I slept in the wild for a night and here is what I learnt
Forests might be the mindfulness therapy you need
Our hike along the Lahn river in the Hessen region of Germany was coming towards an end for the day, and just as in a dramatic hiking horror movie, the birds were shrieking crazily, as if warning the remaining hikers in the forest of the dangers of the night.
While we slowly continued on our way up the hill which housed a Schutzhütte or a rescue hut, reconsideration about the sanity of our plan kept crossing our mind.
It was still a streak of daylight remaining, when we reached the hut, enough light to sneak a picture, not enough light left to cancel our plan and go back.
So there we were.
That´s me, looking out at the view of the river from the sloping terrace of the hut, all the while wondering what would be expect from this night in the wild? Without a tent, without a hammock and without a tree hut.
Paranoia Sets in
The first thing we found close to the hut, as in any structured German place was a trashcan.
Upside: German reliability.
Downside: what looked like Wild boar poop and an attractive site for the animals at night.
Hence, we chimney climbed our way to the top of the hut, not giving 2 hoots to the fact that it was a slanted roof, meaning we would get no sleep.
Imagining the worst
As the darkness sets in, the view of the river got bleaker and bleaker, so did our hopes of survival, imaginary threats of the wild animals just got worse with the MILLIONS of sounds you hear in the forest.
Something is rustling, something is howling and something strange among the trees is shining like wild eyes. Or was this just our imagination?
Rationalizing
Then as a human brain does, you start to rationalize, you are in one of the safest countries in the world, there is a village just close-by and no animal can possibly climb the roof of this hut.
We take a few deep breaths, no verbal communication among the hikers, whatsoever, just indefinite quiet, till the moment you decide to plug in your podcast.
However, you keep one ear open, you know, just in case!
Curiosity, Wonder and Freedom
Now that our minds were used to the buzz of the forest, and realizations that humans several years ago, lived like this, deep down, it is, just natural instincts.
Then we looked up, at this gorgeous view of the stars above us, the milky way, the basic constellations that every one of us could recognize, the shooting stars that kept surprising us as wonderful charms.
The fear, the negative thoughts, the rationality gave way to this beautiful moments of mindfulness that is described in the Buddhist Blogs.
It was then, there, the meek hikers the powerful universe, one or two replays of Coldplay´s A Sky Full of Stars and the beautiful, fresh forest air.
The morning was extremely foggy and cloudy, we did not meet anyone besides a deer and a hunter on our way back to the city.
No, our lives did not change based on this one night, neither did we become different or better human beings.
However, the feeling of being in one single moment, sans distractions, sans words, sans sleep, in a night of wonderment and marvel, was the most precious feeling I have had this year.
And this feeling, I will hopefully never forget.
