12 Steps To Inner Rewilding

How to break out of the industrialized and commodified mind (and world)

I recently wrote about the need for inner rewilding.

Basically, I believe it’s not only nature (or non-human ecosystems) that is losing its diversity and wildness at alarming rates; it’s humans, too! Our inner diversity is depleting and increasingly being replaced by an inner technosphere and an inner commodification.

To counteract this, we must actively do some inner rewilding! And perhaps, by rewilding ourselves, we’re much better prepared to rewild the Earth.

Today I want to briefly explore how we might practically do this by applying this 12-step nature rewilding guide by Rewilding Britain to the idea of inner rewilding. This is meant more as an idea- and conversation-starter than a full-blown how-to manual or so. See it as an opportunity to rethink your way of living! 😉

(Important disclaimer: This is not about solving any serious mental health issues. It’s, of course, difficult not to have mental health issues in a “mad world”, but please do consult with professionals if you actually suffer from severe mental health problems.)

Caspar David Friedrich

12 Steps to Inner Rewilding

“You didn’t evolve to live in this techno-industrialised world.“
Jessica Carew Kraft, author of Why We Need to Be Wild

1
Do Nothing For 12 Months

Yep, “do nothing” is the first step when it comes to rewilding. One key reason for doing that, in the context of rewilding land, is that nature simply works on different timescales to humans. So first, you really just want to take time and observe what happens.

While this might sound very simple, it’s actually quite difficult when it comes to inner rewilding. Because in order to really do nothing in today’s world, we gotta fully unplug and detach ourselves from all the stuff that depletes our inner diversity and wildness. For some, this might lead to going on a sabbatical or quitting a job; for others, it might mean deleting social media or “simply” adding daily do-nothing-rituals.

Ultimately it’s about creating an environment of stillness and about giving yourself time.

2
Gather Information About Your (Inner) Land

Okay, you actually also want to do something in the do-nothing phase. 🤪 You want to observe what’s happening on your land.

For inner rewilding, that means you want to observe what’s happening in your body and mind. You’re basically doing an inventory of your inner self that’s focused on observing inner diversity. For example: how well do I know myself, how connected am I with the things surrounding me (both people and nature), what’s my information and food diet, how in sync am I with the ecosystems around me, etc. Basically, it’s about observing the thoughts and feelings that arise when doing nothing.

There is this saying that all the answers to your questions are already inside you. You just need time and patience to listen to yourself. That’s kind of the idea here in step 2.

3
Get Expert Help And Advice

When rewilding land you’d go to ecologists or local conservation groups to get advice.

For inner rewilding, you wanna connect with people who help other people to inner rewild and with those who are already “inner rewilded” (e.g. people who are extremely creative, who live without internet, who successfully broke out of the rat race, who fully re-connected to nature, indigenous wisdom, etc.).

I personally think it’s very important that this comes after step 2, i.e. doing this after doing your own observations.

4
Look At What’s Next To You and Near You

Connectivity is essential in nature. If you are rewilding land, you want to know what’s next to your land, what neighbors are doing there, etc.

For inner rewilding, this means connecting with the people and systems around you. Maybe you’ll find people who are on a similar path or are eager to join you; maybe you’ll find organizations, places, or activities that already align well with the concept of inner rewilding that you didn’t really know of before.

5
Develop A Plan

Rewilding is not about having an end-goal in mind; it’s about helping nature do its thing. So, you want to determine and plan the interventions that will help you restore the missing ecosystem processes within yourself and thereby kick-start inner rewilding.

An analogy: Just as you pick certain furniture to increase the comfort in your home, think of the interventions that will nourish your inner diversity processes.

6
Think Natural Processes

When rewilding land, you wanna understand all the diverse natural processes and ecosystems that exist on your land.

For inner rewilding, that means you need to do some research on inner natural processes. What’s really naturally human? What processes nourish humaneness? Basically, what’s the inner equivalent to how a tree grows healthy and regenerates, how a natural river flows, or how soil becomes more nutritious?

