The Nature Remedy - A Full Day of Nature Immersion, Connection & Appreciation with Sarah Janes & Sam Gandy

Join nature lovers Sarah Janes & Sam Gandy on this restorative excursion in the beautiful countryside of Hastings, East Sussex.

Being in nature is a powerful psychological need within human beings. It may lay dormant at times, but a sense of nature connectedness is known to strongly correlate with greater feelings of wellbeing. 

In fact, nature connectedness has been found to be as many as four times more important than socio-economic status in terms of happiness and life satisfaction. Nature immersion is known to strengthen not only the human immune system, but also emotional resilience. By developing a bond with the natural world, we develop compassion for the planet and its flora and fauna. Positive experiences in nature are known to alleviate depression and anxiety, and increase pro-environmental behaviours. A love and appreciation of the beauty of nature helps to cultivate a sense of responsibility to the natural world. 

As a species we suffer without nature and we are frequently chronically deprived of contact by living in cities and flats, by the demands of modern life and our ever present devices. Yet being in nature is inherently healing - physically, psychologically and spiritually. Time spent in nature can restore our mood, give us back our vitality and refresh and rejuvenate us.

Where do we begin?

From Hastings seafront, Sarah (Hastings native) and Sam will lead you into Hastings Country Park. Designated an SSSI (A Site of Special Scientific Interest). The Country Park Nature Reserve in Hastings is a beautiful area of ancient gill woodland, waterfalls, glens, caves, maritime cliff and slope, cliff top grassland, mixed heather and lowland meadow, all within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

The Country Park is a veritable Fern Gully paradise, boasting many rare native species of flora and fauna, lush dripping springs, ravines, gorgeous woodland and breathtaking clifftop sea views. The site is an excellent area for birdwatching. A large population of dormice live in the woodland areas, stoats and weasels are seen regularly. Bottlenose dolphin, seals and harbour porpoise can be seen occasionally from clifftop watch points.

Many rare wildflowers, ferns, fungi, liverworts, mosses and lichens thrive within the idyllic gills. Peregrines, black redstarts and fulmars breed on the cliffs. Dartford warblers, stonechats and yellowhammers breed on the gorse-covered hillsides.

What's included?

SHINRIN-YOKU (FOREST BATHING) 

Developed in Japan during the 1980s, forest bathing is a form of eco-therapy which involves taking in, in all of one’s senses, the forest atmosphere. Not simply a walk in the woods, it is the conscious and contemplative practice of being immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the forest.

NATURE MYSTERIES 

A waterfall initiation and ritual with spring water as sacrament. To celebrate your day of full nature immersion, you are invited to stand in the waterfall and be initiated by the Earth’s divine natural wisdom. We also offer you a cup of Hastings spring water - for you to drink and be enriched by the Earth. 

DREAM INCUBATION 

A guided hypnagogic meditation in nature. Sarah Janes will lead you in a dream ritual designed to help you connect with the spirit of the planet and to perhaps meet nature spirits in your dreams. This deeply relaxing practice can help you to tap into the rhythms and hear the language of the natural world. You will also receive a soundscape recording of the Country Park for you to recreate this experience later at home.

ECO-ART THERAPY 

Journey back to the earliest human art making, using natural pigments and materials to create rock and stone paintings.

MINDFUL NATURE DRAWING 

Take time to really notice the natural world around you by sketching the details of plants and wildlife.

HEALING PROPERTIES OF WILD PLANTS 

Discover and learn about the medicinal plants in the natural surroundings - includes a worksheet to take home!

PLANT IDENTIFICATION

Includes worksheet to take home.

BIRD & BIRDCALL IDENTIFICATION 

Includes worksheet to take home.

PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE A RECORDING OF THE GLEN TO USE AT HOME FOR A RE-IMAGINING OF THE EXPERIENCE

Additional info: 

TIME: 13:00 - 19:00 

DATE: Saturday 11th June, 2022

MEET: In front of Hastings Pier, 1-10 White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JY

TRAVEL TO: Hastings Railway Station (direct trains from London Victoria and London Bridge)

BRING: Good walking boots/shoes, snacks, water, notebooks, pen/pencils.

EAT: Grab lunch for the train or arrive early and enjoy one of Hastings seafront cafes and restaurants. For those wishing to stay on in Hastings after the event for dinner and optional evening star gazing, Sam and Sarah will lead the way to a cosy local pub for some delicious grub and stimulating conversation!

ACCOMMODATION: Want to make a weekend of it? Contact us for Airbnb recommendations within the local creative network in Hastings.

There will be some early morning sea dipping and evening star gazing, as relaxed and informal optional activities on Saturday. Sarah can provide information on additional activities and sightseeing in the local area to help you make the most of your stay.

FACILITATORS

Sarah Janes

Sarah Janes is a Pantheist, Nature lover and lucid dreamer. She has written about dreams, dream culture and the anthropology of dreaming for a number of academic journals, the Idler magazine and more. Sarah’s first book - Initiation into Dream Mysteries, Drinking from the Pool of Mnemosyne is out in December. This book explores the ancient history and philosophy of dream therapy and sleep medicine, with a particular emphasis on the sort of holistic divine Nature cure offered by healing sanctuaries in the ancient world. Sarah hosts her own lecture salon and series - Explorers - and has hosted many esteemed academics, scientists, enthusiasts, ancient history scholars and experts as guests on all subjects including AI, sex robot ethics, neuroscience, neuro-psychopharmacology, consciousness, medicine, music, alchemy, psychedelics, Nature, mythology, ancient religion, astronomy, space travel, extinct birds, ethnobotany, cults and more. Since lockdown, the club has specialised in Egyptology and ancient culture.  
This year Sarah is curating a series of events and talks to coincide with the touring exhibition Feminine Power at the British Museum and developing sleep hygiene/‘Reality Shifting’ workshops to tackle sleep deprivation in children and teenagers. She is also working with author and biologist Rupert Sheldrake and Guy Hayward at the British Pilgrimage Trust to reinvigorate the practice of dream incubation on pilgrimage in the UK. 

Sarah co-hosts the weekly online chat show - Consciousness Hour with author and researcher Anthony Peake. Anthony specialises in writing about exceptional human experience and anomalous phenomenon.

www.themysteries.org

Sam Gandy

Sam Gandy is a lifelong nature lover with a PhD in ecological science from the University of Aberdeen and MRes in entomology from Imperial. A collaborator with the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College, London, Sam has a particular interest in the capacity of psychedelics to (re)connect humans to the natural world. 

As an ecologist, researcher and science writer, Sam is working at the intersection of ecology and psychedelics. Sam is also a hobby mycologist, beaver fan, writer, speaker and workshop facilitator. He has been fortunate enough to conduct field research in various parts of the world, reaching as far as Texas, the Peruvian Amazon and Ethiopia, as well as locations a little closer to home. Sam previously worked as a scientific assistant for the Beckley Foundation, an institution which actively seeks to investigate the effects of psychoactive substances on the brain and consciousness in order to harness their potential benefits. Sam has also contributed to the Synthesis Institute, working as an eco-psychology coordinator, designing individually tailored nature-based practices for people undergoing psilocybin therapy for depression. Sam is a senior science writer for Wavepaths and has given a TEDxOxford talk on the capacity of psychedelic substances to enhance human-nature connection, and the implications this has for human wellbeing and the biosphere at a time of growing disconnection and ecological destruction. 

https://mind-foundation.org/team/sam-gandy/

If you would like to attend this event but are unable to afford the ticket price, please do get in touch with us directly at carly@psychedelicsociety.org.uk


 

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