Rewilding: Meditations, Practices, and Skills for Awakening in Nature

by Micah Mortali, Stephen Cope (Introduction)

Overview

Reconnect with your wild essence as you awaken your innate bond with the natural world

“Rewilding is a return to our essential nature. It is an attempt to reclaim something of what we were before we used words like ‘civilized’ to define ourselves.” —Micah Mortali

In his long-awaited book Rewilding, Kripalu director Micah Mortali brings together yoga, mindfulness, wilderness training, and ancestral skills to create a unique guide for reigniting your primal energy—your undomesticated true self—and deepening your connection with the living earth.

For hundreds of thousands of years, humans lived intimately with the earth. We were in the wild and of the wild. Today, we live mostly urban lives—and our vital wildness has gone dormant. As a result, we’re more isolated, unhealthy, anxious, and depressed than ever, and our planet has suffered alongside us.


With Rewilding, Mortali invites us to shed the effects of over-civilization and explore an inner wisdom that is primal, ancient, and profound. Whether you live in the middle of a city or alongside the woods, the insights and practices on these pages will bring you home to your wild, wise, and alive self.


Highlights include:
* Practice-rich content—mindfulness exercises, guided meditations, yoga and pranayama, inward sensing, forest bathing, and much more
* The “life-force deficit”—explore how our separation from nature affects us physiologically and spiritually
* Ancestral skills—such as tracking, foraging, building fires, and finding shelter
* Develop a sense of calm, clarity, connection, and confidence in both your daily life and the great outdoors
* What you can learn from nature’s teachers—lessons from mountains, rivers, trees, and our animal kin
* Rewild in the wild—guidelines around safety, preparedness, appropriate gear, and packing lists
* A mindful rewilding flow—put everything together in an immersive, step-by-step rewilding experience
* Awaken your authentic spiritual connection with the natural world as you come home to your true self
* Understand the relationship between our health and the health of our planet—and how we can begin to heal both

Part celebration of the natural world, part spiritual memoir, and part how-to guide, Rewilding is a must-read for anyone who wants to embrace their wild nature and essential place in the living earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683643258
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/03/2019
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	168,166
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Micah Mortali, MA, is the founder of the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership and director of the Kripalu Schools, housed at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, one of the largest and most established centers for yoga-based education in the world. An avid outdoorsman, Mindful Outdoor guide, 500-hour Kripalu yoga teacher, and popular meditation teacher, Mortali has been leading groups in wilderness and retreat settings for 20 years. He holds an MA in health arts and sciences from Goddard College.

