Personal <-> Planetary Health...

Andy Gonzales, along with Ali and Atman Smith, started the Holistic Life Foundation in Baltimore where they work with inner city children, taking them out into nature. We featured their work in Mother Nature’s Child. Andy, Atman and Ali also teach the kids yoga! Here’s what Andy has to say to the children about...

Dirt Time...

While researching and producing Mother Nature’s Child, I realized it would be a good idea to examine my own relationship to nature. In the fall of 2008, I attended a “Spirit and Nature” retreat at Shelburne Farms, a stunningly beautiful outdoor education center on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain. Over the course of five days and nights, we explored our connection to the natural world on many levels. Through a surprising range of exercises and experiences, four remarkable mentors introduced us to the natural history of the land where we were staying,...

Jon Young: Information only?...

Jon Young mentors children (and adults) as they connect with nature. (Read his book about mentoring, Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature). In our interview, he spoke about the difference between insisting that a child acquire “information” about the natural world and allowing their innate curiosity to guide them. Their own desire to investigate playfully forges a deep connection to nature — and information is automatically part of that process. The result is a child eager and excited to learn more. Time in nature creates a sparkle – you...

Brother Yusuf: Nature’s Effect on ...

Brother Yusuf Burgess has been working with inner city youth for decades. He’s seen children so addicted to video games they no longer even speak to each other  - “it’s them and their machine”. But, through an amazing number of programs he leads to connect inner city kids with the natural world, Brother Yusuf observes a marked change in their mode of attention. Time in front of computer and TV screens tends to promote passivity. But when he takes them out for adventures on land or water, kids become alert and open. Listen to him describe this...

Bird Notecards from MNC...

For the “Deep Questions” chapter of Mother Nature’s Child, we commissioned four paintings from artist Amelia Bethke to illustrate a story told by tracker/naturalist Jon Young. The paintings are so beautiful that we had them made into notecards! They come in packages of 8, two each of the four images. Most have now been sold, but we have ten left and are offering them for $12/pack plus $3 postage. Email us if you are interested!...