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Earth Time Winter 2026
Bird Language and Expanded Awareness
9-week exploration
Wednesdays 3pm-5:15pm
Starts 20 May
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[See also upcoming Earth Time: The Lost Art of Being Human. Discount available for booking both courses together. https://www.facebook.com/events/1275418471217412/ ]
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Bird Language Deep Dive
After two successful sell-out terms in 2024 - and a hiatus while I was living in the bush in 2025 - I am delighted to be offering this course again.
Birds: vocal, colourful and abundant even in the city, these charismatic backyard buddies are also powerful guides to the more subtle layers of nature observation.
At any moment of the day, bird activity, or lack of it, allows us to sense what is happening in the landscape beyond what we can directly see or hear. Attuning to birds' voices and behaviour, we can deduce the presence of other animals, predators, plants and seasonal changes. We pick up the more subtle ripples of energy moving through the landscape, invisible like the wind, but just as real. To others it can seem like magic, but the information is all there, waiting for us.
With practice we can be in this state all the time, with a sliver of awareness tuned to the movements of currawong, wren, python and fox. Becoming more diffuse, we feel the earth as an extension of our body. The mind stills and quietens. This natural state is our birthright.
To reach this point we need to engage in the 'four windows of knowing': sensing, feeling, imagining and thinking.
And so we will be learning about birds and the local ecology through a combination of observation, record-keeping, research, discussion, imagination, intuition and embodiment. And we will be quietening our minds and expanding our awareness through practices that are effective at bringing us into a deeper silence and greater relationship to the natural world.
About Earth Time
Now in its sixth term, Earth Time is a weekly pause point, a community committed to showing up, observing, enjoying and connecting to nature, together. Numbers are capped at 14 participants.
It is a rare gift in the modern world to find time to sit, undisturbed in nature. To step out of the gushing torrent of middleworld tasks, and sink back into that other, more ancient stream. Earth Time.
We know we are wired to experience indescribable awe and wonder at the natural beauty of the wild, to 'revel in the now' as Tom Brown describes. It can feel like the easiest and most natural state in the world. Other times, frustratingly unreachable.
The discipline to keep up a practice takes work. To carve out regular Earth Time in our culture is a radical act, and a challenging undertaking. Too often it is squeezed between other commitments, or exchanged for sleep, social time or exercise. Or it is sacrificed for something else we 'should' be doing. Perhaps worst of all, is to emerge from a powerful encounter in nature with no one to share it with.
What if we didn't have to do it alone? What if we didn't have to choose between the precious timelessness of sitting in nature, and the bustle of community, celebration and belonging?
It doesn’t happen overnight, but consistent commitment to these practices changes how we show up in the world. We become a part of our local environment rather than a visitor to it. Wilder. More attuned. We smell the change of season before we see it, and feel the arrival of a raptor before we hear it. Becoming a ‘walking sit spot’, we go through life with increased awareness, a quieter mind, more motivation, focus, empathy and compassion.
Are you ready to add some regular Earth Time to your week?
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Program info
Wednesday, 3:00-5:15pm, Darebin Parklands
Winter Term Dates 2026: May 20 to July 15
We meet rain, hail or shine, by the barbecues/toilets at Darebin Parklands.
This is for adults or older teenagers. Babes in arms welcome.
Please arrive from 2:50pm as we will start promptly at 3:00pm.
Schedule is always somewhat spontaneous and weather dependent, but this is what to expect:
May 20: Awakening to the world of birds
May 27: Singing back
Jun 3: Breaking down the 'wall of sound'
Jun 10: Full body presence
Jun 17: Becoming the bird
Jun 24: Cause and effect
Jul 1: Expanding the edges of the body
Jul 8: Quiet mind
Jul 15: Wrapping the bundle
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FAQ:
Can I still drop in casually? (updated)
This term we are running a full term course only. Stay tuned for future drop-in opportunities.
I don’t know anything about birds, should I still come?
Yes! This is not about ‘twitching’ or learning bird facts. All levels of experience are welcome.
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Facilitator
Emily Coats
Emily Coats has been with Nature’s Apprentice since 2021 and is a facilitator of deep nature connection practices, ancestral skills and soulcentric nature-based ceremony. Recently returned from seven months alone in the wild, she brings passion for practices that awaken full sensory awareness, quieten the mind, and enliven body and Soul, and feels that a reweaving of these capabilities back into our culture is essential medicine for these times in which we live.
Emily's teachers include master tracker Tom Brown Junior, nature connection expert Jon Young and Australian bird language teacher Andrew Turbill, as well as Nature's Apprentice founder Claire Dunn, who set her on this path some seven years ago.
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Testimonials from Earth Time Bird Language 2024
“Emily has a deep knowing and understanding of the land. Her expertise in the natural environment and the means to engage organically are extraordinary. I’m pleased her guidance has led me to the profound wisdom within nature alongside the ways to continue my rewilding journey.”
—Paula Saltalamacchia
“Earth Time was sacred, and helped to bring the magic of nature into my busy urban life. I highly recommend this, especially if you are one who doesn't feel like you have time for this.”
—Belinda
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Cost:
EARLY BIRD (before May 1): $260
Full price: $290
Earth Time consistently sells out so book early to avoid disappointment.
Numbers are capped at 14 participants.
Or save $75 when you book both this program and Earth Time Winter: The Lost Art of Being Human. https://www.facebook.com/events/1275418471217412/
For more info and bookings see https://www.naturesapprentice.com.au/events/earth-time-bird-language-winter-2026
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New Holland Honeyeater photograph by Terri Anne Allen
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Event Venue
Darebin Parklands, Darebin Parklands Public Toilet, Smith St, Alphington VIC 3078, Australia, Northcote
Tickets
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