Demystifying nature communication

I've read hundreds of academic papers that discuss the importance of listening to nature and aligning ourselves with the wild but very few explore what this actually means at the level of the body.

To truly listen to the earth and understand her wildspeak, we must learn to take the SHAPE of listening.

Listening transcends mere hearing; it is an ecosystem of senses working together—a visceral 'tuning in' to the world around us that makes us sensitive, porous & receptive to her whispers.

What happens when we place our ear directly on the ground, or press our palms to ancient stone? What do we receive when our somatic body meets the solidity of rock, the flow of water, or the whisper of wind?

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Ngannelong (Hanging Rock) this way. I was headed to slow my pace & drop into a place of stillness. The Ngan'gikurunggurr people of the Daly River call this practice 'dadirri'—the art of deep listening from still awareness. Only from this position, can we truly hear the conscious beings of place speak to us.

Stones, for example, are not inert objects. They are ancient beings and witnesses of time. Millions of years of the earth's stories are held within their density. Stories that are not told but felt, reverberating in the space beyond words, beyond intellect.

This is not about theorising what it means to “listen to place” but about physically enacting it. Can we allow our bodies to become instruments, tuning to the quiet, subtle stories the earth offers?

Touch the ground. Let your skin meet the elements. Feel the hum of soil beneath your feet. Let listening move beyond the ears—listen with your fingertips, your belly, your breath, your spine. Let yourself become the practice of listening.

This is the essence of ecosomatics: not thinking about connection, but being it.