The Power Of The Creative Cycle II: Attuning To The More Than Human World

Nature speaks to each of us in a unique and special voice meaningful only to us. Some of us are naturally more attuned to this voice; often it is because our upbringing, life experiences, or the environments we grew up in gave us a head start in learning how to recognise it. Like learning to walk, cycle, or speak a foreign language, however, listening is a skill that can be developed whether one is a complete novice or already fairly experienced.

Over the years, the more-than-human world has been one of my greatest teachers. Through accompanying rivers, forests, mountains, and the communities and ecosystems that surround them, I began to discover that listening is about more than simply observing nature. It is about coming into relationship with a wider living world of which we are already a part. A world composed of countless visible and invisible relationships between people, places, seasons, landscapes, plants, animals, weather, and water.

Outlined within this course are concepts, skills, and accompanying practices for anyone who wishes to deepen their capacity to listen and come into relationship with this wider living world. Through the intimate and profound process of learning to listen, accompany, and resonate with the more-than-human world, you will cultivate a deeper sense of belonging, tap into an ongoing source of spiritual renewal and inspiration, and discover new ways of participating in the places and communities that sustain you.

Lección 1: Preparing For Your Journey

Discover a little story about the inspiration behind this course, then be guided through self-reflection questions that will help you clarify and set your intentions before you begin your journey to connect with the more-than-human world.

Lección 2: Practices For The 3 Levels Of Existence: Attunement, Accompaniment, Allowing

Welcome back. In Part I of this course, you learn about the concept of the three levels of existence, 天地人 Heaven, Earth, and Human, associated with the 3 丹田 dantian, elixir fields, or energy centers within one’s body.
Today, we revisit this concept and learn three corresponding principles and practices, Attunement, Accompaniment, and Allowing, that will support you to deepen your relationship with each of them.

Lección 3: Earth: Listening To - Attunement Practice

Today, we will explore a somatic practice for the level of Earth: attuning to yourself through gentle movement and your breath. I will guide you to tune the instrument of your body using the visualisation of a cellist tuning their cello, starting with stillness in silence, then moving into gentle micromovements, tuning to sound, and finally with an invitation to stay in stillness or expand into freeform movement along to Illuminated by the Sun, an original cello piece by Auri Foda. This practice is open to everyone, whether you are a seasoned musician, occasionally play music, or have never played an instrument before.

Lección 4: Humanity: Accompaniment

From the level of Earth, we progress to the level of Human, the bridge between Heaven and Earth. Today we will explore the level of Humanity and the theory behind its corresponding practice: Accompaniment and how it manifests in music, rowing, everyday life, and in nature.

Lección 5: Humanity: Listening With The Po

Today’s embodied practice for the level of Humanity is centered on the practice of listening with, rather than listening to, the more-than-human: the Po River, the longest river that flows from the Cottian Alps towards the Adriatic Sea.

Lección 6: Heaven: Resonance

Explore the level of Heaven, and the theory behind its corresponding practice: Resonance, exploring it across various lenses from Western science to personal psychology to traditional Chinese medicine philosophy and music.

Lección 7: Heaven: Listening Beyond The Po

Explore the practice of Listening Beyond that allows resonance to arise, a practice of negative effort as you receive and resonate with the sounds recorded beside the Po River, within a living landscape and community that has been one of my greatest teachers.