7
Mimic Natural Processes

Rewilding is all about letting nature drive its own recovery. However, when it comes to rewilding land, we’re already at a stage where often certain species with important ecosystem roles no longer exist (e.g. large herbivores and predators), and we therefore have to find ways to mimic their role.

Applying this to inner rewilding, one could, for example, say that we humans aren’t moving as much as our early ancestors did, so I do have to mimic that role by going out for a walk or a run every day.

The more I think about this step, the more I actually realize that mimicking natural human processes is one of the trendiest things out there right now: ice baths, running, clean eating, nature retreats or glamping, houseplants, meditation, sleep optimization, fasting, digital nomadism, barefoot shoes, no internet cafes, homesteading etc. It’s all about going back to or rather mimicking how humans lived ten or hundreds of thousands of years ago.

8
Encourage The Return of Native Species

When rewilding land, one will discover how native species (e.g. birds) are suddenly returning. In some cases, it might also make sense to pro-actively reintroduce native species to the land (e.g., beavers).

For inner wilding, this means being conscious about the new inner wildness that’s slowly re-building. Maybe you’ll even have others (your friends and family) noticing you being different.

One could, however, also pro-actively reintroduce some “inner native species”, for example, by starting a creative hobby like painting or playing music (just for the sake of practicing creativity again) or planting a garden and therefore producing your own food. Or maybe it’s simply about reading an actual physical book or newspaper instead of reading on a screen (but please don’t unsubscribe to my newsletter 😅).

9
Embrace The Unexpected

Rewilding UK says that “Rewilding is about helping nature to work on its own terms. It’s a journey of learning and unlearning, of embracing change and surprise, of delight and sometimes disappointment. […] Rewilding embraces the complexity of nature so don’t be afraid of change, and do be prepared to adapt your thinking over time.”

For inner rewilding, this means embracing uncertainty. Our current world is extremely addicted to uncertainty absorption. But complex systems have uncertainty baked into them; it’s also what makes life interesting (I know, a cheesy saying, but it’s true). So embrace (sometimes even very radical) changes that might happen in this process of inner rewilding. Again, focus on (or rather enjoy) the journey and not the outcome.

10
Measuring And Monitoring

We’ve lost a lot of knowledge about rewilding, both when it comes to rewilding land and inner rewilding. It’s therefore important to take notes on what’s happening, on insights you get while going through this process.

And I’d add that it’s important to focus on non-conventional data, on warm data, on body signals, and on resonance. I have an overview of alternative KPIs in my report Alternative Prosperity that might come in handy for this step.

11
Collaborate And Connect

The more land gets rewilded, the easier it is to start rewilding new land.

Inner rewilding in a world that’s so stuck in this vicious cycle of destruction, monoculturing, and commodification is quite difficult and punk. It gets much easier if more do it and if more spaces are created that are conducive to inner rewilding. So connect, collaborate, and expand the movement because that will only make it easier for the next people to join you.

12
Engage And Communicate

More and more people are aware of nature’s alarming rates of biodiversity loss. They know that in today’s world, it’s almost impossible to find truly wild nature. But not so many think the same about inner diversity. Not many see that it’s not only nature but also humanity itself that loses its wildness, its humaneness. We are, evidently, entangled with and part of nature.

So, this last point is simply about spreading the word. (And yes, this is also the moment in which I urge you to share this article and/or my newsletter! Spread the word people! 😉)

When you talk about your inner rewilding journey, others hear about it, might get interested (“I’ve never thought about it this way, but this makes sense”) and inspired (“wait, you can do that?”), and consequently follow you.

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So this is it! 12 steps to inner rewilding!

I hope this inspires some new thoughts and ideas, and maybe even actions!?!

Enjoy your weekend, and see you next week on Wednesday for the weekly Rabbit Holes issue!

Thomas