0:20

Welcome to the We As Nature

0:20

podcast, where inspiring

0:23

visionaries share their personal

0:23

stories of living in alignment

0:27

with the more than human world,

0:27

and how this informs their

0:31

unique contribution to

0:31

cultivating a flourishing future

0:35

for life on Earth. Each month,

0:35

We As Nature features a new

0:39

storyteller, sharing their

0:39

experience of how listening to

0:42

and learning from diverse forms

0:42

of life has altered their

0:45

course. The power of story lies

0:45

within each of us, offering a

0:50

portal to the language of the

0:50

heart, connecting us to our

0:53

feelings as a source of

0:53

inspiration and courage from

0:57

which we can act. For those of

0:57

us seeking to create a

1:00

flourishing world, starting

1:00

right where we are. These We As

1:04

Nature stories offer a space to

1:04

listen, contemplate, and

1:08

envision new possibilities. We

1:08

as nature is brought to you by

1:13

Flourishing Diversity, and you

1:13

can find out more about who we

1:16

are and what we do at the end of

1:16

the episode, as well as in the

1:19

show notes. In this episode, we're joined by

1:33

artist, designer and independent

1:37

researcher Alyen Foning. Alyen's

1:37

journey to artistry began when

1:43

she was a child living in the

1:43

city. Disconnected from her

1:46

ancestral home, art became

1:46

Alyen's method of connecting

1:51

with the vibrant ecosystem she

1:51

belonged to, but felt so far

1:55

from. Today, Alyen's resides in

1:55

her ancestral home, the Lepcha

2:01

community, with its sacred

2:01

mountains and rivers at the

2:05

foothills of the Eastern

2:05

Himalayas. Inspired by her

2:09

Lepcha roots, Alyen and uses her

2:09

art and storytelling as a medium

2:14

to help others remember their

2:14

own ecological connections.

2:18

Using fabrics colors, music and

2:18

design, her work serves as a

2:23

bridge between the fields of art

2:23

and research, and between

2:27

ancestral pasts and future

2:27

generations. Alyen is the

2:31

creator of the installation the

2:31

"The Story of Munn", which was

2:34

exhibited in February 2019 at

2:34

the "So Many Feminisms!"

2:38

Conclave, by Godrej India

2:38

Culture Lab, in collaboration

2:42

with Zubaan books. She also runs

2:42

the Alyen Foning design label,

2:47

where she embraces the power of

2:47

Mother Nature, communities,

2:51

upcycling and the skills of

2:51

local artisans, in order to

2:55

narrate stories through art,

2:55

words and artisanal creations

3:00

that are inspired by nature, our

3:00

roots, oral histories and inner

3:04

journeys. Her label represents

3:04

like minded people coming

3:09

together to create, collaborate,

3:09

celebrate, empower, and give

3:14

back to society in small yet

3:14

conscious ways.

3:19

Before we begin, please note

3:19

that today there will be a twist

3:22

from our usual format. During

3:22

the live recording of Alyen's We

3:26

As Nature story, she responded

3:26

to some questions from the

3:29

audience. We've included these

3:29

questions and responses in this

3:33

episode, so you can benefit from

3:33

the full richness of everything

3:38

Alyen had to share. We'll now take a few moments to

3:40

pause. Start to become aware of

3:45

your contact points with the

3:45

ground beneath you. Notice the

3:50

temperature of the air on your

3:50

skin. Feel your breath as it

3:55

comes and goes from your body,

3:55

as we move towards a space of

4:00

listening. Hello, everybody, I'm Alyen. My

4:12

name Alyen means the shoot of a

4:17

plant. And I didn't really

4:17

understand it and I didn't

4:21

connect to it till a very big

4:21

event in my life which I will

4:25

share with you. But I come from

4:25

a place called Kalimpong which

4:30

is in India. It's the it's in

4:30

the foothills of the Himalayas.

