University Professors Press is pleased to announce the publication of A Walk with Nature: Poetic Encounters that Nourish the Soul by Michael Moats, Derrick Sebree, Jr., Gina Subia Belton, and Louis Hoffman. A Walk with Nature is part of the Poetry, Healing, and Growth Series. The book features award-winning poets, therapists, educators, and others who believe in the power of nature. This collection of poems and activities was designed to help individuals use creative encounters with nature to promote psychological well-being.
Description
A Walk with Nature is a powerful collection of individual experiences that stand witness to the openness and wisdom of nature speaking through poetic reflections. There is pain, isolation, healing, connection, uncertainty, and hope. As intertwined as the voices are, so is our relationship with nature. This anthology encompasses many varied experiences and provides guides to a number of experiential exercises designed to support the reader in engaging with nature on a deeper, transformative level. The poems are accessible and healing. The range of poets featured in A Walk with Nature includes award-winning poets, therapists, educators, and others drawn to the power of nature. Take a walk with these gifted poets, reconnecting to your roots and returning to a place of interconnectedness, growth, and healing.
Reviews
A Walk with Nature is a marvelous addition to the genre of nature poetry. As it promises in the title, it does indeed nourish the soul and, even more, links the reader with the natural world in a way that few resources do. After reading this splendid volume, I immediately went on a nature walk in search of the peak experiences I felt while diving into the nourishing poetry that is its gift to all of us. I recommend A Walk with Nature wholeheartedly to all who wish to connect and reconnect with the animating force of nature. It is truly a treasure.
Charles Garfield, PhD, Clinical Professor of Psychology for 40 years at UCSF Medical School Author of Life’s Last Gift: Giving and Receiving Peace When A Loved One Is Dying
Psychotherapists listen and help people who come to them to talk of their fears, hopes, dreams, and despair. I think of what we do as soul work. “Psyche” is a Greek word for “soul” and poetry is soulful. Here is a collection of poems chosen by psychologists who read and write poetry themselves and know when the psyche is speaking. Like music, only in words, a poem can express and in some way validate our own inarticulate feelings of being and belonging in nature and the universe.
Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, Jungian analyst, activist, (jeanbolen.com), Author of Goddesses in Everywoman, Close to the Bone, The Millionth Circle
While facts and figures are important for our understanding the natural world, poetry is the key that unlocks the gate and allows us to step into the living landscape of frogs, trees, stones and creeks. If language is our way of describing the world, poetry gives it life. I applaud those who conceived and compiled this book of poetry. It is another fresh breath offered to sustain this beautiful, breathing world.
Betsy Perluss, PhD, Wilderness Guide, School of Lost Borders
In reading this book you cannot help but encounter the objectivism of nature. Yes, it is beautiful. Yes, it should be explored. However, this misses the heart of what A Walk with Nature is about: an authentic relationship with nature. As an Arapahoe saying teaches, “All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.” This book guides you through encounters that offer a deeper connection with nature, one grounded in awe and reverie. At the end of this journey you may just know not only nature but yourself a bit better.
Trent Claypool, PsyD, Licensed Psychologist, Director of Sport and Mental Performance, Neurofeedback Colorado Springs