A little wolf in the woods.

I am lying in bed right now, blinds closed. Daylight is trying to make itself known by creeping through the tiny gaps between wooden slats, and I’m listening to the beautiful sound of raindrops on leaves.

Wet rain .. big rain drops … know what I mean? 

I am transported back to being a small adventurous child sitting in a roughly dug out cave …. a hole… a camp in the side of a huge bank over looking a wonderfully overgrown woodland dell. Twisted and spiky with brambles and branches, nettles and ferns.

It’s early .. I’m up and out before my family are awake.

I used to just sit and listen to the world waking up .. the birds beginning to sing their morning news updates and the rain… wet rain, dripping on the leaves all around me. The smell of the peaty earth and last autumn’s leaves working their way back into the soil, released by the moisture… that incredible smell of …. of…. life, of the forest floor, layers of life and death, and greenery bursting through brown, crumbly mulch. 

I would sit quietly in my earthy den.. and just listen… often pretending I was a little wolf with extra sensory hearing. A wild creature, hiding, waiting to hunt… not other animals to eat (obviously)… but caterpillars, birds nests or my dog or my brother. ( and yes, now you know which of us is the wolf in A Wolf and I !)

I have no reference to know if this was unusual for a small girl but it felt like the most natural thing in the world to me.

Endless days spent feral, climbing, running, building fires, creating homes, using leaves and twigs to make art. 

So often I’d still be there as the blackbirds began their loud clacking evening song …so similar to their warning cry and yet just a call to say it’s time to hunker down, the sun is setting and dusk is here.

Last night after a long day in the workshop I stood in our little garden looking out across the farmers field that it backs onto. 

Planted along the boundary to our home is a beautiful copse of young trees, only around 25 years old, coincidentally planted by my Dads best friend who celebrated his 102nd birthday on Sunday!

As I stood, watching the pheasants rummaging through the leaves on the woodland floor and listening to the chorus of evening bird song, a fox appeared out of the trees and walked confidently by. 

He was no more than 24 ft away from me.

He slowly made his way through the small trees, his dark red coat and pure white tipped tail a striking contrast to the almost luminous green spring leaves.

He stopped,

Looking directly at me.

Stared for a moment.

Then slowly turned his head and continued on his journey.

It was one of those moments … no more than a minute .. but every single second, preciously etched into my mind.

Magic is everywhere.

The forest, it’s sights, sounds and smells, it’s tranquility and it’s beautiful ancient wisdom has always been my familiar home. 

My grounding space.

I grew up near the New Forest and was incredibly fortunate to have free run of a safe wooded area within our garden.

Now I live next to an ancient woodland and also experience the joy of this small new wood at the bottom of our garden.

I have lived in cities and always, always return as fast as possible to the comfort of the woods.

In Japan, there is a practice called shinrin yoku - ‘Forest Bathing’ which became popular in the 1980’s as a counter to our modern technological lifestyles. 

The simple act of being immersed in the sensory surroundings of the forest as a form of meditation which has been scientifically proven to benefit not just our minds but our physical health.  Reportedly lowering blood pressure and cortisol levels and helping conditions such as strokes, ulcers, stress and depression. Forest bathing also boosts the immune system and aids sleep (Dr Quinn Li).

To me, so much of this seems to be an obvious by product of simply slowing down and taking time to be present .. but science has proven that in actual fact, the trees, the woods themselves actually play a much more important role in this…

Phytoncides are airborne chemicals, essential oils, released by trees and plants in order to protect themselves from insects. They have antibacterial and anti fungal qualities which also help to protect the trees from disease.

When we breathe in phytoncides, our bodies respond by increasing the activity of a type of white blood cells called ‘natural killer cells’ which are the cells responsible for killing tumours and virus infected cells in our bodies. This stimulation of NK cells can last for days even after a short visit to the woods.

Other research has shown that simply looking at trees, being immersed in the environment lowers stress levels as well as the stress related hormones, cortisol and adrenaline…. to a lesser extent, this can even happen through looking at pictures of trees!! 

There have even been studies that prove that a patient in a hospital room will recover faster if there is a plant in the room … even if the patient is unaware of its presence. Patients who have s green view from their window have been proven to have shorter post operative days, took fewer pain killers and had less post operative complications.

In my humble opinion… this is just bloomin magical right? 

Once again, nature provides a way for us to help ourselves, to de-stress, boost our immune system and maybe even heal ourselves. So many of us have access to green spaces, if not the lush woodlands of the Dorset countryside or the New Forest, then city parks and gardens. Just the act of taking time, away from tech, away from speeding through life is an act of self love that is hugely beneficial to you, your health and the people around you.

Al and I are a married couple who have worked closely together as jewellers for over 20 years. 

Every day we sit less than 2 meters away from each other, navigating the challenges of running a small business as well as home life and our relationship. 

We are often asked how we do it, so many people expressing the view that they could never work with their partners.

I can’t deny that we are incredibly lucky that we just enjoy being together and can work extremely well as a team… but I also firmly believe that our love of nature.. our practice of heading out to the woods almost every day, even if only for an hour has had an incredible impact on our lives and our ability to work together all day and then destress, leave the day in the workshop, talk it out of necessary and regain some calm. 

So many of our major life decisions and problems have been talked out calmly (and not so calmly!!)  while wandering through the woods …

Ha! If the trees could talk!! 

…. and if phytoncides weren’t enough to reason to get out there,  there’s the magical moments that happen, like my fox visit last night… or the deer that we saw a couple of days ago .. or the hare that was slowly lolloping through the field. 

Magic.

Is.

Everywhere.

Healing is provided by nature, right there…

Our hearts have always told us this is true .. deep in our souls we know that being in nature is the key to a balanced healthy life and consequently the importance of protecting our natural world is beyond paramount…. 

for its own sake… 

And for ours.

Now, finally science is, once again, catching up to the traditional thinking and is publishing the evidence…

Like we needed it.

As well as our walks, most days we use aromatherapy oils in our workshop and home to create a naturally calm, uplifting environment in which to work and live. Phytoncides are simply essential oils released by the trees … 

So here is a little aromatherapy blend that you can use in your home or work space to inspire and evoke the feeling of being in the woods …. 

Pop it in an oil burner or atomiser and breath deep. Essential oils are absorbed by our bodies and in a similar way to the phytoncides can have wonderful effects on your feeling of well-being.

Cypress 4 drops

Spruce (black) 4 drops

Rosemary 2 drops

Lavender 3 drops

Frankincense 3 drops

Add these drops straight into water in your oil burner / atomiser or blend them with a few drops of almond oil or jojoba oil to pop on your pulse points. Then sit back, close your eyes and breath in the scent of a beautiful pine forest.

with love,

Jesse & Al x

Photos : Jesse Dickson Fox photos: Unsplash stock images.

Forest volatile organic compounds and their effects on human health: A state of the art review. International Journal of Environmental research and public health, 2020.

National Geographic.