4:35

And I come from a tribe which is

4:35

known as the Lepchas. Or in the

4:40

Lepcha Language it is known as

4:40

‘the Mutanchi Rong Kup’ which

4:44

means ‘children of the Mother

4:44

Creator. So my journey, this

4:49

journey, begins at a point when

4:49

I was very disconnected from

4:53

myself and I used to live in the

4:53

city because, for work—I'm a

4:58

designer by profession and an

4:58

artist. So I had to move and

5:03

live in the city. And also my

5:03

father worked in the bank, so we

5:07

kept moving from city to city

5:07

every two, three years. My

5:12

connection to nature was through

5:12

the summer vacations when we

5:16

used to go home every year. And

5:16

it was the farm. And yes, we had

5:21

access to nature and insects and

5:21

the plants and the waters. And

5:26

so that somehow stuck with me

5:26

very deeply. And it's also my

5:31

personality, I think my other

5:31

siblings are not as curious

5:35

about nature as I was. And so

5:35

the only connection I had to

5:40

nature really, other than

5:40

visiting my hometown during

5:44

vacations was the stories that

5:44

my father and my grandmother,

5:48

and other elders would keep

5:48

telling us about forest spirits,

5:53

and how we should be respectful,

5:53

and about insects that would

5:58

burn your skin or plants that

5:58

would, you know, also hurt you.

6:02

And so we learnt all of these

6:02

things through stories. And so

6:07

for me, when I designed I think,

6:07

nature was always calling me,

6:12

because most of my inspirations

6:12

were always nature inspired,

6:16

whether it was the motifs or, or

6:16

the texture, the bark of a tree,

6:21

or like the growth of plants,

6:21

you know the stages of

6:25

butterflies and wings and

6:25

patterns. So somehow, it always

6:30

manifested in my work, but I

6:30

never really understood why and

6:34

from where, but it was there.

6:34

And then I also began to get

6:39

tattoos based on nature. So it

6:39

was a call, which I didn't

6:43

understand at that point of

6:43

time. And there was something

6:47

bigger, bigger, larger thing

6:47

kind of calling me, but I think

6:52

my life took a turn, when I

6:52

moved to a place called Goa in

6:57

2014 or 15. And at that point, I

6:57

was running my own little shop

7:01

and you know, working with

7:01

craftswomen and... but I was so

7:06

disconnected from myself. And

7:06

also, I was kind of not honoring

7:11

my body and not honoring my

7:11

boundaries. And I kind of moved

7:15

so far away from who I was. And

7:15

I was so disconnected. And I

7:20

kind of managed to also isolate

7:20

myself from my family and

7:24

friends and...and then at that

7:24

point, I had, basically a broken

7:29

heart. And then I was very

7:29

exhausted, because I was working

7:33

to run the shop and create

7:33

things. And I was also drinking

7:38

a lot and partying a lot along

7:38

with working. And so there came

7:43

a point when heart was broken,

7:43

the body was breaking, I wasn't

7:47

eating food also, I didn't have

7:47

any appetite. And finally the

7:52

mind broke. And that's

7:52

when...that's when my life kind

7:56

of took a turn in it and things shifted.

7:59

But like the amazing thing is

7:59

that when I was in Goa, someone,

8:04

one of my friends told me that

8:04

walking distance from my shop

8:07

was a woman, a lady, who opened

8:07

a restaurant, and she's from

8:12

Kalimpong. So me being the

8:12

curious person, I went there to

8:16

say hello. And I'd met her a few

8:16

days before I actually went mad.

8:21

And turns out she's my aunt,

8:21

distant aunt. And she also

8:27

happened to be there. And in the

8:27

two years she was there, and

8:30

even I was there before, we

8:30

never met but it was at this

8:33

point that we happened to meet

8:33

and she would come check on me

8:36

every day after her work and

8:36

come to my shop and check on me.

8:40

And one day she comes to me and

8:40

says "You're not fine. You have

8:43

to come home with me", and I'd

8:43

barely known her. And I went to

8:47

her house. And that night is

8:47

when I kind of lost it

8:52

completely (laughs), so I was

8:52

fully kind of mad for like a

8:57

week and she told me "you're a

8:57

shaman of your, of our tribe,

9:02

and you are away from home and

9:02

you have not honored yourself

9:07

which is why you, you've reached

9:07

the state, you have to go back

9:10

home. But first we gotta heal."

