In this rain-tapping, fireside-style episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma explore the unexpected side effects of being a Forest School practitioner. Born from a moment of atmospheric pressure-drop telepathy, this conversation drifts through proprioception, weather instincts, sensitivity to group energy, and the profound (and often hilarious) personal changes that unfold after years of working outdoors with children.

From dodging skinny trousers in favour of squatting-friendly kit, to developing slug-on-head bravery and nettle-eating confidence, the pair share how the job rewires your senses, reshapes your social filters, and alters your wardrobe, immune system, and relationship with food. They unpack the “spidey senses” of vibe-checking group dynamics, balancing limits with intuition, and why truly knowing a child goes far beyond levels and curriculum. With side quests into tattoos, wildflower road rage, Wim Hof, and buried ferrets, this episode is an invitation to reflect on how you have changed since spending more time in the woods.

⏱ Chapter Timings:
00:15 – White noise, walnut gifts & dropping off to our voices
01:00 – Coyote Guide & mind-mapping woodland flora
02:00 – Whistles, ferns & observer bias
03:30 – Side effects of outdoor work: a practitioner’s body barometer
04:30 – Pressure-drop awareness & animal instincts
06:15 – Wind obsession & becoming a human weather app
07:00 – Childcare senses: vibe-checking & tension awareness
08:30 – High-energy days & predictive planning
09:50 – Intuition vs logic when setting boundaries
11:10 – Group dynamics & listening to “something’s off”
12:30 – Smiling less: reading the internal play state
13:30 – When stomping doesn’t mean sulking
14:05 – Appearances: picking up your child while looking like “a player”
15:30 – Functional fashion & outdoor uniforms
17:15 – Skinny trousers & the anti-squat epidemic
18:10 – Balancing beards, tattoos & approachability
19:30 – Scared of parents: overcoming adult anxiety
20:40 – Speaking to groups & growing confident CPD voices
21:55 – Phone phobia & generation-specific stress
22:15 – Dietary changes & eating like a guide
22:45 – From slug phobia to slug headwear
23:45 – Grasping nettles, literally & metaphorically
24:20 – Global awareness & feeling slightly "other"
25:00 – Five-square-mile richness & noticing locally
26:00 – Lewis’ Dorset grandad & buried guns (tangent alert!)
27:30 – Dead ferrets & local eccentricity
28:15 – Wildflower road rage & hedge-bank overload
29:00 – Deep knowledge of individuals beyond school stats
30:15 – Seeing children fully vs curriculum caricatures
31:45 – Being a person, not a curriculum machine
32:15 – Repetitive anti-school trauma bonding at gatherings
33:00 – Lighthouse not lifeboat: modelling, not fixing
34:00 – Forest School & immune system upgrades
35:00 – Embodied awareness: tired muscles, terrain memory
36:00 – Wim Hof, breathwork & reptilian brain talk
37:00 – Starving at 4pm: feast, famine & flapjack reflexes
38:10 – Upcoming: Forest School CPD and outdoor cooking day
39:50 – Rocket stoves, pizza ovens & gendered workshops
39:56 – Goodbye & rain-fuelled ramblings

🌲 Keywords: Forest School side effects, practitioner intuition, child-led limits, weather instincts, group energy, woodland fashion, outdoor eating, proprioception, immune system, feral anecdotes, forest school community

🔖 Hashtags:
#ForestSchool #ChildLedLearning #ReflectivePractice #NatureBasedLearning #ForestSchoolPodcast #OutdoorEducator #WeatherSense #WoodlandWardrobe #ImmuneBoostingPlay #CPD #ForestSchoolTraining #GroupDynamics #SlugOnHead #SpideySenseTeaching

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