Bits + Pieces 013
Meet Jenny - Founder of The Wild Times yoga, nature and paddleboarding retreats (UK)
Hello friends,
As we live in a hybrid world where we’re online equally or more so than in real life, the need for human connection and community remains crucial to our health.
As someone who leans to the extrovert side and loves meeting new people, I found myself nervous last week heading to a meetup with people I didn’t know. Instead of my nervousness being excitement, it was fear. This doesn’t really happen to me, so it got me thinking that if I experience these things, lots of people do, and maybe more intensely than me.
If trying new things, having new experiences, and conversations are the very things that can scare us, how can we move forward to overcome these and encourage connections?
Herein lies my passion for community and networks, which give us a sense of belonging outside of our family and friends. When we find it hard to move through things alone, it’s those around us that we can lean on to try new things, start projects filled with purpose and passion, and head to events for new experiences.
And so I introduce Jenny Clark, Founder of The Wild Times yoga, nature, and paddleboarding retreats designed to help you re-wild, explore, and become more grounded and restored.
I’m grateful for people like Jenny who are encouraging connection with oneself, community, and our planet.
Thanks for being here,
Tish x
Photo credit: Jake Smallwood
In 2020, after five years in the big smoke, I left to spend more time by the big sea. I love being in, on, or by the sea, reading lots of books, taking my morning coffee outside, campfires, and planning retreats and adventures.
The Wild Times was an idea I had a few years ago now; A dream of combining all the things I love the most: being outside, doing yoga, bobbing around on the water and hanging out with other humans who like to do the same. The Wild Times is all about connection: Connecting to our own bodies, connecting to other people, and to nature. We all need it now especially, after the last couple of years of increasing isolation from each other, despite the ‘hyper-connection’ that technology provides. We need less screen time and more sun time.
“We need less screen time and more sun time”
2021 was a year of growth, we had 9 sold-out retreats across the UK. This year, we’re running 12 retreats in some previous and new locations including a five-day, “Ultimate Wild Times’ digital detox retreat on the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales.
I’m particularly excited about this retreat, with 5 days of proper rest, grounding, and headspace. If we are feeling overwhelmed, and anxious and our nervous systems are on high alert we are not able to properly, deeply rest, play, and create. We have to actually take time and make space to rest so that we can actually create - as well as think clearly and get perspective.
The idea and popularity of ‘re-wilding’ continues to grow, along with forest bathing, cold-water swimming, and many other outdoorsy trends. In my opinion, this can only be a good thing. The more we realise that we are nature and acknowledge our innate need to spend more time truly immersed within it, for the sake of our mental, physical and spiritual health – the better. “As Jacque Cousteau said “people protect what they love”. The greater our connection to the earth, the greater our desire to protect and restore it”
“As Jacque Cousteau said “people protect what they love”. The greater our connection to the earth, the greater our desire to protect and restore it”
2022 has been a year of personal growth in the realities of running my own business, learning how to manage cash flow, and managing my time + energy when the To-Do list seems never-ending! I love getting stuck into everything, but it has been very important to have other friends and mentors going through similar situations to talk to, lean on, and have honest chats about startup life.
I believe in the healing, calming power of being outside, and hope to encourage people to connect with themselves and their community. in the process.