9:10

So she helped me and she taught

9:15

me a lot of things, you know

9:15

cleansing, connecting to nature,

9:20

a lot of healing, a lot of

9:20

shadow work and meditation and

9:24

prayer and a lot of ceremony and

9:24

it took me a while. Because that

9:29

madness I got out of in like a

9:29

week. But it took much longer

9:34

like three, four years, more to

9:34

get like better. And then now I

9:39

feel stronger. And I say this

9:39

because in our tribe, when a

9:45

Shaman goes through an

9:45

awakening—and it's something

9:47

that I've observed, I've also

9:47

read up and I've kind of done

9:50

research on— there are many

9:50

symptoms, so I can speak about

9:53

my tribe. One is near death

9:53

sickness. The other one being

9:59

madness, and sometimes like the

9:59

tongue sticks out, and it

10:04

doesn't go back in. So you've

10:04

got to take the person to the

10:07

senior shaman to get better and

10:07

come back into like the body and

10:11

alignment. So, so I figured, oh,

10:11

that's what happened to me

10:15

because I do come from a lineage

10:15

of female shamans. And I figured

10:22

now, childhood memories of

10:22

things, of visions, of feelings,

10:27

of, of seeing things, of dreams,

10:27

which I didn't understand

10:31

before. But this awakening kind

10:31

of shook me and shook everything

10:38

that I didn't need anymore, for

10:38

me to kind of realign to my path

10:42

and to remember ancestors and to

10:42

remember Mother Earth, and her

10:47

waters and, and all the

10:47

elements. So I feel that a

10:51

nervous breakdown could seem

10:51

scary. But sometimes the path to

10:56

finding oneself is not always

10:56

peaceful. So I've been blessed

11:01

that I did find someone who

11:01

could help me and could guide me

11:07

towards my past. And so I

11:07

returned home. And since then

11:12

I've been searching and meeting

11:12

elders and shamans of the tribe.

11:19

And I've been trying to

11:19

understand where I come from and

11:22

where we come from. But the

11:22

beautiful thing is that it's not

11:26

different than anybody else in

11:26

the world. It's the same. We

11:31

come from the earth, and we go

11:31

back to the earth. So I'd just

11:35

like to share like a small

11:35

thing. Usually, each ceremony

11:39

begins with a story by the

11:39

female shaman. And it goes kind

11:43

of like "Our skin, our flesh is

11:43

made of soil, our bones are made

11:50

of trees and rocks, the blood in

11:50

our body is made of waters that

11:55

flow, the breath is given to us

11:55

by the wind, the heat of our

12:00

bodies is given by the sun and

12:00

the moon. And when we die, our

12:05

skin becomes soil again, our

12:05

bones returned to the rocks and

12:09

trees, our blood returns to the

12:09

flowing waters, our breath to

12:15

the winds, and the heat of our

12:15

bodies to the sun and the moon."

12:20

So we are Earth, we are of her,

12:20

and we return to her. And this

12:24

is something I have learned. And

12:24

it's so beautiful because we

12:28

forget this. And I think the

12:28

reason I am here to share this

12:33

story is because of this

12:33

disconnection, we've felt and

12:39

we've been feeling. And I do not

12:39

blame anyone or anything for

12:44

this, but we've come at a point

12:44

when we have forgotten to listen

12:51

to ourselves first, and then to

12:51

connect to everything else. And

12:55

I'm here to kind of share that

12:55

because it is possible to do.

13:00

And I see each of us have such

13:00

beautiful gifts that are needed

13:07

at this point in time. So for me

13:07

through the art, through the

13:13

research to the storytelling,

13:13

and now music has come back into

13:17

my life—I've begun singing

13:17

again. So it's we have these

13:22

beautiful gifts that have been

13:22

given to us. But it's up to us

13:27

to help each other, but also to

13:27

be able to give that time to

13:31

ourselves to listen deeply

13:31

because Mother Earth is very

13:38

powerful. But we're here so we

13:38

could help others and to help

13:43

her and I think she's strong

13:43

enough to survive without us.

13:46

She's just being kind and gentle

13:46

so that we can survive with her.

