This month's blog is written by our Herd Manager, Carly, sharing her thoughts and experiences of our new offering: Being with the Alpacas.
Earlier this month we trialled a new offering at the farm. I had beginners nerves for the first time in ages and it felt good!
The offering is something we've been brewing over winter and waiting for the right time to launch. Our monthly women's circle seemed like a great place to try it out for the first time.We're calling it 'Being with the Alpacas'.
We've since offered it three more times to our corporate tree planting day attendees and our volunteers and it's quickly becoming my favourite way of being with the alpacas.
Amy, Kierra and I often talk about having a cuppa in the paddock - a 'half hour holiday' as Steve Hetherington from the Alpaca Tribe podcast calls it - but we're just always so busy, there always seems to be something more pressing to do. Since offering 'Being with the Alpacas' we're making time for it because it gives us so much back. It's a classic wisdom we were forgetting: as per the old Zen saying: 'You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you're too busy, then you should sit for an hour.'
During that first session as I was sat around the fire getting ready to take everyone up to the paddock I found myself wondering how people would find it. I mean, I love being with the alpacas but I wondered if others would find them similarly relaxing and interesting to be around.
I also wondered if people who are interested in the animals would be interested in the meditation aspect.
I needn't have worried. Animals always seem to open our human hearts and bring us home to ourselves.
Being with the Alpacas
The intention of these sessions is to offer time and space to practice the art of presence and simply being amidst the alpacas in their comfortable home environment. An opportunity to practice non-doing as we soak up some of that famous Camelid Calm.
Alpacas are gentle, calm and curious creatures making them a soothing accompaniment to a meditation or mindfulness practice.
The idea is to co-create a state of calm with the alpacas. Their peaceful grazing and quiet presence can support us to become more relaxed and present, in turn allowing the alpacas to feel more at ease with us. As we tune into the subtitles of their behaviours through our quiet observations it often allows for deeper connections with these beautiful animals and a deeper connection with ourselves.
There’s nothing complicated or inaccessible about these sessions. All that is required is the capacity to sit and an openness to being quiet and present.
We also understand that stillness and quiet can be disconcerting to some so please know that you are so welcome to move around as much as you need and if you feel more comfortable bringing along a hand craft such as knitting, crocheting or similar that is very welcome. We ask that phones and tablets are left off and away for the duration of this session.
Co-Creating Calm
We're not using alpacas for therapy in this context but they can be used in this way in a similar way to horses. This is the aspect of their being that we really lean into during meditation and times of practicing presence.
When we spend time in their presence it encourages us to slow down, observe, be present, breathe and regulate ourselves so that these timid creatures feel calm in our presence. I find I become more aware of my own body language and behaviour when I am in close proximity to the alpacas.
Alpaca Meditation
We could have called it 'Alpaca Mindfulness' or 'Meditating with the Alpacas' but language can get in the way. And it really is as simple as it sounds - we're just 'being' with the alpacas. That's all. So simple, so magic.
Meditation as a word can bring up a lot for people. I often have people tell me that they 'can't' meditate because their minds are too busy or that they can't sit still. I honestly think environment plays a huge part in this (I share in more depth about this in my article: I Can't 'Just Be' Is There Something Wrong With Me? The Myth of the Importance of ‘Just Being’).
We didn't evolve to sit silently indoors without the stimulation of our senses. It's entirely unnatural and our bodies and minds often perceive it as such. Whereas when we're out in nature, our senses are engaged in a natural way and satiated through that engagement, it's one of the many reasons why being outside in a natural environment is calming. Modern life is often either sensorily overstimulating or under-stimulating and we can't recreate a natural setting indoors. Being with the Alpacas harnesses the natural and calming sensory stimulation of being in nature together with the added benefit of the dynamics and interactions of the animals to listen to and watch.
