I am excited and honored to announce the debut of the NATURE AM I website and podcast. This is the biggest undertaking of my life, and I need your help. I believe with all my heart that now more than ever, we must learn to tune into nature's wisdom and let nature guide us to a more peaceful, balanced, and sustainable way of life.

The COVID-19 outbreak that we are experiencing and witnessing together is the result of climate change, habitat destruction, and other human-caused imbalances. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the time of procrastination, denial, and half-measures is over. Humanity has entered the Age of Consequences. Our carelessness and disregard for nature as a species is taking its toll in ways that will only intensify over time. Now, more than ever, those of us who care about the future of humanity must take action. But where do we begin?

Whatever questions or problems we may have, nature has the answers. This has always been true. The Art of Inspiration that I have devoted my life to studying and exploring is all about quieting the mind so that we can listen to what nature has to teach us. After more than three decades, I came to an important discovery this year. My entire life's work and spiritual path can be summed up in three words: NATURE AM I.

This may seem simple at first but actually far from it. First of all, what is nature? The dictionary defines it as "the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations." But this surely can't be right! Everything in the universe, including all of the elements, the cosmos and the biosphere, is nature with the EXCEPTION of humanity? 

This is the heart of the crisis our world is experiencing. We have managed to separate and alienate ourselves from nature. This is no small feat! How does anyone convince themselves that they are apart from nature while inhabiting a body made of atoms, molecules, cells and tissue? Nature is the sustaining principle of the universe. It can be found in everything that exists, including all that can be known and all that can know. Nature is the consciousness that monitors and regulates all the dynamics of the universe, from the spiraling cosmos to the collisions of subatomic particles.

You do not need faith to believe in nature. It's just THERE. And guess? It always has been and always will be. This is Science 101. There is the law of conservation of matter and energy. Everything in nature gets reshuffled, rearranged, and recycled, but nature itself is never born and never dies, neither created nor destroyed. That's just reality.

NATURE AM I is not spirituality in any conventional sense because it does not invoke anything that can't be found or that is separate from the physical/material universe. But it is extraordinarily deep, because the history of science has taught us one crucial lesson: WHATEVER YOU CONSIDER NATURE TO BE, THERE is ALWAYS MORE. And it is a path of holiness in the purest sense possible. "Holy" and "whole" derive from the same root. 

Humanity is crying out for a sense of wholeness and integration at a time when we have never felt more disconnected from the natural world, from each other, and even from the experience of our own bodies. NATURE AM I offers a simple way back to wholeness. Here are three things you can try right now:

• Pick up a household object. Observe it. Take it in. What is it made of? Where might the raw materials have come from? How were they combined in making this object? And what will happen to these materials once the object is thrown away?
• Now, find something you enjoy eating. Before you put it in your mouth, think about where this food was grown, how it was prepared, and the route it took in order to get to you. How many people's hands did this touch before it made it into yours? Look at it closely. Feel its connection to the Earth. Think about what is going to happen once you put it into your mouth, chew it, and swallow it.
• Then, explore this vital body you inhabit. You may call it "your body," but is it really yours? How much do you control or are even aware of what is happening in this body, here and now? Try to feel your heartbeat? If you are quiet enough, you will be shocked at how powerful this rhythm can be, pounding steadily inside your chest. Pay attention to your skin. Notice the intricacies, the folds and wrinkles. Can you see your pores? Touch the surface of your face (with clean hands) and take in all of the delicate sensations that you feel. What do you experience?

This is a basic start. But it's how we begin to find our way back to the deepest possible connection we can have with nature: the experience of nature inspiration. And it holds the key to our future, to the future of our species and of the Earth. Thanks for your time.
​NATURE AM I.

I am excited to announce the launch of the new, improved version of Virtual Global Chant this Wednesday, April 15, 6 pm Arizona Time. After four weeks of experimenting with different platforms and new technologies, we think we have something in place that will give you a really high-quality chanting experience. Here are instructions for how to get onto the site.  Some of this information is intended for first-time Zoom users. So, if you are already experienced with Zoom, you can scroll down to the chant list for tomorrow's circle.

This Virtual GC is being hosted on Zoom, On Wednesday April 15, 2020, at 06:00 PM Arizona Time. To take part in this online event:

1.      You can choose any device that has a web camera and microphone, such as a computer, laptop, Tablet/ iPad, or Smart phone. Both will be turned on before and after the chant circle, but we will turn them off while chanting to minimize noise and distraction.
 
2.      To Join the Zoom Meeting, click on the following link:

Topic: Global Chant in Nature Alive's Personal Meeting Room

6 pm MST (Arizona time) Wednesday April 15 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5347525737?pwd=dHlHcS9VVkxBVVd3eFErc2UzQlJPdz09

Meeting ID: 534 752 5737

Password: 733028
 
3.      The Meeting ID for this circle is: 534 752 5737.  You will be prompted to enter the six-digit password: 733028. If you follow the link above, you probably won't need to type in either of these numbers.

4.      If you don’t have the Zoom app installed on your device already, click on the same link above, and you will be prompted to install the app in order to enter the class.  

5.      Make sure you have installed the Zoom app on your device, at least one day before our chant circle.
                        
6.      If you cannot download or run the Zoom App, you will see a link that says, “Join From Browser.”  When you click on that link you will see a message that says “Input your name to join meeting” followed by a box where you can type your name and click on the “Join” button to enter the class. PLEASE NOTE:  this option has limited functions compared to installing the App and should only be used as a last resort. 
 
7.      You can also just call in from a mobile phone without any video access (only audio will be heard). Here is the number to call:
 
1-669-900-6833

You will be prompted to enter meeting ID: 534 752 5737; and password: 733028
  
Once you're in Zoom:
 
1.      You may be placed in a virtual waiting room, until the meeting opens.  We will enter at approximately 15 minutes before the chant circle begins and start letting you into the meeting room then. 

2.      When you enter the meeting room, look at your screen. You will see icons at the bottom. There will be an icon to turn on the video so we can see you, and one for the microphone so we can hear you. 

3.      Once the chant circle starts all microphones, except our facilitator's (June Maker) and mine, will be muted.  If you need to communicate with us, you will see an icon for “Chat.”  You can click on this to type a brief question or comment.  

4. When we unmute the mics, please make sure there is not a lot of ambient noise where you are, such as music, TV, or background conversations. That makes it harder for us to hear you or anyone else. If you do not want to be seen on the screen you can turn off your video icon.  Then you will not be seen, but you will still be able to see June and me. 

VIRTUAL GLOBAL CHANT
April 15, 2020
​
We are opening up in sweet surrender  To the luminous love light of the One (2x).
We are opening (4x).
 
Sri guru sharanam namo namo namo
Hindu
 
Let me be one with the infinite sun,
  Forever & ever & ever (2x).
Kee-ay wahtay lenya lenya mahotay
  Hi-ah-no, hi-ah-no, hi-ah-no (2x).
Native American:  Sioux chant
 
Everything is Love, pure flowing Love,
  There is only Love, Love, Love, Love (2x)
Jai Ma (8x).
 
Take me away won’t you carry me,
Let me rest in your arms for a while.
Take me away won’t you carry me,
Let me bathe in the sweetness of your smile.
Won’t you take me away (3x).
 
I am filled with the light of a thousand angels,
Softening my way (2x).
I am filled with the light of a thousand angels,
Softening my way to thee. 
Joy, Joy is in my heart, Joy is in my heart,
  Joy is in my heart (2x)