13:51

So I feel this research, this

13:51

art and storytelling has given

13:57

me the opportunity and the

13:57

blessing to be able... the

14:02

blessings to be able to connect

14:02

to my ancestors and to connect

14:07

to the elders who are passing

14:07

away very soon. And to connect

14:11

to water, to the rivers that are

14:11

choking right now. So I feel I'm

14:16

here as a voice, to show and to

14:16

share that it's possible to

14:23

tread many worlds at the same

14:23

time. And that each person has

14:30

the heart and the soul and the

14:30

spirit that has been given to us

14:36

for such beautiful things. So

14:36

instead of looking at things as

14:43

being a victim or going through

14:43

things that kind of pull you

14:47

down, I think I'm here to remind

14:47

everyone that we are only shown

14:54

those paths because they know

14:54

that we have the strength to

14:58

tread those paths. And I feel we

14:58

need to make time to speak and

15:06

meet the rivers and to speak to

15:06

the trees, and to the animals

15:10

and to the birds, to each other,

15:10

as humans also, to be kinder and

15:16

gentler. Let's also have faith

15:16

in our ancestors, in Mother

15:22

Earth, and the greater greater

15:22

plan of the Divine. It's just

15:30

encouragement that I'd like to

15:30

share today, and to share how

15:34

beautiful our connection to

15:34

Mother Earth is, and how gentle,

15:37

loving and kind she is, and how

15:37

our ancestors are always looking

15:42

after us and they're with us.

15:42

And I think everyone who's here

15:47

is not here, just by chance, I

15:47

hope, I hope some words and I

15:52

hope you can feel the love, and

15:52

I hope you can feel it within

15:56

yourselves, even when we're not

15:56

together, because we all hold

16:01

each other with love. And I'm

16:01

grateful to everyone here who

16:07

has made it to hear this small

16:07

short story. But what I would

16:13

like to share, it's in the

16:13

links, there is the longer

16:16

version of storytelling and my

16:16

textile art, which basically I

16:21

do everything with ceremony. So

16:21

I begin with prayer. I pray

16:26

through it. And I end with

16:26

prayer. And I call the artworks

16:31

and the stories activated. So

16:31

yeah, maybe we should start

16:35

doing more of that stuff.

16:35

Because art is powerful, words

16:39

are powerful. And we should use

16:39

it with love and with intention.

16:45

I guess that's why I'm here to

16:45

share with everyone that it's

16:48

possible to do, and that we are

16:48

needed right now, and that we

16:52

are powerful, and that we hold

16:52

each other with love, and that

16:56

we are held with love. On another thing, I work with

16:59

upcycled fabrics. And I prefer

17:04

to do everything by hand and

17:04

natural dye. And I kind of make

17:08

3D sculpted textile art. I kind

17:08

of sculpt them by hand. So

17:14

please do find some time to hear

17:14

the longer story, because

17:17

they're stories about the river,

17:17

about seeing dragons, which,

17:21

which I did 10 years ago, 12

17:21

years ago, and I didn't

17:24

understand. I was the dragon,

17:24

water dragon that was leading me

17:28

back to the river to connect to

17:28

the river and she's my water

17:31

dragon, and she's with me and

17:31

people think I'm crazy. But it

17:36

doesn't matter (laughs). If I

17:36

live in a world of fairies and

17:40

Water Dragons and forest

17:40

spirits, and I don't harm

17:43

anybody, I think, and I function

17:43

fine, otherwise, I think it's

17:48

fair enough to let me just be

17:48

and live in my reality while I

17:52

share these beautiful stories

17:52

and voices that are coming from

17:56

so many realms and so many

17:56

beings who are trying to help us

17:59

and talk to us. So I hope you

17:59

find time, the space and the

18:05

courage to stick with yourself

18:05

and, and yes, to connect to your

18:11

inner heart and your voice and

18:11

the ancestors who are waiting to

18:15

be heard, and to all these

18:15

magical beings that are waiting

18:18

to be heard. So, I pray...

18:21

(emotion rises up in her voice)

18:21

I pray all of us find the

18:24

strength and the courage to

18:24

listen to our heart and the

18:32

songs that it holds. I pray we

18:32

find the time and the humbleness

18:40

to listen, to listen to all that

18:40

is being shared with us. For we

18:48

are at a time when we are needed

18:48

to share love and to expose our

18:57

light. Because love is powerful

18:57

medicine. I pray for protection

19:06

and blessings for all of us here

19:06

so that we may be here for

19:10

Mother Earth and for each other

19:10

and for all our brothers and

19:14

sisters. Please bless us please

19:14

show us the way and help us so

19:20

that we may remember Mother

19:20

Earth and our connections with

19:24

love. That we may hold space

19:24

with love for ourselves and for

19:31

each other. Thank you. And we

19:31

ask of you to guide us on our

19:37

journey. Thank you for holding

19:37

space for us and for protecting

19:42

us and guiding us. We ask for

19:42

your blessings and thank you for

19:49

all that you are, and maybe

19:49

accept ourselves for all that we

19:56

are as we are. Thank you. Thank

19:56

you. Thank you.

