Earthly Bodies

Embracing Animal Nature

By: Vanessa Chakour

Narrated by: Vanessa Chakour

Examining the cultural belief that our animal instincts are to be corrected or corralled, nature advocate and rewilding facilitator Vanessa Chakour explores our inner and outer landscapes through the lens of wild animals.

How can wolves, misunderstood in myths but vital to ecosystems, teach us to rewrite dangerous stories and respect nature’s wisdom? How do the peaceful coexistence strategies of black bears offer insights into sharing resources? How can the engineering feats of beavers guide us in fostering regenerative building solutions and vibrant ecosystems? What can the loyal partnership of seahorses teach us about nurturing and love?

In Earthly Bodies, Vanessa draws parallels from struggles she has weathered in her own life to those endured by twenty-three wild animals—from wolves to sea lions—exploring our unease of feeling like prey; challenging the entrapment of our limiting beliefs; contextualizing the turmoil of fractured landscapes; and affirming our primal ache to belong.

Vanessa’s pivotal encounters with creatures in sync with their primal rhythms and demands illustrate the necessity of relying on the intelligence of gut instinct; of the magnetic pull of attraction; of the body’s mandate for restorative rest; and of the sacred bonds of love. We often cut ourselves off from identifying with wild animals—like wolves, foxes, bats and bears, and other animal relatives—out of fear, ignorance, disgust, or misunderstanding, yet our earthly human bodies can lead us in our pursuits of pleasure, love, wonder, healing, and connection.

With each section containing an aspect of injured animal’s return home to their natural habitat, and—in our case—to an embodied, instinctual self, Earthly Bodies meditates on how this journey from enclosures, to rehabilitation, to soft release, and finally to homing raises questions about our humanity. In so learning, we understand how we might benefit from embracing our own animal nature to gain deeper self-actualization, find common ground with our fellow animals, and learn to thrive together.

©2024 Vanessa Chakour (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“The animal stories allow Chakour to incorporate many urgent ecological topics into her narrative and give readers a chance to learn about the important systemic roles of wolves, beavers, vultures, and others. Inhabited by so many complex and interesting creatures, Earthly Bodies makes a bid for our attention on behalf of the planet. ...An urgent case for ecological thinking.”
—Kirkus Review

“Part memoir, part modern-day bestiary, Earthly Bodies is a must-read for humans who have become estranged from their animal selves. Vanessa Chakour draws surprising connections that will make you look at the natural world around with fresh eyes -- whether you're coexisting with wolves in the wild or bats in the city. A thoughtful reminder of all that is wild within each of us.”
—Amy Shearn, award-winning author of Dear Edna Sloane, Animal Instinct, and other novels

“Somewhere between a field guide about wild animals and an intimate memoir about a woman’s journey toward wildness and truth, Vanessa Chakour’s Earthly Bodies will make you think deeply about the relationship between your internal and external environments, and the way that each are threatened by modern life. I left this book feeling much more attuned to animal life—my own included.”
—Erica Berry, author of Wolfish