Ideas for a Fun, Intuitive Year-End Review (A Wild Hunch #6)

At the end of last year, I learned how playing in the woods can help me tap into my intuition, conduct a useful reflection on the previous year, and receive powerful guidance for the year ahead.

It was the last week of December, and I was working through Jon Young’s Renewal of Creative Path as a year-end ritual. (You might remember Jon Young from the last Wild Hunch, as well as my promise to share what happened when I tried to track animals intuitively like he does. To find out how it went, read on.)

I was reflecting on questions like:

• Over the past year, when did I feel most connected to nature? Other people? Myself?
• What got in the way of greater connection?
• What synchronicity, dream patterns, and help from nature did I experience?
• What am I doing when I feel most alive?
• Where would I benefit from releasing expectations and offering forgiveness to myself and others?

The next step was to create my ideal vision. I get some of my best ideas walking through the woods, so I decided to go on a wander through my local nature preserve as I brainstormed and reflected on what I most wanted for the future.

It’s rare we get to wander these days—we’re almost always moving efficiently in a predetermined direction with a known destination. I’ve learned that wandering—following my body wherever it wants to go without any idea where I’ll end up—is not only fun and freeing, but also often leads to unique, new experiences and personal discoveries.

On this particular afternoon, my walk didn’t get off to a great start. I was blocked and wasn’t getting many ideas. The ones I had felt contrived. Then I realized I was expecting something big, new, and revolutionary. Talk about pressure!

It occurred to me that I probably already knew what was needed on some level and just had to uncover whatever it was. That, and continuing to be in the woods and attune to the beings and energy around me, eventually helped. Ideas and guidance started flowing.

As they did, I wandered. To make it easier to follow my body rather than my brain, I stopped regularly to close my eyes, extend my hands in front of me, and turn in a slow circle, sensing into which direction my body felt pulled to go.

My body led me to a far corner of the preserve, a place I don’t usually go, without seeing anything unusual. I tried not to question it, just enjoy the trip and be loyal to the direction I was called. I ended up on a hillside where dozens of spider web threads caught the sunlight like scattered, twinkling tinsel. It was as unexpected as it was gorgeous.

Filled with gratitude, I continued to wander, generating ideas and possibilities for the year ahead. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder: Was this really what I was meant to do? How did I know I wasn’t making it all up? Could I be sure I wasn’t misinterpreting the guidance?

I had no clear answers to my questions.

Eventually I ended up back near the main path. I closed my eyes, extended my hands, and turned in a slow circle one more time to make sure I really wanted to re-enter the path and head home. I got a very clear “ping” of desire in one spot—the clearest reaction I’d ever had when doing this practice. Usually, I get a slight increase in energy or pulling sensation in my body to indicate a general direction, but this time, it felt like a precise nudge in an exact spot in the direction of the path. “I guess my body does want to head back,” I thought.

But when I opened my eyes, I realized it wasn’t the path I was pulled to. Crossing the trail in the exact spot where I felt the “ping” were three beautiful does, one behind the other.

I’ve always had a strong connection to deer. Every time I see them, they bring up near-overwhelming feelings of joy, gratitude, and longing.

I’ve since learned that deer appear in many legends to invite people into a calling or journey, like in the King Arthur tales, where a deer leads Sir Gawain into the woods to begin his adventure.

I’ve also always felt that deer carried the untamed energy of a forest, as if in seeing them, we’re seeing into the heart of the wilds.

I’m not alone. In many cultures, deer symbolize powers in nature that aren’t easily subdued, including instinct and intuition. And in fact, most wildlife rehabbers won’t take in adult deer because they suffer from capture myopathy, meaning that no matter how well treated they are, they die simply from the stress of being in captivity.

I watched the deer for a long time that December afternoon, appreciating their wild spirit and enjoying their beauty and grace.

Seeing them that day was a special gift. It felt like confirmation that there were, indeed, untamed powers at play. It also felt like an invitation—to stop doubting my intuition and my ability to receive it, and to follow the whispers that were calling me into a wild and unknowable future.

Find Your Own Intuitive Nature

To do an intuitive body wander, find a greenspace where you don’t have to worry about cars or similar hazards. It doesn’t have to be large—you could do a great wander in your own backyard.

Close your eyes; extend your hands, palms out; and slowly turn in a circle. Notice the sensations in your body, and whether there’s a pull or indication your body wants to go in a particular direction.

If you don’t notice anything right away, circle again more slowly. Sometimes the sensations are subtle and hard to notice.

When you have a sense or even a guess, wander in that direction. Keep going until that direction no longer feels good to you or you’re not sure where to go. Then you can stop and turn your slow circle again, repeating as many times as you want.

To make the body wander a year-end reflection or new-year intention setting, make a list of questions about the previous year or the upcoming one. They can be big and open-ended (“What do I want to focus on or do in the next year?”) or smaller and tactical (“Is it best for all involved if I say yes to this opportunity?”). I like to ask a combination of both.

You might remind yourself of your questions just before you begin, feel their importance to you, and then drop them. For me, the key is not to try too hard to find answers. Things go better if I trust the answers will come in time, when they’re needed, and remember that whatever happens now will bring them closer.

After remembering and letting go of your questions, you simply wander, following your body’s curiosity and going wherever it wants to go.

I would love to know what this is like for you! I’ve created a group on Facebook so we can receive each other’s stories. Please go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/180860054978770 and share your experiences there.

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Read the previous installment of A Wild Hunch: Ideas for Reclaiming Our Natural, Intuitive Wisdom in the Natural World

First deer photo by Jordan Pulmano on Unsplash