Table of Contents

Foreword Stephen Cope ix

Introduction 1

1 Mindful Rewilding 7

Practice: Natural Mindfulness 27

2 Eyes of the Eagle: The Journey Inward Leads Us Outward 31

Practices: Centering 40

Nature Meditation 41

Witness in the Woods 43

Inner-Space and Outer-Space Meditation 50

BRFWA: Breathe, Relax, Feel, Watch, Allow 60

3 The Living Earth: Paths to Your Wildness 65

Practices: Interbeing 69

Reanimating 72

The Long Exhale 76

Giving Thanks 78

Noticing and Thanking 79

Guided Forest Bathing 93

4 Reclaiming Skills: Movement, Preparedness, Fire, and Shelter 103

Practices: Walking with Awareness 104

Meditation for Entering the Wild 118

Guided Smoke Meditation 121

Fire Meditation 128

Gratitude Meditation for Birthing Fire 134

5 Out of Exile: Skills for Coming Home to the Living Earth 143

Practice: Animal-Track Mandala Meditation 167

6 Putting It All Together: A Rewilding Flow 171

Practices: Guided Centering 181

Guided Breath 183

Gratitude 184

Warm-Up 1 Joint Rotations 186

Warm-Up 2 Mindful Push-Ups 189

Warm-Up 3 Sun Breaths 190

Fox Walk 195

Plant Connection 197

Engaging and Expanding the Senses 199

Observing the Earth 201

Acknowledgments 209

Notes 211

Resources 215

Bibliography 217

Index 221

About the Author 225

Editorial Reviews

09/30/2019

Mortali, director of the Kripalu Schools for yoga-based education, argues in this mystical work that connecting to nature has inherent benefits. “Rewilding is... a journey of self-realization,” Mortali writes, and “the practice of mindfulness is essential” to it. Mortali offers projects aimed at getting readers to get outside to “BRFWA”—breathe, relax, feel, watch, allow—the core methods of how he believes one can truly “awaken to nature”; included among them are walking meditations, listening exercises, and day hikes. However, some of the ideas he proposes, such as building and sleeping in a debris hut (“both a shelter and a sleeping bag in one”), may be more than some readers wish to take on. Mortali draws on personal experience, an eclectic mix of spiritual traditions (though primarily Buddhism), and modern research into the positive effects of exposure to natural environments (particularly its stress- and anxiety-reduction benefits) to make his case. While focused primarily on how the natural world benefits human beings, Mortali’s conclusion turns to how nature also fosters “dedicated care-takers” and “active ambassador for the more-than-human world.” Those looking to bring more intention or spiritual connection to their engagement with nature will enjoy this actionable guide. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Rewilding is a vital resource for restoring and deepening connections to the primal world with joy, wonder, and confidence." —Foreword Reviews

"Those looking to bring more intention or spiritual connection to their engagement with nature will enjoy this actionable guide." —Publishers Weekly

“Climb a tree, roll in the grass, wander in the woods. Rewilding is a reflection, an invitation, a poem, a reminder that reawakens our senses.” —Jack Kornfield, PhD, author of A Path with Heart

“Rewilding is packed with beautiful information and practices to take you straight to the beating heart of true enlightenment—a willingness to be with Nature as it is, as our greatest teacher. Truly, Micah’s book represents the next generation of authentic spiritual inquiry—a space where the wildness of communion with Nature can coexist with the etheric realms of our human heart. This book is a great gift to anyone interested in a transformational journey that brings us down into the roots of who we are and where we come from. I can’t wait to start reclaiming my ancient skills.” —Katie Silcox, New York Times bestselling author of Healthy Happy Sexy: Ayurveda Wisdom for Modern Women

“Rewilding addresses perhaps one of the most urgent issues of our time—a global nature deficiency disorder that is linked to a host of health concerns, including imbalances found in Nobel Prize-winning science on our circadian rhythms. This is must-read!” —John Douillard, DC, CAP, bestselling author and founder of LifeSpa.com

“Rewilding reads as easily as a mountain stream—go ahead, open any page and notice how you feel.” —Gordon Hempton, author of One Square Inch of Silence and founding partner of Quiet Parks International

“With tenderness and insight, Micah Mortali leads us in ways to reconnect with our living earth. Rewilding is an essential first step to restoring our souls—so we can, in turn, restore our sweet, green, broken world before it’s too late.” —Sy Montgomery, author of the New York Times bestseller How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals

“Through this inspiring and insightful book, Micah Mortali reminds us of the importance of connecting to the earth and the surrounding environment as a teacher of deep meditative wisdom, as well as for health and well-being. The reader is invited to re-discover that they are part of the cycles and dynamism of life. This recognition of our inherent relationship to the world is particularly relevant today as we have begun to learn both the adverse health effects of isolation and the healing benefit of connection—particularly to our environment.” —Marlysa Sullivan, PT, C-IAYT, assistant professor, Maryland University of Integrative Health

From the Publisher

11/15/2019

According to Mortali (founder, Kripalu Sch. of Mindful Outdoor Leadership), both individuals and the planet itself will benefit if people can connect with their wild primal energy and awaken their innate bonds with nature. The author presents recipes for doing this through an array of meditations (e.g., guided smoke meditation, fire meditation, and entering the wild meditation), in addition to simpler practices such as walking with awareness and giving thanks. Mortali harkens back to Henry David Thoreau and his search for meaning in the human experience, similarly finding it in nature.

VERDICT A helpful resource for anyone looking to activate their primal self. Also an excellent companion to Gary Ferguson's The Eight Master Lessons of Nature.—Deborah Bigelow, Director Emerita, Leonia P.L., NJ

Library Journal