Nature journaling to liberate your mind
Description
This outdoor workshop will explore how practical nature journaling exercises seem to activate the right side of the brain.
The extensive, evidence-based work of Iain McGilchrist suggests that part of our brain (the left side) seems to be suppressing and silencing the other part (the right side). This domination by the left side of the brain appears to underlie the unhappiness of many people. It also seems to be shaping a world that’s becoming harder and harder to live in, where nature is destroyed, degraded and pushed to the periphery of our lives.1
I define ‘nature journaling’ as ‘drawing and writing in response to nature’. When done in a certain way, nature journaling seems to liberate the right side of the brain and allow both sides of our brain to reintegrate – to work together. The outcome of this integration is kindness and compassion.2 When both sides of the brain work together, we also get a far truer understanding of the world, and are less prone to delusions, depression, anxiety, and greed.
Nature journaling – as I teach it - is not just about spending more time in nature: the way you attend to nature, yourself and the people around you is vitally important. Because the way you attend to the world will create the world that you encounter.3 The way you attend to the world will also have a particular effect on the world.
This session invites you to try a range of activities to help you to attend to the world in a certain way that seems to liberate the right side of your brain. Performing these activities outdoors, in nature, seems to be a very important and powerful part of the process. I will also discuss important aspects of teaching and framing these activities. Group discussion and participant feedback will be a welcome and valuable part of the session. I also encourage research into this topic and am open to research and other collaborations.
1. McGilchrist, I (2019) The Master and his emissary. Yale University Press. Also see https://channelmcgilchrist.com/
2. Siegel quoted in Tweedy (2020) Integrating The Hemispheres: The Divided Brain And Mental Health. https://channelmcgilchrist.com/integrating-the-hemispheres-the-divided-brain-and-mental-health/
3. McGilchrist, I (2021) The Matter with Things. Perspectiva Press, London.
Paula Peeters
Ecologist, Artist & Writer
Dr Paula Peeters is an ecologist, artist and writer based in Beechmont, Queensland, who combines these skills to teach the practice of nature journaling, and regularly collaborates with a range of organisations to bring nature journaling workshops and lessons to a diverse audience.
Paula has been teaching nature journaling since 2016, and has created 3 books about nature journaling: 'Make a Date with Nature – An Introduction to Nature journaling' (2016); 'Take this Book for a Walk: A step-by-step guide to nature journaling' (2020) and 'A walk in the mountain forests: My nature journal of Binna Burra, Beechmont and beyond' (2023). Paula is particularly interested in the state of mind that can be encouraged by the practice of nature journaling, and the flow-on health benefits for people and the planet.
Paula is also the illustrator of five colouring books about threatened species and ecosystems. Paula’s website and blog www.paperbarkwriter.com (established in 2015) is archived annually by the State Library of Queensland.