Presents a guide to developing a deeper awareness of nature that includes transformative exercises and quotations from naturalists, arranged as a monthly diary centered around a specific theme.
In this far-ranging and heartening collection, Derrick Jensen gathers conversations with environmentalists, theologians, Native Americans, psychologists, and feminists, engaging some of our best minds in an exploration of more peaceful ways to live on Earth. Included here is Dave Foreman on biodiversity, Matthew Fox on Christianity and nature, Jerry Mander on technology, and Terry Tempest Williams on an erotic connection to the land. With intelligence and compassion, Listening to the Land moves from a look at the condition of the environment and the health of our spirit to a beautiful evocation of eros and a life based on love.
Listening to British Nature: Wartime, Radio, and Modern Life, 1914-1945 traces the impact of sounds and rhythm of the natural world and how they were listened, interpreted, and used amid the pressures of modern life to in early twentieth-century Britain. Author Michael Guida argues thatdespite and sometimes because of the chaos of wartime and the struggle to recover, nature's voices were drawn close to provide everyday security, sustenance and a sense of the future. Nature's sonic presences were not obliterated by the noise of war, the advent of radio broadcasting and the rush ofthe everyday, rather they came to complement and provide alternatives to modern modes of living.Listening to British Nature examines how trench warfare demanded the creation of new listening cultures in order to understand danger and to imagine survival. It tells of the therapeutic communities who used quiet and rural rhythms to restore shell-shocked soldiers and of ramblers who sought toimmerse themselves in the sensualities of the outdoors, revealing how home-front listening in the Blitz was punctuated by birdsong broadcast by the BBC. In focusing on the sensing of sounds and rhythms, this study demonstrates how nature retained its emotional potency as the pace andunpredictabilities of life seemed to increase and new man-made sounds and sonic media appeared all around. To listen to nature during this time was to cultivate an intimate connection with its vibrations and to sense an enduring order and beauty that could be taken into the future.
With a lot of practice, a young boy learns from his old teacher how to listen to the sounds and songs of the natural world. When you know “the other way to listen,” you can hear the wild-flower seed bursting open. You hear rocks murmuring and hills singing, and it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Of course, it takes a lot of practice, and you can’t be in a hurry. Most people never hear these things at all. This is the story of an old man who had a special way of hearing and of a child who hoped to learn his secrets. Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall have combined their unique, award-winning talents to celebrate the world of nature.
Listening After Nature examines the constructions and erasures that haunt field recording practice and discourse. Analyzing archival and contemporary soundworks through a combination of post-colonial, ecological and sound studies scholarship, Mark Peter Wright recodes the Field; troubles conceptions of Nature; expands site-specificity; and unearths hidden technocultures. What exists beyond the signal? How is agency performed and negotiated between humans and nonhumans? What exactly is a field recording and what are its pedagogical potentials? These questions are operated by a methodology of listening that incorporates the spaces of audition, as well as Wright's own practice-based reflections. In doing so, Listening After Nature posits a range of novel interventions. One example is the “Noisy-Nonself,” a conceptual figuration with which to comprehend the presence of reticent recordists. “Contact Zones and Elsewhere Fields” offers another unique contribution by reimagining the relationship between the field and studio. In the final chapter, Wright explores the microphone by tracing its critical and creative connections to natural resource extraction and contemporary practice. Listening After Nature auditions water and waste, infrastructures and animals, technologies and recordists, data and stars. It grapples with the thresholds of sensory perception and anchors itself to the question: what am I not hearing? In doing so, it challenges Western universalisms that code the field whilst offering vibrant practice-based possibilities.
Unplug from technology and "plug in" to nature through the wonder of your senses. The Book of Nature Connection is packed with fun activities for using all our senses to engage with nature in a deep and nourishing way. From "extenda-ears" and acorn whistles to bird calls, camouflage games, and scent scavenger hunts, enjoy over 70 diverse, engaging, sensory activities for all ages that promote mindfulness and nature connection. With activities grouped by the main senses – hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste – plus sensory walks and group games, The Book of Nature Connection is both a powerful learning tool kit and the cure for sensory anesthesia brought on by screen time and lives lived indoors. Whisper in birds, be dazzled by nature's kaleidoscope of colors, taste the freshness of each season, learn to savor the scented world of evergreens, hug a tree and feel the bark against your cheek. Spending time in nature with all senses tuned and primed helps us feel like we belong to the natural world – and in belonging, we come to feel more connected, nourished, and alive. Ideal for educators, camp and youth leaders, caregivers and parents, and anyone looking to reconnect and become a nature sommelier! AWARDS GOLD | 2023 Nautilus Book Awards | Special Honors: Educational Guidebooks SILVER | 2023 IPPY Awards: Nature SILVER | 35th IBPA Benjamin Franklin Book Awards: Nature & Environment
"Highly informative and remarkably entertaining." —Elle From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.
Michael Roads had always been close to nature, but when a river started talking to him, he began to doubt his sanity. A series of encounters with the natural world followed, and Roads began to listen and let go. He found himself led stage by stage to a final wisdom, remarkable in its simplicity and in its message of hope for humanity. This book, a bind-up of his two best-known works, beautifully articulates that message.