Awakening to Nature: Renewing You Life by Connecting with the Natural World

What a marvellous book. It leaves the reader with a deep longing to find more time to regularly reconnect to nature. It is through this and through knowing that we all belong to the natural world, that we can also learn to reconnect to our very own selves, our very own true nature. Through our busy and hectic modern day living and the associated distancing from the natural world as a consequence, we are witnessing incredible levels of stress and deterioration of mental health and wellbeing. As I have written in Think Less Be More:Mental Detox for Everyone, this is at the core of our discontentment and unhappiness. Cook offers insights, thoughts and suggestions on how we can remove ourselves from the 'insanities' of life through living more naturally and connecting to the beauty of the natural world around us. Awakening to Nature has found a permanent place on my bookshelf - it is a book I will keep going back to. Christine Maingard, Author of THINK LESS, BE MORE: Mental Detox for Everyone.

Readers: I am going to get right to the point about this book. The three great strengths of Charles Cook's "Awakening to Nature" are: (1) his intimate knowledge of the natural world; (2) the descriptive language he uses and (3) perhaps most the most important strength, what I call the "micro-structure" of the book itself.Cook is believable. It's quite obvious to me that he has recreated and worked in natural settings. He has accumulated an earthy knowledge of nature that is revealed in his writing. And the language he uses in the book is detailed, descriptive, and at times, challenging to the reader. Perusing through "Awakening to Nature is like having your own nature guide, philosopher, and therapist all rolled up into one.The third great strength of the book is once again the micro-structure Cook uses. By micro-structure, I am referring to the the detailed sections he has created within each chapter. As a prospective reader, you are not going to see this micro-structure by reading through an online table of contents. Here's an example: In Chapter 14, "Going With the Flow of the Water," Cook includes separate and highly descriptive sections entitled: "Brooks, Creeks, Streams, and Rivers;" "Exploring a Waterway on Foot;" "Waterfalls and Cascades;" "Communing With a Waterfall;" "Lakes and Ponds;" "Circumnavigating a Lake;" "The Ocean;" "Opening Yourself to the Sea;" and "Snow and Ice." Each section is very well written and could be considered a nature essay in of itself.When reading through "Awakening to Nature," I thought of nature writers Enos Mills and John Muir. And when hiking through the Colorado foothills and backcountry with friends, I thought of Charles Cook and this book, one of the most beautiful treatises on nature that I have ever read. If you yearn to reacquaint yourself with the natural world, in any environment, I strongly urge you to read this book.