20:09

At this point in the live We As

20:09

Nature event, we moved into a

20:13

q&a. We're now going to share

20:13

the questions posed by the live

20:17

listeners, along with Alyen's

20:17

responses.

20:22

The first question is from

20:22

someone who also works with

20:25

upcycling textiles. They wanted

20:25

to understand how nature comes

20:29

through textiles for Alyen. What

20:29

is it in textiles that

20:34

specifically comes as nature.

20:38

I use textiles because I feel

20:38

very connected to molding it

20:44

playing with it. So for me

20:44

nature connection and textiles.

20:48

One is the translation of, for

20:48

example, bark of a tree. Because

20:54

that does something to my heart.

20:54

And that does something, the

20:57

texture, the feeling, for

20:57

example, or the geometry, in

21:02

flowers and things like that. So

21:02

I feel nature inspires me and

21:06

textiles being the medium I'm

21:06

most comfortable playing or

21:11

using and molding with. So for

21:11

me, nature inspires me in this

21:16

in this kind of a way. But what

21:16

I do on my part is that I want

21:21

to use upcycled fabrics, given

21:21

donated, gifted by friends and

21:26

family. And I think that in

21:26

itself is a blessing. Because a

21:32

lot of times because the

21:32

artworks I pray on, and they're

21:36

very sacred, you know, the

21:36

process of making and even the

21:39

creation itself because it holds

21:39

prayers and gratitude and

21:43

healing and so many different

21:43

things. So I feel whoever,

21:46

whoever's fabric kind of gets

21:46

used, their blessings and their

21:51

love comes through in the

21:51

artworks because just a story

21:55

like a quick short one...there

21:55

was a grand aunt who I had

21:59

barely met, but she knew I

21:59

worked with textiles. So she

22:03

sent a lot of silk pieces and,

22:03

you know, parts of her clothes

22:07

that she gave. And I was doing a

22:07

project based on the story of

22:11

the Munn, which is the female

22:11

shaman in the lift lecture tribe

22:15

is known as the Munn. And so

22:15

these artworks are quite

22:17

massive, actually, seven panels,

22:17

about 48 inches like tall and

22:22

little bit like wide, maybe 25

22:22

inches. And most of her fabrics,

22:28

were the ones that I used in it.

22:28

And she passed away soon after

22:32

she gave me the fabrics. So she

22:32

blessed me and she blessed these

22:37

artworks. And she said, I'm

22:37

getting goosebumps, as I'm

22:40

saying it. So she, she gave her

22:40

love. And I mean, it's just

22:46

magic, nature and the universe

22:46

is just magic, so. Yeah, You

22:50

can’t segregate and say there is only a specific connection between Nature and Textiles. It

22:52

is everything! The next question was, "How do

22:56

we get closer to nature while

23:00

living in a city and do more to

23:00

conserve the nature around us?"

