1.3K
Downloads
10
Episodes
Are we near the end? Can humanity survive climate change, pandemics, and other catastrophes? "Our only hope lies in nature-inspired leadership," claims podcast host Dr. Victor Shamas. NATURE AM I connects listeners with thought leaders who are generating nature-inspired solutions & strategies to urgent global problems. We feature advances in fields like biomimicry & biomimetics that are taking cues from nature. Also, we discuss ways to assure that future generations can thrive in balance with nature. Our conversations touch on holistic health, sustainable design, integrative learning, & other forms of nature-inspired innovation. Guests include visionaries who are leading the way towards a more peaceful, sustainable, balanced way of life. We also look at tools and techniques that facilitate the process of nature inspiration. "In this process, nature reveals its secrets," says Shamas, a psychologist who studies creative inspiration. "If we let it, nature can show us how to thrive."
Episodes
Tuesday Feb 02, 2021
Tuesday Feb 02, 2021
This special episode of Nature Am I features Part 1 of a two-part conversation with Marcin Jakubowski (pronounced MAR-chin Ya-coo-VOV-ski), the founder of Open Source Ecology. In his inspiring 2011 TED talk, "Open-Sourced Blueprints for Civilization," which has garnered close to two million views so far, Marcin tells the remarkable story of how he developed the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS), a set of 50 of the most important machines for modern life. Through an open, collaborative process, he and a team of volunteer designers, engineers and builders have been developing and fabricating these machines, which include tractors, ovens, and circuit makers. All of the blueprints are open source, making them available to anyone seeking to build this technology for themselves. Part of Marcin's vision is to create prosperity at a local level by empowering individuals and communities with the skills needed to fabricate what he calls "democratic technology." Such technology can serve human needs, free people from material constraints, and unleash human potential.
The machines that make up the GVCS are intended to be robust, modular, low-cost, efficient, and made from locally-sourced and recycled materials. Marcin envisions a process in which most, if not all, of the starting materials can be found in the "earth and twigs beneath our feet." His ideas point the way to a future in which all technology is sustainable, local communities are resilient and self-sufficient, garbage and waste are non-existent, and the population has the technical literacy needed for economic freedom, prosperity, and self-determination.
Part 2 of this conversation can be found in Episode 13 of the podcast, to be released by the end of February 2021. On this episode, you will hear the following topics:
5:27- Technology that serves human needs
8:01- The product selection metric for the GVCS
11:30- The open-source model applied to hardware
12:55 Three ways that the GVCS can get built
15:08- 3D printing
17:58- Building an advanced civilization from dirt and twigs
19:40- Three levels of recycling
22:06- Lifetime design
26:00- Open-source microfactories
27:15- How to build it yourself
28:03- The need for localized production
29:13- Sustainable regenerative technology
30:25- Economic localization and ecological integrity
31:30- Natural law in ecological design
33:13- Eliminating the waste stream
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Here, we explore the relationship between Nature, on the one hand, and religion and spirituality, on the other, focusing on the concept of God. Topics include:
1:13- Religion has failed to live up to its promise
2:45- The growing trend of religious disaffiliation
3:36- Why spirituality is misguided
4:04- The concept of God
5:04- The damage caused by dualism
5:50- Wholeness in Nature
7:21- Why the distinction between Nature and human makes no sense
8:43- Experience your body!
9:10- Creativity and desire
9:41- Replacing spirituality with Naturality
10:19- Creating paradise on Earth
11:13- Fully aligned with Nature
12:29- Experience the wonders of this world
12:57- Nothing is "supernatural"
13:51- Reversing the damage humanity has caused
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Integrative Yoga Therapy founder and yoga scholar Joseph Le Page discusses the role of nature in yoga and the relationship between nature and humans. Our conversation touches upon the following topics:
3:12- Knowing the true self (purusha)
6:52- Lower mind (manas) vs. higher mind (buddhi)
10:08- The need for spiritual culture
11:34- Nature (prakriti) and spirit
14:25- Seeing Nature in a new way
16:10- Patanjali's view of Nature
18:41- Duality (samkhya) and non-duality (vedanta)
20:04- The practice and qualities of samadhi
21:45- Nature and the deity of creation (Ishvara)
24:00- One enlightenment, many paths
25:58- The essence of Tantra
27:20- The purpose of living (dharma)
29:04- The concept of kaivalya
33:20- Kaivalya in the ecological movement
35:12- The end of evolution
36:50- Samadhi in the body (nirbijah samadhi)
41:47- Becoming one with Nature
43:52-Co-dependence in the ecological movement
Excellent video of Joseph Le Page speaking about nirbija samadhi:
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONh0U-VgEMg
For more information about Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT):
//www.iytyogatherapy.com/
YouTube channel for IYT:
//www.youtube.com/channel/UC0LXPRN8sEAybb0YNjSPM4g
Friday Aug 28, 2020
Friday Aug 28, 2020
On this episode, Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute discusses strategies for increasing sustainability and building community resilience. He touches on many of his seminal writings, including his books, Our Renewable Future, The End of Growth, Power Down, and Memories and Visions of Paradise, as well as his award-winning Museletter. Our conversation covered the following topics:
Immanuel Velikovsky's World in Collision (4:30)
Visions of Paradise (6:53)
Paradise as connection to Nature (9:08)
Global disturbances caused by unsustainable practices (11:09)
The need for community resilience (14:09)
Balancing global and local perspectives (15:56)
Protecting information in a post-carbon age (18:39)
How our energy use is destroying the natural world (21:00)
Making society more sustainable (23:15)
Shifting away from unlimited growth (23:54)
Steady-state economies (27:14)
Time banking and income disparity (29:14)
Coalition-building (30:37)
Making non-profits more resilient (32:52)
Building community resilience (34:55)
Opportunities for idealists (36:35)
Practices and principles of sustainability (38:34)
Profit vs. Beauty as sources of motivation (41:39)
Learn more about Richard Heinberg and the Post Carbon Institute.
