Storytelling is an important part of children’s play in nature because stories help children understand their outdoor experiences. Adults can learn from children’s stories and can encourage their storytelling by helping them observe closely, and by telling stories to and with them. What is a story? And why do we tell them? First of all—stories […]
Imagine a wonderful story you’ve been told. Where were you? What was the place like? Who were you with? Was it night or day? By a fire? How did you feel when you were hearing it? And now consider…what did the storyteller do that drew you in and captured your imagination? These are elements to […]
Look straight ahead and imagine that your eyeballs cannot move, like the owl’s eyes. Sitting absolutely still in its tree perch, the owl stares and sees 180 degrees in all directions. It puts its mind on “off” and just gazes. This patient expectant open gaze is the way to look at the sky when you […]
Figurine frogs. They lined my shelves in my tiny New York City apartment. Those plastic and ceramic friends were my heart’s delight. Nature finds a way to flourish in the human heart, especially in the imaginations of five-year-old urbanites. It’s no surprise that as a young mother of three, I would eventually find myself on […]
I didn’t want to come to Wilderness Awareness School. Rain. Grey. A survival trip that required me to find my own food for a week. I was happy living in sunny California and originally told my partner he could go without me and just tell me all about it on weekly phone calls. Now, here […]
For my professional career, I travel the country and count birds for a living. In my personal life, I am a recovering addict and active participant in my 12-step program, guiding others on their own journey toward addiction recovery. My time at The Immersion has not only deepened my connection with nature and improved my […]
The past 9 months at The Immersion has been quite a plethora of new experiences, adventures, crafting, external and internal explorations, and the fortification of our connections with the earth, the natural world around us, ourselves, and each other. This Immersion year has been nothing at all of what I expected, and at the same […]
Hi, my name is Brian Mertins and I love Wilderness Awareness School. A few years ago I left my life on the east coast of Canada and traveled all the way across the continent to live in Duvall, Washington where I participated in The Immersion at Wilderness Awareness School and the Nature Instructor Training program. […]
At Wilderness Awareness School, the art of questioning is one of the most basic—and profound—learning tools that we utilize. Questioning is one of the ways that we can drive our senses to become more deeply involved in what we are experiencing. It can bring us into the moment in a dynamic way and help us […]