23:06

So that is something that me and

23:06

my friends have been talking

23:10

about. Because a lot of times,

23:10

if you look at the shamanic way,

23:16

there are rituals, and there are

23:16

places we go to—spaces, which we

23:20

don't have access to in the

23:20

city. So in fact, it's been a

23:25

few months now that I've been

23:25

sent to the city again and

23:29

again. And I'm thinking, why are

23:29

they sending me to the city,

23:33

because even if the buildings

23:33

are there, if you can't connect

23:38

to the trees, there are few of

23:38

them there. But what I realized

23:42

is that if we kind of connect to

23:42

everything, including the noise,

23:48

and everything else, then you

23:48

realize that the rivers are

23:53

there, they're always there, the

23:53

land deities are there, the, the

23:57

tree spirits are there. So we

23:57

just have this block in our head

24:02

saying because it is a city,

24:02

nature does not exist there. So

24:06

I think it's about making time

24:06

to connect with oneself. Because

24:11

a lot of healing, a lot of

24:11

intuitions, a lot of wisdom and

24:17

knowledge and messages comes

24:17

from within. And if we listen to

24:21

that deeply and make time for

24:21

that, then we can listen and we

24:25

can connect deeper to all these

24:25

other...urm, how would you say,

24:30

other bodies and other parts of

24:30

nature that we can't usually

24:34

connect to. So I think an

24:34

important part is being

24:37

connected to oneself, and to be

24:37

able to listen to oneself so

24:40

that one can connect deeper to

24:40

and listen to Mother Earth or to

24:45

the tree that's in the park. So

24:45

there are smaller things that

24:49

you can do in terms of honoring,

24:49

in terms of I would say ceremony

24:53

or ritual. It's like thanking

24:53

the water as you're taking a

24:57

bath. It's like uh, thanking the

24:57

plants if you have in your

25:02

balcony, you know, offering a

25:02

cup of water to ancestors or to

25:05

Mother Earth, somewhere outside.

25:05

So these are just small things

25:09

you can do that help you connect

25:09

to nature. But I think the core

25:13

lies in listening to oneself,

25:13

then you can listen to everybody

25:17

else who's trying to speak to

25:17

you. So I feel in the city,

25:21

that's what you can do. And not

25:21

forget that because you see

25:24

buildings doesn't mean that the

25:24

water, water deities and

25:28

guardians are not there, and

25:28

that the tree deities are not

25:31

there that the land deities are

25:31

not there. They're all there.

25:34

And yes, just listen, they're

25:34

there.

25:40

Another audience member asked

25:40

Alyen, "Did you navigate through

25:43

fear of nature at any phase of

25:43

your journey in the process of

25:46

connecting with her? If yes, I

25:46

would love to know more."

25:52

Awakening in itself was very

25:52

scary. Because at that point,

25:57

the lines were very blurred

25:57

between, how do you say,

26:01

different worlds and dream

26:01

times. So I didn't know if I was

26:04

sane, or if I was going insane.

26:04

If what I saw was real or not,

26:08

even if there were forest

26:08

deities, for example, or water

26:12

deities, because they don't

26:12

really look like normal things

26:17

you would see. So there was a

26:17

lot of fear, there still is. And

26:21

it's part of the journey,

26:21

looking at this fear. And facing

26:27

a lot of them, a lot of them

26:27

also come from things that we

26:30

have collected over lifetimes,

26:30

or in this lifetime itself,

26:34

whether it's relationship with

26:34

family, or it's traumatic events

26:38

and traumatic experiences, and,

26:38

and past lives. So there is a

26:42

lot of that. And I did

26:42

experience it, I still do. But a

26:47

thing that is part of my

26:47

personality is that I'm kind of

26:51

when I work on something I don't

26:51

give up easy. So I've been

26:54

working on my healing journey.

26:54

I've been working on addressing

26:59

or looking at the fear. And

26:59

there are still times when I am

27:03

very afraid of nature itself.

27:03

Because we've been, I've been,

27:06

so disconnected, that a lot of

27:06

things like darkness in nature

27:10

would also scare me if I was

27:10

left alone in the forest, you

27:13

know. So it is a part of

27:13

remembering once again, but it's

27:20

up to us whether we want to put

27:20

the effort and to you know, kind

27:24

of address it and go into those

27:24

spaces. Though I'm gentle with

27:28

myself, I don't dive in, like,

27:28

you know, when I'm not ready or

27:33

I'm not feeling right. I go to

27:33

it when I'm ready, when

27:36

I'm...when I feel just one step

27:36

maybe and then I'll come back,

27:39

you know. So yes definitely a

27:39

lot of fear and so many other

27:43

things that we've collected over

27:43

many lifetimes, you know, so I

27:47

definitely do have it. And it's

27:47

not that everything changes

27:51

overnight. There's a lot of

27:51

work, there's a lot of inner

27:53

work, and there's a lot of work,

27:53

and reconnection, which most

27:58

people don't um... it doesn't

27:58

magically happen. There's a lot

28:03

of work that goes into it. So

28:03

yeah, I do feel, but I do work

28:08

on them. And sometimes when I

28:08

can't, I just don't do it for

28:11

some time until I feel I'm ready

28:11

to.

