Musings on the Magic of Moss

Last night I watched a great wee documentary all about the Magical World of Moss!

I’ve always been drawn to this lush, deep green organism and absolutely love the feeling of a spongy moss carpet underfoot.

I must have known intuitively that it was special stuff, but here are some hard facts I found out about it last night:

🦖 It’s known to be at least 450 million years old

🌡️ It can survive extreme temperatures from -40c up to 70c

🧟 It has evolved the ability to revive itself from apparent death e.g. after complete dehydration or even after being frozen for over a thousand

☢️ It is immune to radioactivity! Probably as it evolved when earth had no atmosphere and was blasted by rays from the sun

🌿 🪸🪸🪸🌿🌿It’s a little bit like earthly coral – it reproduces through spores rather than seeds, or through branching/cloning itself

💊 Some moss has antibacterial properties (I kind of knew this already but still, so cool!)

I always felt a need to get close to it and thought it was just my tactile sensibilities until now. Now I deduce my body secretly wanted to soak up some of the ancient wisdom it holds.

On a side note - the Japanese also revere moss and even cultivate it on sacred sites, carefully gardening it so it can flourish. So next time you think moss is a weed to be gotten rid of, I hope you remember some of these facts and show it a little love, Japan style.

This may have nothing to do with yoga, or perhaps everything. You see, yoga is not about becoming more flexible or physically fit, although that can be a by-product of a regular practice.

The word 'yoga' literally translates as 'union'. This can be interpreted in many ways: union of body, mind and soul or union of self with the universe. Yoga encourages us to delve deeper in to our true nature, and when you get a glimpse of that, you realise that nature is everything. Every being, every plant; from beautiful flower to what we call 'weeds', every one of these elements is just as awe-inspiring, purposeful and necessary to our existence. Every little thing in this world is unique and perfect and incredible!

That includes you.

Here endeth today’s lesson.

P.S this photo was taken by the amazing @claire_millar_photography as we spent the day frolicking about the woods. We walked past this wee mossy fairyland and just had to stop to take a photo there! It is one of my absolute favourites.

P.P.S. you can find The Magical World of Moss documentary on BBC iPlayer