'Not Good' At Meditation
And in terms of 'not being good at' or 'not being able to' meditate. I think it's often simply the way meditation has been presented or the way we've internalised what we think meditation is. Of course there are many different approaches to and lineages of meditation and each has its own intention and approach but 'clearing the mind' is not an aim of meditation. I think this might be biologically impossible. More space between thoughts can be a positive side-effect of regular meditation practice, sure but a clear mind is not a human mind.
I often share at the start of this practice and other meditation practices something I learned that really supported me being kind to myself in seated meditation. When we stop, slow down and take a moment, often our thoughts become louder, our minds busier. This is in part because we've turned down the volume of the external world and turned up the volume on our internal worlds. It's also because when we stop we give our bodies a chance to process and release stress and one of the ways that the nervous system discharges stress is through rapid thought.
For me meditation is an opportunity to be with what is and to allow space for all that is arising to move through. A moment to check that my inner narrative isn't placing judgement on my experience of being human. But also - when I'm offering meditation (ditto yoga/yoga nidra) I always start by saying that autonomy is extremely important to me and that this time is for you to use in whatever way you feel to use it. Take what works and leave anything that doesn't. These practices are so very personal. I'm just offering some inspiration and suggestions for you to build upon in your own way.
So as we opened up discussion in the circle about what we were about to do, I mentioned that we'd open with a brief meditation to centre and bring us to our senses and the usual questions and anxieties arose.
One woman expressed that she was nervous about sitting still and quiet in meditation. I responded that there was no obligation for her to sit still at all. She was welcome to take the practice in her own way, she could get up and move around, fidgeting and wiggling very welcome.
A few others shared that they weren't 'good' at meditation because their minds never stop.
It felt good to be able to remind us all, myself included, that as far as I'm concerned meditation is our natural human state when we're simply being and the alpacas are here to remind us what that looks like.
At the end of the experience when we checked in again, the woman who had been nervous about the stillness aspect shared that she need not have been worried and that her understanding of meditation had become clearer. She now understood that it was simply paying attention to our environments consciously. I loved that.
Learning About Alpacas
We close out the sessions with space for people to ask questions, share experiences and reflect and it's definitely one of my favourite parts of the sessions. Alpacas are quite mysterious creatures, most people don't know much about them (I certainly didn't and I have much still to learn!) so getting an opportunity to observe some of their interesting behavioural quirks and learn about what they are doing seems to be a real highlight of our time in the paddocks.
For example most people notice the role of our matriarchs during the meditation and their rotating sentinel behaviour. Others observe subtle body language changes. And most enjoy the playfulness of the cria (babies) pronking and rolling and being cheeky.
Our Next Session
So if you're at all curious about meditation or alpacas or both, we'd LOVE to welcome you to try our next Being with the Alpacas session. It's taking place on Sunday 2nd February 2025 from 1-2:30pm - more info and booking here.
Keep an eye on our website for future dates.
What to Expect
If you want to join and you're interested in what happens in the session...
We will gather down at The Hideout for a short welcome, introduction, health and safety briefing and opportunity to ask questions.
We will then head up to the paddock together to begin our session.
You will be introduced to each of the alpacas, getting to know their names and a little about each of their unique characters.
We will then settle into a brief and simple meditation together (sitting on a camp chair or rug on the floor) to help guide us into the present moment and settle our attention towards being present with our surroundings and with the alpacas.
There will then be time to simply sit quietly amongst the alpacas as they calmly and quietly graze and chew the cud.
Alpacas are incredibly curios creatures and our calm presence in the paddock often prompts a gentle enquiry from them. They may come over for a closer inspection and (if you’re lucky!) you might even get a little sniff or the initiation of a nose to nose greeting.
We’ll close out the session with a little more guided meditation before heading back down to The Hideout to warm up round the fire (winter sessions), grab a cuppa and share experiences for those who feel to.
Hand washing and bathroom facilities available at The Hideout.
This session takes place in the mums and babies paddock, so when we have cria (babies) you'll get to see them during your visit.
Carly x
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