WILD IN THE MIX
For 18 months I’d stayed with the not knowing, excited, scared, on the wild edge, I’d just continued to call in what my next thing would be.
For 15 years my massage business has sustained me but now it wasn’t resonating. I had no idea what I was going to do other than breathe open my heart and listen, I had planted seeds with the universe, ‘I like that’ and ‘oooh I want to feel like that’, and then one sleepless night, my body was bursting and I had this idea, 'really, wow, that’s amazing!' It was a conversation that lasted for weeks, ok, so I could be really creative with the marketing on instagram, make beautiful empowering products for women, work daily with the essence of wild nature, from all around the world.
So many of my life’s passions came together.
I have a deep love for our native species; the flowers of a Motherwort are the perfect mix of pretty, wild and otherworldly, their names; Vipers bugloss, Leopards bane, Rosa canina are so wild, while their exotic sisters; Cananga odorata and Cocus nucifera have valuable properties to offer the skincare mix.
I remembered how as a teen I collected marigolds from the garden to rinse my hair, I’d leap over the fallen, heavily laden plant heads on the way down the path, I didn’t feel separate from any part of those fields, every leaf, every lowly moo of a cow, the excited cry of a blackbird, it was all me, and if I was all that, I was amazing. These plants were my friends in a ‘Hi, I’m just passing, you look amazing today’ kind of way, or in a ‘we know your pain’ on a teary, the world doesn’t get me way, the trees, the land was always right there, echoing the shadows I was feeling and as my body eased the tensions of pain it was if I was sleeping in the folds of the earths sweet embrace.
The finer details came in time, I have never done as much maths in the last 3 months as I have my whole life but the core, the essence of my work comes from the bravery to listen to my heart, my wild heart, that craves truth and to be a bridge between the old world and the new one that we are building everyday with our wild open connected hearts.
I think wild is misrepresented, it’s a soft, gentle and yielding place, sure nettles sting and a bramble will let you know you’ve got too close, be it an animal, tribesperson or plant expressing its boundaries it is this expression that is so often depicted as the wild, unforgiving and fierce. It may make for exciting TV in our over stimulated lives but it is actually the most harmonious peaceful place there is. Wild is undeniably raw but if we just allow our hearts to open and listen we feel incredibly present and connected.
We live in chaotic times, rainforests cut down, men and women cut down, both physically and in expressing their truths, integrity and peace is ignored on a daily basis. But it’s not the whole story, nor where we should be paying any more attention other than the positive actions we can take to support essential causes. Ide like to draw your attention to the peace, the love and the growth inside you, right now and inside so many of us.
We are miraculous human beings, did you know that if a pregnant mother has an injury to an organ or part of her body her baby will send stem cells form its body to that part to heal her. Each and every one of us has a light inside us that is magnetized to heal and become light, like a spring shoot we are all in our unique ways reaching towards the light.
We can support our connection to our wild in so many ways, through clearing our physical bodies, diet choices, with exercise, yoga and as a woman through ancient Taoist practices that were day to day for our ancestors but have been forgotten, hidden and most valuably through breathing.
There is however nothing like wild nature to keep alive the feelings of present moment connection that nurture our growth. My garden is a sanctuary, as wild as I can let it be, excluding brambles, I can easily get lost to time and drop into something far more nourishing. We are loosing our ability to derive nourishment from nature, we are over stimulated, there are toxins in our foods in our beauty products our water, we are fast becoming disengaged from the treasures of our green healing world.
In an urban landscape we can reconnect to nature’s nourishment through easy skincare rituals. When we choose natural skincare we strengthen our connection to natures beauty while nurturing our own. Simple natural ingredient skincare is empowering because you’ve made it yourself from ingredients you can touch, feel and trust and that is empowering. It will open your heart and boost your confidence because these long lost plant ally ingredients really work; my skin has never felt softer and more hydrated.
I’ve come full circle to realising the treasure of this nature connection, the synergy; this new project is my idea of heaven on earth, a little bit wild, a little bit exotic.
My work is so exciting, I bounce out of bed most days, other days I have to coax with the promise of chocolate, I’m most excited to give the gifts of this nature connection, it’s effortless nurturing and ability to bring life. I’m continuing to source wild crafted ingredients that will give women wild nurturing, effective skincare as part of their every day self care.
Becky Stanley is a Mother, founder of the Wild Mix, a skincare educator and freedom lover with a dash of puritan. She grew up on the Somerset levels and has perused many roles; silversmith, stained glass designer, trapeze artist, world traveller and baby massage educator - before finding this one. Becky lives in Bristol with her inspirational daughter. You can visit her shop over at Thewildmix.com | Facebook | Instagram