I’m very fond of walking. So, I have started to walk everywhere. Back in Berlin, people thought I was crazy because I would just walk, wherever you wanted to meet me, I’d walk there, even if it took two hours longer to get there. I guess I had a lot of time on my hands back then.
But yeah, I love to walk. And this has now translated into me and my husband going on a lot of long-distance hikes – which I find is one of the best ways to connect with your body and with nature at the same time.
The big surprise for me during these last weeks of strength training was that I actually really enjoy doing that. It’s something my husband and I are now doing together, outside in the fresh air, and I love noticing how my body gets stronger, and I’m so grateful to have a body that wants to get stronger, and wants to be well looked after, and this, of course, goes beyond just strength training, but also what we put into our bodies.
And, I have written a cook book, a plant-based vegan cook book for campers, a couple of years ago. It’s currently only available in German, but if you’ve got ‘Safari Kitchen’ at home, give me a shout out – yay! But anyway, in that cook book, I give some advice on, like supplements and healthy eating – or what I consider to be healthy eating for myself – because we all know that is a very prickly subject for a lot of people.
So but I get quite a few questions from readers of my cook book about certain things that I recommend in there, things I use to maintain my health and my happiness – which I thought this episode would be perfect to share some of the things I have found work well for me to rewild my body, and I thought I’d walk you through a whole day with me, and you can take or leave anything that resonates with you.
And please note that this varies. I do have days where I sleep in or veer from this routine. But this is an average day for me:
I wake up at about seven o’clock in the morning. In the summer, I sleep with the window open for some fresh air, in the winter, the window stays closed, but I always keep the curtains open, so that my Circadian Rhythm remains as balanced as possible and gets a lot of daylight straight away.
I sleep with a sound machine next to the bed, so I sleep to the sound of ocean waves, and that sound system also has a build-in alarm clock with bird song that gently stirs me to life in the mornings. It also has this clever light setting that simulates a sunrise, which is great when you live in a city, where you prefer to keep your curtains closed.
I try to hold off with the coffee for as long as possible because caffeine really messes with my hormones if I drink it too early or too much of it. So, my first drink in the morning is a lemon-ginger-tea – or sometimes only lemon water – I add to that a very nasty-looking green powder that I get here in Australia, it’s called Vital-all-in-One and I’ll put the link on my blog later, but yeah, I add that, a bit of organic honey, some turmeric and some black pepper. This is like my morning booster, it actually tastes really, really good and I cannot live without it anymore.
Anyway, after that, Frank and I try to go on a morning walk, to get more sunshine – it’s all about balancing hormones, that’s why we do this. So, we get about ten thousand steps in, and we do the same walk every morning, just to start our day, see what’s changed. Are there maybe some new mushrooms on that tree stump or have the birds started nesting yet? Recently, we’ve been seeing a lot of tadpoles who grow every day and soon they’ll turn into frogs, and that is what I love most about this: We’re learning about our home, our little ecosystem here where we would like to spend the rest of our lives, and there’s something incredibly grounding about that thought, that collection of knowledge we get to accumulate with these morning walks.
So, when we come back, it’s off to breakfast and the first coffee of the day. The breakfast is usually a big one – I tried intermittent fasting before, but it’s not for me. I actually think breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. Breakfast gets lots and lots of protein – something that I have increased massively since I started with the weigh training. Protein is literally the fuel to the strength training fire. It’s so important to retain your muscle mass. So, remember your protein, please.
With breakfast, I take some supplements. So, I don’t eat meat and I’m naturally low in iron, so I take an iron supplement, which I have found helps me a lot with mood swings, especially during the second half of my menstrual cycle. I also take some vitamin B, some Ashwaganda, and a supplement specifically for women which contains lots and lots of – Broccoli. I hate broccoli, but it’s so good for you, so I decided to take my broccoli in tablet-form rather. I’ll link the product I take on my blog.
After breakfast comes – the sitting. I usually write from about nine o’clock to lunchtime. My phone is still off this entire time. I work from home and because I work creatively, it’s very important to me that nothing interferes with my creative process in the mornings.
Before lunch comes the strength training. I usually combine two different muscles, so I’ll do, usually I’ll do one of these: Legs and Shoulders, Back and Biceps, or Chest and Triceps, or something along those lines.
Then lunch is another protein-rich affair, usually some beans with brown rice or the like. Then shower, then back to work. Phones comes on after lunch, so then I usually deal with all that and get caught up in all kinds of things I shouldn’t get caught up in.
Then when I’m done with all that, I do admin work, and after that, I’m usually really drained and tired, so I’ll take a break outside, get some more sunshine if the sun is out and have a green tea and some snacks. Then, about three o’clock it’s back to writing.
I used to write at night, and I took a lot of pride in being a night-writer, but I have stopped that recently because it was just so bad for my sleep rhythm and my hormone balance. I can really feel the difference now that I don’t do that anymore.
I usually finish work at around seven o’clock. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later, then I make some dinner, watch some tele, and very important: As soon as it gets dark, I don’t have any more bright lights on. I’m allergic to bright lights, and research has shown that this can make a huge difference to the old circadian rhythm. I go to bed no later than ten o’clock and – most important thing – the phone does not get to come to bed with me. I’ll leave that in the kitchen. And in the bedroom, I only have my books and a headtorch with a red light that I use to read before I fall asleep. And then I repeat all that the next morning.
And you know, I’ve written in one of my non-fiction books once, that there was a time when I was living such a unhappy, disconnected life that I did not want to fall asleep in the evening. I would stay up until late at night, basically because I did not want the next day to start. I was so fearful of every new day, because I didn’t enjoy the life I was living.
And every step I’ve taken since – you know, the walking everywhere, the travels to find a place that felt like home, the rewilding – it’s all brought me to this very simple routine now that brings me so much joy. Of course, there are adventures along the way and things that are unexpected, but overall, I just love living like the animals I see outside my window, who live the same day every day, and who are content in doing that.
This might all change in the future, but as of right now, this is how I like to live my life, and how I rewild my body.
And speaking of adventures: I have a little one coming up at the end of the week: Frank and I are going on holiday, as I said at the beginning of the episode. We’re going on a roadtrip along the Australian coast, and the plan is not to take laptops or any work with us, so I will skip the new moon episode again. But I’ll see you back here for the next full moon.
Thank you so much for listening. Do something wild this week,
Bye bye.
Hi ♥️, I’m Gisele Stein, author of feel-good novels with a little magic and places like characters, which i craft from my cosy cabin on Wadandi Boodja in Western Australia. Have a look at my books here. I’m also podcasting as The Earthy Writer, to document my rewilding year: Every new moon, I set a new rewilding intention for the month, and every full moon I share my learnings with you…