28:16

The next question was, "Have you

28:16

ever felt lost in your walk with

28:20

nature and the ancestors? If so,

28:20

how did you find some of the

28:25

answers during those times?" So that happens in phases. You

28:30

know, we feel that if we've kind

28:34

of connected to nature, and you

28:34

know, ancestors, and we've

28:38

reached that kind of place that

28:38

it's always like that, But

28:41

that’s something I’ve

28:41

understood, it’s not always

28:45

switched on and we are not

28:45

always connected. You know,

28:47

there are times when we're lost,

28:47

there are times when we're

28:50

confused. There's the times when

28:50

we're afraid and ashamed, and so

28:54

many things more. But I feel for

28:54

me, as I'm growing older, and as

29:02

I'm working on myself. Two

29:02

things have happened. One is

29:10

that I'm learning to trust my

29:10

own heart, and voice and

29:15

intuitions and I'm learning to

29:15

trust that and to listen to that

29:20

deeply. So that helps because I

29:20

know sometimes I just know, and

29:25

I have no explanation for it.

29:25

But it's just I've been in tune

29:29

with myself and sometimes I'm

29:29

not completely not also. And the

29:34

other thing that really helps is

29:34

having faith in them and having

29:39

faith in the ancestors and

29:39

Mother Earth and you know, each

29:44

thing that happens is for a

29:44

reason. But when you have faith

29:50

in them, you can also speak to

29:50

them, even if you can't, if you

29:53

can't see them, you can tell

29:53

them and you can speak to them

29:56

and say "listen, I'm really

29:56

lost. I have no clue what you're

30:00

up to, can you please help me

30:00

because I'm lost" and help does

30:04

come. So I think faith has

30:04

helped, and belief and listening

30:09

to myself has helped. And other

30:09

times, I think, being in the

30:14

moment, and what is asked of me,

30:14

or what I feel like doing at

30:18

this moment helps. If I just

30:18

want to sleep, then I just

30:23

sleep, you know, so I think it's

30:23

also to be gentle with oneself,

30:27

and to really kind of understand

30:27

what your being is telling you

30:32

to do. Or then just resting or

30:32

figuring that space, so you can

30:37

listen to what is being asked of

30:37

you. So getting lost happens

30:42

very often. But if you believe

30:42

in them, and if you believe in

30:46

yourself, then it's not as

30:46

scary. You're just like, okay,

30:49

just let me know what to do. I'm

30:49

right here. Waiting. Yeah. So

30:53

that's how I go about it. And the final question for

30:57

Alyen, "What do you do daily to

31:02

connect and honor nature and the

31:02

elements?"

31:08

I offer—it's kind of a become a

31:08

discipline in a way, but I do it

31:14

out of love—I offer water and

31:14

incense every day in the

31:19

morning. That's how I just wake

31:19

up and that's what I do

31:23

(laughs). It's become a thing,

31:23

which I don't...yeah, it's just,

31:26

it's just there, it's like

31:26

brushing my teeth. And I pray

31:30

and I meditate. So that's the

31:30

time when I connect most to

31:35

mother nature and ancestors. But

31:35

I'm not harsh on myself, because

31:41

it's not like this time in the

31:41

morning. And this then, you

31:44

know, I sit, I sit gently and

31:44

when I feel like it's usually in

31:49

the morning, and in the night, I

31:49

definitely do that. When I get

31:52

time to go visit beautiful

31:52

spaces in nature that I do that.

31:57

But I think it's just reminding

31:57

myself as I'm drinking water as

32:02

I'm looking at the plants or the

32:02

dogs, you know, that we're part

32:06

of, of everything and that we're

32:06

living and breathing. And I'm

32:10

grateful and I don't always do

32:10

it. There are days when I'm not

32:14

so good and I just sleep through

32:14

the day. But I just manage to

32:17

like a thank you prayer in the

32:17

night at least I'm like, Okay,

32:19

thank you, you know, short one,

32:19

and I'm not meditating today I

32:23

asked for forgiveness. But then,

32:23

then I do it, some gentle, I've

32:27

become gentle with myself now. I

32:27

wasn't so much before.

32:34

We'd like to extend a heartfelt

32:34

thanks to Alyen for this deep

32:38

and powerful sharing. And thank

32:38

you for listening. The links to

32:42

the longer stories that Alyen

32:42

referenced can be found in the

32:45

show notes. And if you'd like to

32:45

follow her work on social

32:48

channels, you'll find those

32:48

links in the show notes too. A

32:52

final note for today. If you're

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next time. (music) The We As Nature podcast

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