My true and detailed personal experience of what it was actually like to do a vision quest on your own, so this is my Vision Quest: Ruthy Doolittle’s experience.
Protection
The day passed by in stillness, with nature sounds. A few dog walkers passed by, and I remained unseen, protected by the trees green foliage. The woodland smells and clean air were truly wonderful and I took some time to do some deep breath work. I really recommend this as it connects you to your body, to nature and the present moment.
I tried out a couple of different meditations and ended up drifting off into deep sleep. Every nap gifted me a highly intuitive dream, insight into areas of my life that have been difficult and some easier and soon enough the day came to a close.
The Natural Elements
I certainly didn’t stay warm, being still and not eating really dropped my body temperature down and I was a little worried about how I would stay warm all night if I was so cold before getting to the night.
Anytime I found my mind drifting into “what if” or “how will I’ I chose to let it go. I chose to let it go consciously from my mind and trust in my heart that I would be okay. Being surrounded by nature made it so easy to super charge and strengthen my heart chakra, by breathing in the beautiful green energy from nature. You may have your own meditations you would like to do.
By the evening I had snuggled into my thick unicorn onesie, inside my sleeping bag and was actually getting too warm, so much so that I rapidly had to strip off some of my layers, including my thick onesie which was too much, so I took that off too. Then came the dilemma of being too hot and getting sweaty, throwing my sleeping bag wide open to the night sky and obviously insects and critters. I eventually got my layers right with my super warm sleeping bag and snuggled down for deep sleep.
Under The Stars
Watching the night sky wasn’t as amazing as if I’d been on a mountain top, due to the canopy. However my very quiet Oak tree became very noisy at night time and I realised why as I heard an owl hooting loudly above my head.
It was interesting to listen to and despite all the night time woodland activity, I made peace with the night, gave thanks to those in spirit who watch over me, the animal kingdom, the mighty Oak and Holly trees protecting me along with Mother Nature herself and slipped into a light sleep. Safe to say sleep was a bit patchy as I tossed and turned the ground became very hard underneath.
Morning Dew
I awoke to the noise of birdsong, how beautiful the dawn chorus is. As the light of the woodland moved from hazy to clear I was delighted at my choice of sleeping under a tree canopy and had no dew from the morning on my sleeping bag, which delighted me.
I lay in different positions contemplating what I could see in front of me, tiny insects waking up, the daylight showing through the leaves and changing the colours of the woodland. Birds announcing the start of their day and a super early dog walker passed me by, unnoticed.
I observed it all, listening with all of my senses, to feeling my breathing gently going in and out. I propped myself up on the tree to get a better view of the greenery, it felt so soothing on my soul and filled my heart as I breathed it all deep inside of me.
Simple things can really make a huge difference to how you feel, especially when life is stripped right back to basics, even if on a self-chosen journey to the woods. I took a little nap and had an incredible dream of flying and being totally connected to the trees, on a different level.
So when I heard rustling near me around 5 am, I turned to see a slightly dazed looking squirrel most surpised to see a human wild-camping under a tree, in its path. It carried on its way, ignoring me. How wonderful to see, as I awoke.
Squirrel Totem Animal
Squirrel reminds us to be resourceful, to remain adaptable and ready for anything, to surrender and let things happen. That changes may be afoot and encourages respect of difference. To find a way to work harmoniously together.
After the squirrel passed through my camp, I rolled over and snuggled down to a lovely long nap. I felt nourished by nature and soothed by the sounds of the woodland and drifted into a lovely sleep.
Morning Rush
When I awoke I felt I had received a powerful message yet couldn’t remember a thing. I so urgently needed to toilet I was alarmed and got up quickly. This was an oversight, due to drinking such volumes of water while fasting, my body wanted to purge. I got up and started to pack up camp, it was late morning and I reckoned I could make it home in time to use proper facilities and not make a horrid mess in nature.
Sure enough I made it through the door, hubby was waiting with the kettle on and all the animals were hanging around, I couldn’t stop though I had to go.
This really felt like a true purge, detox, declutter and cleanse, I’m not going to lie it was a bit rough. I reminded myself that I made a choice to go on this journey and if that meant letting go of some old ‘shit’, quite literally, then it had to be done!
I asked for a cup of my favourite tea and was presented with a toasted teacake. Now I LOVE I cake, a lot!!! And it smelled amazing, in hindsight I would have been better off prepping him on what to have on hand, something like melon and then perhaps a small salad.
Salivating Taste Buds
My taste buds took over and suddenly I felt really, really hungry. It was like in the woods, my body knew that I didn’t have any food and that was, that. Yet back at home with all my senses going crazy my taste buds started salivating and I had to eat it. It was good and I was hungry, so ate some more.
This ended my detox rather promptly. Part of the vision quest for me was the physical cleansing that went on, clean eating, only eating in set hours, fasting for 14-16 hour each day all contributed to really revitalising my digestive system, and in turn my energy, focus and overall wellbeing as well as huge benefits to my intuition and inner trust.
Crystal Clear
I did however have a wonderful wild chamomile and Himalayan salt bath afterwards and took my time to come back into ‘real -life’. My eyesight seemed to dramatically improve, my clarity of thought was crystal clear and I felt connectedto nature on a new much deeper level. I heard and received the insights from the animal kingdom, from the plants and trees and from my own inner knowing.
Planning is key
If you feel like going on a vision quest, it is well worth doing a bit of research ahead of your journey, like me take some time beforehand to prepare, take some inward journeys, meditate and set your intentions.
Most of all stay safe and enjoy the experience. For those who don’t feel brave enough to do it alone, I do know of groups you can join who go on silent vision quests in small groups. Look upon Ecosia ( a search platform that replants trees from 80% of its profits from ad revenues) think of them as a search engine who support the trees.
Oooh and if you LOVE trees, as much as I do. Read this blog about my Tree Replanting Project.
