[Full Length] Nature as Mentor: Wilderness Rites and TrackingWilderness Rites and Tracking — with Jon Young

Written By alexa firmenich

“The birds do not lie. They don't fabricate. They don't interpret. They express purely, and your nervous system nourishes from that like a vitamin.”

- Jon Young

 

SYNOPSIS:

**Season finale!** 

Jon Young brings us into the ancient practice of nature connection mentoring. He describes how mentoring is a virtually extinct craft, and yet occupies critical importance in building the sensory awareness and neurology of young children. We delve into his rich tales of living among the San bushmen of Southern Africa, the role of wildlife tracking and bird language, insights on building ropes with the universe, and a turkey called Pete.

For over 40 years, Jon young has been a deep nature connection mentor, wildlife tracker, peacemaker, author, workshop leader, and storyteller. A pioneer in the Western field of nature-based education, he co-founded the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington and the 8 Shields Institute in California. Jon has authored the seminal books What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World (2013), and Coyote's Guide to Connecting to Nature (2007). In 2016, he received the Champion of Environmental Education Award for his life’s work and for fostering the growth of the nature connection movement on a global level.

 

GUEST BIO:

For over 40 years, Jon young has been a deep nature connection mentor, wildlife tracker, peacemaker, author, workshop leader, and storyteller. A leader in the field of nature-based education, in the 1980s he co-founded the Wilderness Awareness School in Washington and later the 8 Shields Institute in California.

Jon has authored and co-authored several seminal works on deep nature connection and connection mentoring, including What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World (2013), and Coyote's Guide to Connecting to Nature (2007). In 2016, he received the Champion of Environmental Education Award for his life’s work and for fostering the growth of the nature connection movement on a global level.

QUOTES:

  • Every child is raised with the understanding that when they're out on the land, that information that they're gathering from the land, does not belong to them. It belongs to the village.

  • When we first make a relationship, there’s a thread that forms. The thread over time becomes a string, becomes a cord, becomes a rope. Imagine you had that bond with all things all around you. The bushmen say the ropes are made of love. And I think that's really what it is.

  • When you're working with an adult, you can talk theory about nature connection all day, and it doesn't do a thing. The trickiest part is to get an adult to go back and relive the childhood they didn't get — because you can't skip that. There's primary nervous system relationships that form a neural network. It has an emergent property that you can’t fake.

  • The children that grow up with this mentoring model are wholesome. They are vital. They're very much themselves, full of spark and life and interest in things. They are empathetic. They have this extraordinary capacity to listen.

  • There's no such thing as disinformation or misinformation or even interpretation. What that black headed grosbeak is saying is pure. And it's true in the spirit of that bird. The birds do not lie. They don't fabricate. They don't interpret. They express purely, and your nervous system nourishes from that like a vitamin.

  • There's only two creations — first creation and second creation. First creation was here on the Earth, the stars, the sun and the moon before humans showed up. Second creation is anything that comes through a human mind — belief systems, tools, clothes. They say that all the troubles we experience as human beings come from second creation. Second creation plays tricks on us.

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[Full Length] Nature as Mentor: Wilderness Rites and Tracking — with Darren Silver