Mark Coleman is a mindfulness meditation teacher who has been teaching Insight meditation and nature retreats worldwide since 1997. He regularly leads wilderness retreats through his organization, Awake in the Wild where he introduces others to nature-based meditation practices. These retreats include a wide variety of contemplative activities like hiking, backpacking, forest bathing, kayaking, river rafting, cross-country skiing, rowing, canoeing, and more. Mark is also the co-founder of the Mindfulness Training Institute, where he co-leads yearlong mindfulness-teacher trainings in Europe and the U.S. He is also a senior meditation teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, in Northern California. His books include:

Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path to Self-Discovery (New World Library 2006), Make Peace with Your Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Your Inner Critic (New World Library 2016), From Suffering to Peace: The True Promise of Mindfulness (New World Library 2019) and A Field Guide to Nature Meditation: 52 Mindfulness Practices for Joy, Wisdom and Wonder (Awake in the Wild 2022)

Interview Date: 3/6/2024. Tags: Mark Coleman, John Muir, mindfulness awareness, being known by nature, Stress, anxiety, wonder, awe, John Burroughs, nature heals, attention economy, going outside, gratitude, Fear, protecting the earth, Meditation, Personal Transformation, Ecology/Nature/Environment

Brenda Peterson is an award-winning nature writer, memoirist, novelist, and writing teacher. She’s been featured on NPR, and in the New York Times, Orion Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, and many other prestigious magazines and newspapers. She’s the author of more than twenty books for adults and children including Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals (W. W. Norton 2001), Duck and Cover (Backinprint.com 2004), I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth (Da Capo Press 2010) and Wild Chorus: Finding Harmony with Whales, Wolves, and Other Animals (Mountaineers Books 2024)

Interview Date: 3/5/2024 Tags: Brenda Peterson, Noah’s Ark, Blue Heron, creation story, Orca Lab, Helena Symonds, animal totems, creation story, creation stories, Animals, Ecology/Nature/ Environment, dreams

Jude Currivan is a cosmologist, planetary healer, and futurist. She has a master’s degree in physics from Oxford University and a doctorate in archaeology. She has traveled the world and worked with wisdomkeepers from many traditions and continues to pursue her life-long passion in researching the nature of reality. Currivan resides in England. She is the author of many books including The 13th Step: A Global Journey in Search of Our Cosmic Destiny (Hay House 2009), The Wave: A Life Changing Journey into the Heart and Mind of the Cosmos (O Books 2005) and The Cosmic Hologram: In-formation at the Center of Creation (Bear & Company 2017)

Tags: Jude Currivan, mind, matter, materialistic science, consciousness, interconnectedness, fear, love, collective psyche, myth of separation, individuation, separation, The Spiral of Compassion, empathy, Science, Spirituality, Personal Transformation, Philosophy