Forage your way out of beta
Many of us spend our days in beta, living like there is no ‘now’. Only tomorrow, next year, next holiday, next weekend, tonight, next degree, next meal… I’m sure you get the picture I’m trying to paint here.
One side of this way of living is (probably) based on natural and instinctive behaviour, with the need to make it through the winter by preparing food for our animals and for ourselves. That being said, something is missing from the picture with this simplified and one-tracked explanation. Because the natural way of securing survival through the winter is so far from the busy life in the office and kindergarten, holiday in Disney world, grocery shopping in the afternoon on the way home after a long day working to secure some stranger’s survival kit. And normal shopping is not recommended as an out of beta-exercise. But we have a tip for you on an activity that is.
So, summer is here, and with that also herbs and berries to fill up your pantry to savour summer’s tastes, vitamins and textures all through winter. These last days and weeks, we have picked redcurrants and raspberries, stinging nettle and meadowsweet, willowherb and ramson. Eating food is something we enjoy, and eating food that has grown here where we live is even more enjoyable. And still, what has been most enjoyable in this process has been to harvest berries and dry and prepare herbs for winter storage. In that regard, we would like to share a passage from Ole’s book, ‘Trauma is a thing of the past’. It’s an exercise on how to get out of beta and into theta:
‘If you want to enjoy the movement of the body and really intend to leave beta in a healthy way, do not go for the highways, not even the paved roads! Those who do and make it, will be getting lots of attention, and may even earn some money with their extreme and spectacular behaviour. One way to make it possible is consciously pushing the body to its limits, which drives production of endorphins high.
Whereas the health club may offer knowledge and good advice about movement and body building, the machines lack a highly underestimated ingredient that is hardly possible to create artificially.
The natural way of walking is not associated with beta. Beta may kick in if you are hunting or competing. Any animal drifting through an area, even foraging, will dwell in theta. Humans can do that too!
Allocating plenty of time allows you to do this exercise with less room for stress and competition. This allows you to pay proper attention to your feet. Because when you start moving through the swamp or forest, over hillsides and cliffs, you will find that each step is different than the previous and has to be taken with attention.
There are two ways to perform this exercise. One option is to forage for berries or mushrooms. This comes close to the way sheep drift through the pastures picking grazes and herbs. You jump from one berry to the next with little attention to the area as such. You are hanging out with the berries, so to speak. The only expectation is to find the next berry somewhere, to eat it and find a new one to eat. Dwelling in the pure and simple joy of finding and eating brings you into a thriving theta.’
Let us know what it does to you to forage, harvest and prepare berries and herbs by leaving a comment below. And if you want to read more, the book ‘Trauma is a thing of the past’ is available on Amazon or through our contact form for Norwegian readers.
We wish you all a lovely month of August, with harvesting and foraging, juicing and pickling, and most important enjoying life and the people around you.
Talk to you soon!
Ole and Linda
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