I experienced a sense of connection with nature when I went on a country visit close to nature reserve from my home. I felt like nature is listing to me and responding me through their differnt actions like leaves rumbling, breeze breathing, birds chirping etc. like they are welcoming me on their land. It reminds me aboriginal nature perspective and after engaging with nature I can better understand about nature. I can understand what Aunty Joy Murphy means by saying you are welcome to everything from the tops of those trees to the roots of the earth.(Murphy.J, 2021). It means she is sharing with us. We have equal responsibility for everything which their. "Many Australians understand that Aboriginal people have a special respect for Nature. The identity we have with the land is sacred and unique.(By Miriam - Rose Ungunmerr- Baumann)

Ungunmerr-Baumann, M.-R. (2002). Dadirri: Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness (pp. 1–4). Emmaus Productions. http://www.dadirri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Dadirri-Inner-Deep-Listening-M-R-Ungunmerr-Bauman-Refl1.pdf

When I was strolling around the reserve , I was calm and listened to the nature, I was understand the notion of the Dadirri. I moved into quiet and intense listening. By doing this I was able to connect with nature. " We also see that nature fosters creativity and imagination, as so much of art is inspired by the beauty and mystery of the natural world". (Wilson, 2008).

In my imagination I continue to dance along with the trees. I heard some car sounds and water sound. I moved forward and saw bushes and dried grass. The leaves are rustling and making music with the wind. I still feel like a dancer. The bushes ,trees are my audience to watch my performance. All the bushes and trees are swinging, twirling and dancing with me. Its feel like nature is also dancing with me.

I participated in the surrounding with all my senses. When I was exploring the nature, I heard the music sound coming from another side. When go there and looked, I saw some children holding sticks and rocks and banging on the musical pillars. They made a very beautiful music through them. I feel like I am at the meditation area and doing some meditation. Through this I feel children also made a beautiful connection with nature. I sat there for some time and try to listen my inner voice through that music. I feel very calm and relaxed. I was thinking about how our life is going very fast, we don't have time to sit quietly and listen our inner voice. This music remind me the music from Mutton Bird video. It make me think about Mutton Bird, which is connected to the Bangarra dance group, in which people express themselves though dance.(Bangarra Educational Resources, 2023). The imaginary world of children helps them to learn many critical concepts about the world that we call "real".(Wilson, 2007).

According to the philosophy of Reggio Emilia, the learning environment is the “third teacher” in early childhood education, after the two classroom teachers (Edwards, Gandini & Forman, 1998). This environment should include not only the indoor early childhood classroom, but also the outdoor environment. The environments where children play have an effect on them and the quality of their play.

Reference:

https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/the-importance-of-pretend-play-in-natural-settings#:~:text=When%20children%20are%20given%20the%20time%20and%20space%20to%20play,to%20cognitive%20and%20linguistic%20growth.

In this video all people dance like a free bird, without any stress and tension. They follow the music beats and dance freely . They move with the nature like nature is their dance partner.

Lake Cowal is a very important sacred region for the Aboriginal Traditional Owners and is often called"The Heartland Of the Wiradjuri Nation".

I imagine like I am dancing with my shadow and follow the wind music. Movement with shadow is also a dance movement. "The project about the shadow was describe in our book, Everything Has a Shadow, Except Ants(sturloni & Vecchi, 1999),and it involves integration of acts of visual representation with scientific hypothesis testing. It goes far beyond the emphasis asethetic expression and perceptual exploration with which I began my work many years ago.

"Creative play in natural environments allows the naturalistic intelligence to flourish. The core of learning about the natural environment is not embedded in information provide to a child(knowledge presented from the outside) but in the interaction between the child and the world of nature." (Wilson, 2008).

https://youtu.be/mVDh_Qev-yc?si=g3TSvmPy4GntzONe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tow2tR_ezL8

https://www.nfb.ca/film/listen/

https://youtu.be/o-PV98Oshkc 

Wilson, R, 2007, Children, creative play, and the natural environment, in R. Wilson (edn) Nature and Young Children : Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments, Routledge. Ch 1, pp 1-18.

Walk with Nature