Positive Pathways / Nature Beats - Second week in the woods...
A description of the second outdoor day of the Positive Pathways / Nature Beats course.
5th April, 2017
The Positive Pathways / Nature Beats team were out in the woods again yesterday, this time with a couple of new participants, for another wonderful day of learning and adventure.
We all split off into our own little nooks and crannies among the trees for our first sit spot of the day, and this time everybody shared something about their experience in the circle afterwards. It was really interesting to hear how each person had felt, just sitting by ourselves for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the woods, as well as to the thoughts whirring around in our own heads, and feeling the busy-ness, noise, and stress gradually begin to drain out of us, into the soft leaf litter at our feet.
The group focused on fire-making this week and set about collecting and organising several amazing piles of differently sized pieces of kindling – birch twigs arranged neatly in size order, from very very thin, to catch the first flames easily, right up to much larger pieces to feed in later. They made a beautiful fire quickly and easily, while the mentors (participants from the last course) set up the tarp and ‘kitchen,’ and we all sat down to eat our sandwiches and soup.
We had an introduction to the ASDAN qualification (Employability Skills, Entry Level 3) which is on offer for all participants on the course, and had a group discussion about the criteria which need to be met (all to do with maintaining work standards), then people teamed up in pairs to interview each other using the iPads, asking and answering questions to show their understanding of all these issues, as well as developing their interview skills. At the same time, to keep things inspiring and interesting, we also had practical sessions running on tool use – how to use a bow saw and a folding saw safely – as well as individual fire-lighting sessions, using natural materials, so that everybody could feel they really got to grips with all the principles and techniques involved. We also had David Bates from Talent Match come out to us during the afternoon, to talk about what the Talent Match programme is, and what amazing opportunities are on offer for the young people who sign up to it. (Three signed up right away!)
We gathered in together around the fire one more time after a final sit spot, and everyone shared something about their appreciation of the day. Many also shared their thoughts on the question they had been asked to ponder this time, ‘What are you grateful for in your life?’ People said things like they were grateful for their friends and family who had stuck with them through hard times, for the beautiful souls they had met in dark times, and the people they had met here today, for their sense of sight, to see all the beauty around them and do something creative with it, for the disciplines they had discovered and practised during their lives, for the teachers they had had, without whom they may have lost themselves on other pathways when times were bad, for friendship, and for experience itself. It was a really honest and beautiful sharing, which showed the uncommon level of trust that has been building since we first met, as well as the growing confidence of individual young people in the group, and we finished the day on a real high, looking forward to our next gathering.