Wilderness Survival 101

Todd and I went to a Wilderness Survival Class last night. Todd felt like it was a good idea to go, seeing as I had gotten lost on a paved road trail that went around in a circle. We learned lots of really good and interesting things. The first thing I learned was that I am really the one in control of my mindset. If I choose to give up in a survival situation I will likely not make it. If I choose however to accept that it wont be comfortable but believe that I can survive and I will make it, that will more likely happen for me.

Here are a couple Wilderness Survival Tips and Tricks:

The rule of 3 - You cant live more than 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter (depending on conditions), 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food.

Shelter

The most important thing to acquire is shelter NOT food. There is a law that says when two things meet at two different temperatures the larger object will cause the smaller object to change temperature. So, when you have a 150 lb person and an enormous Earth, the Earths temperature will win out. We look at all our resources if we have been stranded with a car take the headliner out, the filler in the seats, the carpeting, use any bits for string or rope, use the hood, everything possible. You will want to pile up brush and get yourself as far from the ground as possible. Use a large stick and hit the Y of a tree branch and pull off large branches with some of the leaves and small branches still intact. Gather large sticks and form a little A-Frame or a lean-to. Then take your leafy branches to form the roof. You want as little air space as possible to keep warm.

Next you will want to make a fire. If you are stranded with your car you can use some of the gas from your hoses and your battery to start a fire. Using two wires, attach them to your battery when you touch the wires together sparks will start to fly. Have a little gas and some kindling ready to light. You can also take your tire off the rim using your tire iron and burn some of the rubber. This will burn a very long time and cause a black smoke, that could potentially cause someone to see you.

Once you have your fire started you want to direct the heat into your shelter. You can take some sticks and make a little half circle around the other side of the fire. So, it’s the sticks, the fire and your shelter in that order. Then take some reflective surface, like the lining underneath your hood, and reflect it back towards the shelter. This will keep you very warm.

Water

If you are stranded with your car, jump on the roof and create an indentation. This will cause any rain water to be caught. If you have a little plastic bag you could tie it to some vegetation with a couple rocks in the bottom of it, with a little spittle, condensation will begin to build up, it will drop down towards the rocks and then you will have water. You can compact snow and ad a little water put it in a big black trash bag, or something off your engine and then very shortly you'll have water. If there is a water source around you, use that and bring the water to a rolling boil to cleanse it. You need one 8-10 oz cup of water to survive daily.

Food

"A grub" as Timon from The Lion King said. I learned last night that I would be ok with eating a grub. All you have to do is cut off the pink head and either eat them raw or cook them. They are 75 calories a piece. All you need to survive is 400 Calories a day. Eating about 5 of these guys will help to sustain your life. You can find these guys on a rotted tree trunk under the bark. Don’t eat the hairy ones they are poisonous.

If you are in the desert snakes and other critters are available to eat, just cut off the head split down the belly and clean, cook and eat. Fish are also good; to easily catch these guys you can make a little channel in the water for them to go through. Take some pointed sticks line them up in a curve toward the shore and block the exit. Hit them with a large stick and cut off the head, gut them, bury them in the hot coals with the skin on for a few hours and eat. Frogs, birds and other creatures are available also, cut off the head and clean out the organs. Then just cook them skin, feathers and all and after they are cooked the outside of the animal will peel off. This should sustain life, not comfortably but well enough until you are rescued.


Snow

Snow is a really good insulator, if you are in the woods and there is a lot of snow set up your shelter near a tree. There is usually a ring around the base of the tree and you can pile up the snow with limbs etc, compacting as you go this will really keep the heat in. Remember sleep off the ground.

You can also build a very easy dome igloo out of snow. Start by compacting very tightly a small dome. Take something like a ski to cut a block out of where the entrance will be. Crawl inside and scrape out the rest of the snow with your hands leaving a small one foot shelf towards the back of the igloo. This is where you will sleep, off the ground. Poke a hole through the ceiling of the roof with your ski and leave it there. This will ventilate the dome. Use a couple blocks of snow to cover the entrance of the dome. According to our instructor you can get really warm in these shelters.

These are just a couple suggestions to keep you safe. Our instructor suggests carrying an emergency pack with you in the car. Also, some things that travel with him at all times are:

Light My Fire metal match
A portion of duct tape
Vaseline – use to keep a fire going almost like a candle
Dryer lint – use for starting a fire
Pocket Knife

I hope this helps, if you want to learn more go to your local outdoor store, they may be offering classes.

Copyright 2008 Ashley Clark AKA Kyra Clark. All Rights Reserved.

Queens and Slavegirls

*Quick Review and Insight for the 1st chapter of "A Woman's Worth" by Marianne Williamson*

Recently, I experienced a dramatic shift in consciousness related to my womanhood. I realized that I have chosen to be a woman in this lifetime and I have begun to embrace my own personal power as it relates to being a strong, and loving woman.

In her book, Marianne Williamson writes to the internal conflicts we face as being women. What is expected of us and what we expect from ourselves. She speaks of the magic women share when we gather to help empower and nurture our sisters. It speaks of how we choose to stiffle our precious Queenhood with addicitve behaviors or to not fully express ourselves for fear others will not accept us. But there is an answer.

