Spirituality
Environment & Nature
Our Spiritual Connection to the Natural World
Environmental organisations, websites, theatres, festivals, campaigns and publications.
Want to get closer to nature? Learn about our environment and how to protect it? Perhaps you're interested in foraging, wild-swimming and other nature-based activities?
"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the centre of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this centre is really everywhere, it is within each of us."
– Black Elk (Revolution of Consciousness)
Spirituality & Nature
Bushcraft, Hiking, Foraging, Grounding, Wild-swimming...
Time spent in nature increases our connection to spirituality and can improve our mental health. If you want more meaning and peace in your life, heading to a local park or getting out of the city into a beautiful green space is a good place to start. For a longer stint in nature, volunteering for a project working on the land restores the soul. Here are some links to charities, organisations, and projects that can support connection to nature, wellbeing and spirituality.
Backpackerverse If you want to start hiking and camping but you're not sure where to start, Backpackerverse has some good tips. The Children’s Foundation The Children’s Foundation therapeutic horticulture project offers groups of young people with ASD or learning difficulties and complex needs the chance to undertake a qualification in practical horticulture. Ecosystem Restoration Camps One of the best ways to tackle climate change is to restore degraded soil. Ecosystem Restoration Camps is a grassroots movement to restore soil using permaculture principles with volunteering opportunities. Groundwork Groundwork offers social and therapeutic horticulture for people with a range of disabilities, dementia, mental health and behavioural conditions and those in need of rehabilitation to transform their lives for the better. The Nurture Project The Nurture Project is a therapeutic garden project supporting adults living with mild to moderate mental health issues. Quiet Garden Movement Find a quiet garden anywhere around the world. Seeds of Hope Children's Garden A garden in Guildford to help children explore feelings of loss. Thrive Thrive uses gardening to bring about positive changes in the lives of people living with disabilities or ill health, or are isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable. The Wildlife Trust The Wildlife Trust is a grassroots movement that believes we need nature and it needs us, with volunteering opportunities. WWOOF World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms is a network of thousands of farms across the world where volunteers can work in exchange for food and board. Youth Hostel Association (YHA) Youth Hostels are an affordable place to stay to access beautiful natural sights in the UK and all over the world. The YHA in the UK also offers information about camping sites.
Environmental Books & Publications
Environment, Ethics & Morality
We've collated what we think are some of the best books on the environment and the many subcategories within! Whether it's a new field or well-trodden ground, we'll have something here for you.
Books on Spirituality, Religion & Ecopsychology
Environmental Charities & Organisations
Looking to donate to a great cause?
Here you'll find the very best UK environmental charities.
Environmental Campaigns & Theatre
Had enough of watching from the sofa and fancy getting involved? Here's a list of ongoing environmental campaigns & Theatre groups.
Don't see your favourite group?
Please let us know and we'll get that remedied right away!
They'll update often as they come and go, so please forgive me for any broken links!
Quotes on the Environment & Nature
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
"To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring – these are some of the rewards of the simple life."
John Burroughs
Thomas Berry
"We lose our souls if we lose the experience of the forest, the butterflies, the song of the birds, if we can’t see the stars at night."
John Muir
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.
"The earth has music for those who listen."
George Santayana
Miles Neale
- Gradual Awakening
“One day we will feel the great winds and sky in all directions as our own breath; the streams, rivers, and oceans as our own veins, arteries, and blood; the natural habitats and continents as our own organs and body; and all sentient creatures and beings as our very own limbs. We will recognize the world is within us, and we are the world. With this recognition, having turned our hearts inside out, we will naturally work for the benefit of others and the planet"
Eleanora Duse
John Lubbock
Earth and Sky, Woods and Fields, Lakes and Rivers, the Mountain and the Sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.
We all need to look into the dark side of our nature - that's where the energy is, the passion. People are afraid of that because it holds pieces of us we're busy denying.
Sue Grafton
Mother Teresa
God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.
If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
Unsorted
"I too have a mystical faith in Nature. Not only is nature a miracle maker, nature also has the capacity to stun us out of our short-sighted, self-serving ways and open us up to the larger collective - the Earth community, which we are a part of. A miracle might well be needed to save the preciousness of the Cenezoic era but I wouldn't put it past Mother Nature to pull off such a feat. Every day babies are born, life evolves in daring and creative ways, who knows.
Perhaps as the poet Rilke says:
If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees."
- Ruth Rosenhek http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/
"I believe children have a right to be in their communities and play on the streets safely. When people walk in the streets they see what is going on, they connect with their environment, the earth, and with their community….after more than 500 square metres of our mosaic have covered the worst eyesores of our town and 10,000 people have taken part we can be proud of our environment. The biggest bonus is not the amazing artwork, (which has won awards) but the connection that ordinary citizens have to their town, their environment. It has made them feel proud, confident and connected."
- Bernadette Valley (Save The World Club, Kingston, London)
"King Arthur is a Druid and spends a lot of time at Stonehenge in Somerset. To him, spiritual beliefs are a natural way of life. He lives as a part of nature as opposed to being ‘apart’ from nature and believes that we are all part of the cosmos and all have our part to play. It is a matter of being 'in tune' with that which is infinite, the very earth we live on and the universe that surrounds us.
He also believes that we all have the need to feel a part of something, and find our place within the greater system. He says: ‘All of a sudden when I was least expecting it, I realised that actually I had a place in the greater scheme of things. It came as a flash of inspiration. I realised that I was not alone on the path and also that maybe I had been here before and would come back again’ - Being Part of Nature: The Spiritual Beliefs of King Arthur Pendragon of Stonehenge.
"Unless we can have a kind of a spiritual revolution, then those changes that we put in place at the institutional level will not be binding. We need a total revolution, a complete revolution that's both inner and outer. If we don't deal with the inner shadow basically, then we're going to project it out into the world and so we need to do our own psychological work of transforming ourselves to recognize and befriend our own shadow side so that we're not continually reflecting it and needing it to manifest in somebody else who we want to see as the enemy. If there's a war inside going on, then we're going to see a war outside."
- Matthew Fox (Speaking in the film ‘Earth Spirit Action’ on YouTube - www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6jCpChUxOw)