Listen to other episodes of the Nature Am I podcast or read our blog.
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Friday Jul 31, 2020
Discover what it means and takes to remake the world. Find out the creative power inherent in the experience of nature inspiration, why such power is essential at this time in human history, and how you can cultivate it by learning how to embody nature fully. Here are the topics we explore in this episode:
0:58- The need to remake the world
1:27- Inspiration and creative power
2:10- Embodying nature through nature inspiration
2:33- The world is not as it appears
3:18- Schrodinger on the myth of objectivity
4:22- Bohm and Einstein weigh in on consciousness and imagination
4:52- How the mind limits experience
5:37- Nature as dynamic wholeness
5:52- Bohm: Continuity is an illusion
6:16- Analogy between perceived reality and a movie
6:54- Re-creating reality at every moment (TD Suzuki quote)
7:41- The dynamics of creation in the natural world
9:06- Humans as the creative aspect of nature
9:42- Embodying nature by transcending limitations
10:56- Paradise and nature alignment
11:24- The six qualities that give rise to inspiration
12:04- Why experience nature inspiration?
13:11- Stability and energy in nature
14:14- How energy is building towards an enormous release
15:16- Two ways to attain stability through energy release
16:58- Showing the world the way to a more stable condition
17:23- Accessing nature's wisdom
17:54- Visionaries that offer a clear path to a stable, thriving way of life
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
Sunday Jul 12, 2020
For eight years, Patrick Farnsworth has been addressing environmental issues in his insightful podcast, "Last Born in the Wilderness" (//www.lastborninthewilderness.com). Here, he discusses his podcast, the deeper implications of ecological collapse, the significance of the current COVID-19 pandemic, and whether or not there are grounds for hope in the face of a potential apocalypse. The conversation includes the following:
6:45 What "Last Born in the Wilderness" signifies
9:43 The evolution of the podcast and its themes
12:47 Deeper psychological and emotional aspects of ecological collapse
13:38 Why ecological collapse was never inevitable
15:50 Building resilience
16:35 Blindsided by a pandemic
18:04 Hope and apocalypse
20:02 Listening to indigenous people
20:49 Freedom beyond hope
21:22 Joe Brewer's work with regenerative hubs
23:10 Being aligned with nature feels good
25:02 Dahr Jamail and painful beauty
27:23 Is humanity an addict hitting bottom?
33:19 Paradigm shifts can be violent
34:34 COVID-19 as a wake-up call
36:03 A sliver of hope
39:00 No going back
41:21 Mutual aid in times of crisis
45:55 Self-care and maintaining balance in chaotic times
48:21 We Live in the Orbit of Beings Greater than Us
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Learn about the powerful life philosophy and practice of Naturality. This episode covers:
An introduction to Naturality (0:58)
Redefining nature (2:52)
Nature is infinite and eternal (5:09)
Is nature conscious? (7:24)
Nature as an organizing and sustaining principle (8:56)
Naturality and transcendence (9:57)
Nature connects us all (10:41)
The three truths of Naturality (11:18)
Why Naturality is revolutionary (12:04)
The Naturality experience (12:33)
"There are no others" (14:03)
How humanity can thrive (15:21)
Tuesday Jun 02, 2020
Tuesday Jun 02, 2020
We speak with Richard Register about his 55-year career designing "ecocities" or ecologically healthy cities. The conversation covers these topics:
4:35- What is an ecocity?
5:44- 2D and 3D urban design
7:46- Why a city's shape matters
8:49- Ecocity design elements
11:14- Human-powered transportation
12:12- The city as a living organism
15:01- China's ecocities
17:32- Combining all the design elements
19:09- Co-housing
22:38- Retrofitting sprawled cities
24:25- Challenges to building ecocities
28:08- Deconstructing unsustainable cities
31:27- The sounds of a well-designed space
33:25- Nature-inspired urban design
36:06- Courage and maps
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Interview with evolutionary ecologist Dr. Elisabet Sahtouris includes the following:
Introduction to Dr. Sahtouris' work (0:58)
How science can learn from nature (4:47)
The evolution of species from competition to cooperation (5:53)
Human transformation (7:40)
The speed of the current evolutionary shift (9:09)
Global Reboot (12:23)
Building a better future (14:15)
How an evolutionary shift begins (16:23)
Strength in numbers (18:40)
Ways to promote recycling (19:17)
Feeding the world (20:35)
Alternative Currencies and economies (21:48)
Mobilizing Millions (26:40)
Local vs Global Action? (27:24)
Overcoming Fear of the Virus (28:30)
Holistic View of the Pandemic (29:15)
Vaccines (34:06)
Nature-Based Ways to Manage an Epidemic (35:15)
Sentient Plants (36:54)
Restoring Man-Made Deserts (37:19)
Eastern Approaches to Immune Strengthening (37:56)
Nature Inspiration (39:17)
Words from Rumi (41:22)
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Saturday Apr 11, 2020
Dr. Victor Shamas introduces the themes and objectives of the Nature Am I podcast, focusing on the following topics (time markers included):
A hopeful vision for humanity's future (1:01)
Pandemics and climate change (2:30)
How nature restores balance (5:58)
Humans vs. Nature? (8:08)
Nature inspiration (9:43)
Why "Nature Am I" (10:57)
Nature-inspired solutions (13:45)
Future topics and an invitation to listeners (15:29)