Marianne suggests, "At every moment, a woman makes a choice between the state of the queen and the state of the slavegirl. In our natural state, we are glorious beings. In the world of illusion, we are lost and imprisoned, slaves to our appetites and our will to false power."

This is to say, we have a choice. So, what will it be ladies? My Queenhood recognizes the Queenhood in all of the women in my life. I know that this will help me to grow and develop and help others as well. My consciousness expands, my heart opens, and I embrace my true self. Wont you join me?

Copyright 2008, Ashley Clark AKA Kyra Clark. All Rights Reserved

Starbuck's and Enlightenment Part 1

Yesterday morning I went to Starbuck's. I felt elated and relaxed about the sunny day. I was pulling up and found there were few people in the drive through, which contributed to my already good feelings. I was reflecting on life, on my purpose and just thinking about not much in particular. I ordered my green tea and all of a sudden had a realization.



I chose to manifest into this world as a woman. At first, I thought perhaps it was a punishment, that I had wronged a women in a previous life and I was then forced to be one to learn a lesson. I laughed at this knowingly, it is only the ego that believes in this kind of punishment. Then the truth washed over me like a warm rain. I choose to live this way, it is my purpose. I realized a part of my purpose on this planet. I felt a heavy energy leave through the top of my head, as if that realization helped me to accept myself in a way I never had before.



I received my tea and my muffin from one of my favorite Starbucks personnel. He always has a smile and is extremely energetic. I doubt that he realized even for a moment I had just had an enlightening moment in the drive through of the Starbucks. This poses another question. How many of us are aware of the daily experiences of others?

Copyright 2008 Ashley Clark AKA Kyra Clark. All Rights Reserved

The Reluctant Writer

Even as I sit down to write there is a part of me that isn’t willing. The internal voice childishly says “I don’t wanna, and you can’t make me”. Although, I feel really good when I write, I resist it. It’s almost as though I know I’ll be successful. I find every reason in the world why not to write. I say to myself, I really should be outside right now, I’ll get to it later, my computer isn’t set up, I have to give the dog a bath, wash the dishes, fold the clothes, I don’t want to type I want to write it long hand, I really need a laptop, I’m not that good anyway, what’s the point. Till everything spins around in my head and I finally sit on the couch watching another episode and Scrubs, eating Junior Mints.

There is however, an inner knowing inside of me that with its small still voice cries, “Don’t die with your music still in you”. So, I have now officially chosen to listen to that voice, to speak what is in my heart to speak and allow myself to make mistakes and learn from my own writing and the writings of others. I have devised a simple and strategic plan to get around the mind and trick myself into writing. This I say to myself “I know you don’t wanna, and yes, I will make you!”

The Acceptance Strategy

I will listen to the arguments of the mind in an objective way, remaining detached from its need to control or have me, the true me, conform to its will.

I will allow my mind to wonder, explore and become relaxed.

I will stay in a state of gratitude for the ability to be a writer (not a good, bad, ok or excellent writer, just a writer)

I will not attached labels to the work I have done or will do, I will use that presence and in the moment awareness to allow the writing to flow through me.

When I sit to write, I will allow the egoic mind to have its own place in the work, giving it what it needs, to be apart of the process. Until I am completely able to let go of the ego, I must make these little predetermined jobs for it to do. Otherwise, it will harass me to pay attention to it, instead of to the creative process. By adding the ego to the creative process I will incorporate its own unique qualities into the work.

An example of how the ego mind can help be apart of the Creative Process:

• You can determine how long you would like to spend on each piece; the ego can keep track of that.
• You can determine if a character uses egoic qualities such as jealousy, anger, worry or fear, and ask the ego what would be the best way for that to be demonstrated.
• Since the ego is like a child wanting only to avoid pain and allow in pleasure, it speaks to the pain and joys of the human condition. When writing fiction this is a very important job to maintain.
• It can keep track of all the characters and their functions so that as I write and get wrapped up in the excitement of the plot, the ego can remind me about my characters and what their goals and motivations are.
  

I know it is very difficult for me to maintain a regime of writing. People have suggested that I write a little everyday. That has been difficult for me to do in the past. I have just been introduced to the blogger site and I am choosing to use it to write as needed. This helps to get around the mind that says that I have to sit down, take time out of the day and write for long periods.

I will allow myself to feel my feelings and experience my emotions, whether they are considered good or bad, right or wrong.

I will incorporate my life into my stories to further accept and allow those experiences to move through me.

I will be willing to let go of anything that doesn’t serve me or the writing I was meant to create. This includes judgment, fear, fatigue, and blame.

I will search my heart and my feelings if I receive resistance from the ego or the mind when beginning my writing, in the middle or the end. I choose to see the truth in my creative process.

I will allow the creative process to take me over with rapture, allowing my heart to expand, my body to relax and my soul to open up.

When I don’t want to write, I will get the creative juices flowing with painting.

When I don’t want to paint, I will get the creative juices flowing with a walk.

When I don’t want to walk, I will get the creative juices flowing with an uplifting movie, eating a delicious meal, kayaking, going to a museum, or listening to a book on tape.

This is my plan for a beautiful journey of self discovery and acceptance of the truth that is in me to be the truth that comes from me and ultimately, from that creative force which moves us all.

Copyright 2008 Ashley Clark AKA Kyra Clark. All Rights Reserved.