Wonder as Resilience

Imagine two versions of you. Both versions of you are living through an unprecedented pandemic. Both versions of you are living in an imperfect, often scary and disturbing world, on a personal as well as a global level. See one version of you walking down a path.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
Turning People into Trees

A walk outside can feel like a respite, a place to breathe and regroup… and if we’re open to it, what we experience outdoors can invite learning and insight that we can carry with us back into our human communities.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
A Less-Lonely World

The other day I went wading at the edge of the ocean. Just knee-deep in the water, I felt invigorated by the cold and the surprisingly strong pull of the waves. At one point, I looked up and saw an otter pop up out of the surf just a few feet in front of me. Otter looked right at me… and I waved hello.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
Your Senses are Doorways to Wonder

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed… but in a good way? Last spring, I got to take my mom on a road trip to celebrate her 70th birthday, and the high point of our trip was visiting the Tule Elk Reserve in Point Reyes National Seashore. As we traveled potholed roads through the middle of nowhere toward the edge of a continent, I was on the edge of my seat. I was so excited to see elk, but I kept trying to manage my expectations. Maybe we wouldn’t see any elk and that would be just fine.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
Real Life Magic: The Hidden Worlds Around Us

Let me tell you a story. It began back in August, when I started reading the literature for my Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide training. One of the books that I read first was “What the Robin Knows” by Jon Young. Here I learned so much about bird behavior, like how crows “mob” larger birds like hawks.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
Rewiring Wonder

“I recently had a magical experience. While being guided through a 10-minute “Outdoor Refresher” mindfulness meditation, I was able to see with fresh eyes, and became completely enchanted by the world around me. It felt as if my senses had been reawakened, and my childlike awe rekindled.” (by Myra Goodman)

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
What Can I Give?

The other day I made a strange, but now beloved purchase: I bought a long-handled “grabber.” I had never imagined myself needing a tool like this… and yet I’ve found myself wanting this for a few months now. It all began with a Sit Spot…

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
Engaging Responsibly with Technology: What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

I don’t see us throwing our phones into the ocean and going back to simpler times! And anyway, it’s this kind of all-or-nothing thinking that prevents us from figuring out the complex and nuanced question for ourselves: How can we find our way to engaging responsibly with technology with regard to our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health?

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Katie Dutcher
An invitation to put yourself in the path of JOY!

Most of us don’t usually think of joy as something to practice. We might imagine that joy lands on us if we’re lucky, like a bird alighting on our shoulder. And sometimes it does. But amazing things happen when we also take responsibility for inviting joy into our lives– we can practice creating the conditions that foster joy: habits, choices, and mindsets that put us right in the flight path of that joy-bird.

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Katie Dutcher
Love of Place

The other day I was sitting out by the lake near my apartment in the early morning. In the low light before sunrise, I can only see the silhouettes of the birds that pass by. Mallard goes by, wings flapping very quickly. Seagull soars over. Later Great Blue Heron moves across my field of vision, in a straight graceful line, unhurried. It came to me that, living by this lake for seven years… I know them. I recognize my neighbors.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
We Need the Tonic of Wildness

In a couple of days, I depart for adventure -- camping with my husband, and my first backpacking trip with a friend. It is hard to describe how excited I am. Extremely. And, because this is California in addition to anticipating stunning locales, I am also tracking wildfires and air quality, feeling and releasing anxiety.

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OutdoorsKatie Dutcher
What I Learned about Flourishing During the Pandemic

A few months ago, people started to forward me an article from the New York Times about languishing. The article was written in 2nd person: "What you're feeling right now has a name: Languishing." I know that the reason people forwarded this was because it resonated with their experience, but I remember chafing at the assumption that all of us were languishing, and this irritation soon turned to amazement as I realized: No, I don't feel like that. I'm not languishing. Somehow, someway, even though things often feel so strange and difficult... I am flourishing.

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Katie Dutcher
How do YOU re-open?

I write this in the midst of a unique and a pivotal moment as in many place, we’re in a time of “re-opening.” The people I connect with in my personal life and through teaching are feeling all kinds of ways about the thought of re-opening, which has been described as “creating a new normal” or even “going back to the life we had before.

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Katie Dutcher
A Forest Encounter

Suddenly, a dog, large and soaking wet, runs up to me and jumps on me, putting its paws on my chest, its head almost level with mine. This is not something that feels dangerous, but for me it’s still deeply uncomfortable, definitely not something I wanted or expected when walking out into the quiet woods that morning. As I continue walking, brushing the mud off my clothes, the woman calls her dog to her, but doesn’t say anything at all to me.

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Katie Dutcher
Ways to Rest

As I looked back through my journals from the last couple of years, I can see that cultivating a more restful way of being has been in my consciousness for a long time. Why does it take so long? Because I am shifting attitudes, beliefs, and ways of being that are very ingrained. These did not start with me, but have generations of conditioning behind them.

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Katie Dutcher
And Now... We Rest

Qh, how we need REST! The body is tight from sitting in a chair. The mind is foggy from work, soggy from screens. The spirit is clouded from the interactions and experiences of our days.

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Katie Dutcher