[ January/February 2003 ]

Finding Ourselves in Nature

Reviews by Dawn Brunke

Earthwalks for Body and Spirit ~
Exercises to Restore Our Sacred Bond with the Earth
By James Endredy (Bear & Company, 2002, $14 ~ see www.jamesendredy.com)

Making Magic with Gaia ~
Practices to Heal Ourselves And Our Planet
By Francesca Ciancimino Howell (Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002, $16.95 ~ see www.magicwithgaia.com)

The Circle of Healing ~
Deepening Our Connections with Self, Others, and Nature
By Cathy Holt (Talking Birds Press, 2000, $14.95 ~ see www.TalkingBirdsPress.com)

These three insightful books are all about nature, the planet and ourselves. They are connected not only in subject matter, however, for each is well written, interesting and full of the author’s passion and desire to help readers develop a deeper sense of authenticity and restore a deeper sense of connection between ourselves and the world. Each book, in its own way, is about opening wider in perspective and consciousness, allowing the natural world to become our guide, our teacher, our healer.

James Endredy, who leads workshops and is involved in preserving indigenous cultures and traditional sacred sites, notes that walking is “an endless school of mysteries and magic…the truest form of movement that we have been given.” His book, Earthwalks, focuses on 45 simple walking exercises, all designed to bring about personal transformation via quieting the mind and opening the senses, developing attention and expanding consciousness so as to rediscover a more genuine relationship with the earth.

Endredy shares walks for groups and individuals; walks designed to connect with the powers of the earth, animals, trees and places of power; and walks of offering and vision. While presenting basic instructions and comments on each practice, he also offers the sage advice that while these exercises are a guide or plan, in the end we need not get hung up on words or rules. Rather, use them, he suggests “to jump into the experience, and from there the need for words becomes much less important.”

Endredy includes his own insights and stories, many of which describe how a various walk was “born,” such as walk number 17, Cure for Loneliness. While some walks have a general theme, others have specific tasks, some being much more difficult that you would at first think (one of the early walks, in which you must see and acknowledge three things with each step was a real challenge for me). While many of these walks are of his own design, Endredy also draws upon techniques he has learned from others and from his work with the Huichol Indians in western Mexico.

Cathy Holt, author of The Circle of Healing, is a holistic health educator and environmental activist who leads workshops designed to help others learn “how to let nature heal.” Even with her three decades plus of experience, she is a gracious and encouraging writer. As a society, we all too often compare ourselves to others, thinking we are somehow less. As Holt shares at her web site, “It was a great relief to realize that, even though I often overeat and underbreathe, I still have something to offer. Part of my personal song to sing is the sigh of relief!”

Holt’s book focuses particularly on developing communication skills. She urges us to identify how we really feel (not just how we think we feel), to listen to the variety of our inner selves, to acknowledge all aspects of ourselves, and to move forward to a larger, bigger, wider way of seeing not only ourselves but others and our planet. In all cases, healing is not something that is done to us, but something that moves through us. Quite often the first step to deep healing is silencing our mind chatter and listening to the wisdom our body wants to share. Indeed, how can we expect to really hear others when we do not even listen to the warnings and hints our bodies offer us so freely so much of the time?

Holt offers a variety of stories, exercises, and reassurances. She asks her reader some great questions as she shares her ideas and even some haikus designed to remind us of the wonder that can be found in every situation:

Francesca Ciancimino Howell’s book has a different slant. As one reviewer summed it up, it’s a bit of “Wicca meets deep ecology.” Like Holt, Howell is also an activist, as well as a former actress, teacher, counselor and performer of rituals and stage events.

Making Magic with Gaia includes a collection of 24 meditations, visualizations and explorations that range from creating sacred spaces and discovering portals in nature to shapeshifting voyages, trance work, shamanistic journeys and meetings with Elemental rulers. Although there is a definite Wiccan tone to the book, one certainly need not be Wiccan to appreciate and benefit from the many diverse and exciting bits of information Howell summons forth. In sharing her own adventures and insights as a mother, explorer and artist, Howell also speaks to the larger Gaia (earth) based family.

Along with Holt and Endredy, Howell encourages her readers to really feel nature, not simply talk about it, but truly move into a deeper place of being and relationship with the world. As we balance our bodies, minds and spirits, we balance our environment and the earth herself. We move together as each of us opens to a larger view of who we are and why we are here.