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MINDFUL BIRDWATCHING

Posted: 13.06.20 in Articles category

Mindfulness seems all the rage, so I suppose it's little surprise to find a recently published book combining its practice with the activity of birdwatching. 'The Art of Mindful Birdwatching' by Claire Thompson seeks to make that combination and it does so in a very readable way. Claire evidently enjoys seeing, hearing and experiencing birds. She wants us to do so as well, partly as means to improve our well being as in her words "we invite fun, wonder and beauty into our daily lives." There's much reference to Zen Buddhism, but there's little which jars with my Christian faith and much that I find helpful. Here's a short extract that I particularly like:

"How Do They Make You Feel?

As you watch birds in open country and forests, notice how they make you feel. Do they energize you? Comfort you? Frustrate you? Calm you? Do they evoke memories? Simply become aware of what you experience. The courtship display flight of a pigeon uplifts me as it climbs skywards and then free-falls into a glide. I find the rushed swooping of swallows over country streams and fields intensely exciting. The gentle drifting of waterbirds on still waters brings me calm and peace, and glimpsing a robin's red breast through the under-storey fills me with childlike joy every time. Experiencing birds with our sense can be thoroughly restorative and invigorating, whether we want to get away from life's everyday challenges or simply celebrate the glory of being alive."

 
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