Naturalist Training Secrets

hey everybody it's Brian Mertins and in this video I'm going to share some naturalist training secrets Imagine yourself walking through an open meadow filled with birdsong you know this place well or do you do you know that plants trees and birds of your area what about the soil types weather patterns and ecological zones the challenge with being a naturalist is that there's so much that you have to learn some people study this stuff for years really only touch the tip of the iceberg but have no fear it is possible for you to develop yourself as a Master Naturalist but not by getting overwhelmed with information there's an important distinction that we need to get clear on what we set off to learn about nature you'll be glad to know that being a naturalist is so much more than just geeking out on field guides what master naturalists have is knowledge of place this is the ability to know a vast landscape like the back of your hand to be aware big picture things like where the deer hangout what they like to eat at different times of year this is really about tuning your human sensory apparatus to the max the end result of studying this big interconnected system is deep appreciation and respect for nature are you gotta do is get over the information overload so without further adieu I have for you the 3 ultimate naturalist training secrets naturalist secret number one slow down nature is filled in every single moment with learning opportunities from the ground all the way to the sky if you're not calm in your mind and body then you're gonna miss pretty much everything that's happening there you've got slowdown if you're gonna learn about nature luckily this is actually very easy to do. all you have to do is sit down somewhere or take a wander and let your mind become calm this will put you in the optimal state to apply naturalist secret number two naturally secret number two use your senses consciously there's a common tendency for people to get caught up in their thoughts and lose track of what's happening in your surroundings when you're up in your head thinking you're not taking any information through your five senses the foundation naturalist training is observation so you want to practice shifting your attention at least for the time being from what's going on inside your head to what's happening out in the real world watch a bird listen to the wind Smell a Flower look at a plant there's a lot happening here there which brings us to our third naturalist training secret naturalist secret number three look stuff up when you focus your mind on nature in sensory based way your going to be amazed by the kind of things that you discover at some point you're going to want to know the name of that bird or that plant that you've been looking at many people actually find it difficult to retain memories are the things that they find outside when they don't have a name to associate it with there's a wealth of information available to you through field guides and through the Google search that were all so familiar with the most important thing is to not get intimidated by research just build a routine of looking things up and over time you'll develop into a nature pro so there you have three naturalist training secrets that all great naturalists do slow down use your senses and look stuff up it's pretty simple right if you take even just 10 minutes a day to you get outside sit down somewhere or have a wander and emphasize spending some time in your senses you soon would really notice an absolute transformation your experience outside let me know what happens and what you discover in the meantime have a special ebook that I wrote awhile back and I'd like to give you a free copy click the link below this video to learn how to make razor-sharp observations and tune into the rhythms of nature this free resource will build upon everything we've talked about in this video so go ahead click the link below and I'll talk to you soon K

Channel: NatureMentor

Views: 7,205

Keywords: naturalist, nature

Id: 84hU_Imb3XY

Length: 4min 35sec (275 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 08 2013