Episode 10: Gratitude for Birds

11/23/23 • 31 min

In this episode of the mindful birding podcast, we are exploring gratitude and how practicing gratitude for birds can deepen our relationships with them and the world around us.

We asked our listeners and Mindful Birding Network members to share their own gratitude for birds, and why they were thankful for birds in their lives.

We thank the following people for sharing their gratitude for birds with us:

Jo from California, Marta from Panama, Amanda, Holly from Las Cruces, NM, Marge from Las Cruces, NM, Melissa from British Columbia, Candi Lynn, Joan from Seattle, Barb from NC, Alex from Las Vegas, NV, Jenn from Panama, Whitney from Indiana, Seth from Maine.

In our Mindful Birding Nerding, Holly Thomas covers the science of Gratitude and features the work of Robert Emmons which demonstrates why practicing gratitude is beneficial to our wellbeing. A powerul a quote from an article by Scott Weidensaul illustrates the magic that birds hold for us.

Holly Merker shares the poem “Daily Thanksgiving” inspired by the “Great Thanksgiving Address”, or the Daily Thanksgiving of the Onondaga Nation and Haudenosunee Confederacy, indigenous peoples of New York state. To learn more about the Great Thanksgiving watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uDMS-5JeEo&t=6s

In the Joy of Birdsong, Chris Benesh shares gratitude for his dad, who inspired his passion for nature and birds. Chris invites us to experience an audio souvenir of a very special trip to Belize he took with his dad prior to his death. You’ll hear sounds from Melodious Blackbird, Short-billed Pigeon, House Wren, Masked Tityra, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Social Flycatcher, Mayan Antthrush, and Rose-throated Becard.

Intro music: “Inspired by Nature” by PlayAgain
Intro Birdsong & Clips throughout : Western Meadowlark
Outro music: “Inspired by Nature” by PlayAgain
Outro Birdsong: Eastern Meadowlark
Mindful Birding Network Website
Instagram: @mindfulbirdingnetwork
Produced by Co-hosts Holly Merker and Holly Thomas

[email protected]

In this episode of the mindful birding podcast, we are exploring gratitude and how practicing gratitude for birds can deepen our relationships with them and the world around us.

We asked our listeners and Mindful Birding Network members to share their own gratitude for birds, and why they were thankful for birds in their lives.

We thank the following people for sharing their gratitude for birds with us:

Previous Episode

Episode 9: Prescriptive Nature

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In this episode, we explore the concept of Prescriptive Nature, and gain a better understanding of how and where these prescriptions are being used today in preventative medicine across the globe.

Special guest Dr. Joe Blanda MD discusses the ParkRX program and shares how he prescribed nature to his own patients while a practicing orthopedic surgeon, and continues this initiative through projects in his local community in Akron Ohio.

Holly Thomas shares the poem The Cure For It All by Julia Fehrenbacher

In the Mindful Birding Nerding Science Segment, Holly Thomas explores why Prescriptive Nature might face hurdles in traditional medical settings, and highlights some of the work going on in Poland, specifically that of two pioneers in the area of the therapeutic benefits of birding Dr. Piotr Tryjanowski Dr. Slawomir Murawiec, and Dr. Katarzyna Simonienko - specifically her article on Therapeutic Ornithology

For our Joy of Birdsong segment, Holly & Holly bring you with them on a slow walk through an autumn landscape in southeastern Pennsylvania, sharing a few moments of their wondrous encounter with a pair of dueting Great Horned Owls

We invite you, our listeners, to share moments of gratitude you have with or for birds in our upcoming episode centering around Gratitude. Please email us before Nov.20. 2023 your recordings of gratitude, one minute or less, to: [email protected]

Other Links:
Japanese results of prescriptive nature: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/8/781
WHO Paper: https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/state-mental-health-globally-wake-covid-19-pandemic-and-progress-who-special-initiative
Dr. Katarzyna Simonienko https://www.forest-therapy.pl/en/forest-therapy/
Slawomir Murawiec
https://naturallybalanced.org/en/author/slawomirmurawiec/
Birding during COVID - http://www.psychiatria.com.pl/artykul.php?a=941
Nature and Mental Health: Birding is a Proven Solution https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9623220/

Next Episode

Episode 11: Mindful Birding as an Antidote to Loneliness

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In this episode of the Mindful Birding Podcast, Holly & Holly invite you into a conversation surrounding the idea of wild birds as companions, and specifically how birds may offer the opportunity to ease feelings of loneliness and boost our feelings of connectedness.

We discuss the US Surgeon General’s 2023 Advisory on the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation and lack of social connection in the United States and wonder if birds might be an antidote?

In the Mindful Birding Nerding Segment, Holly Thomas explores the connection between mindfulness and loneliness, and dives into a study that examines how mindfulness training may offset feelings of loneliness and cultivate acceptance and equanimity. Holly carries the study's outcomes a step further and into Mindful Birding, and explains how Mindful Birding garners some of these same benefits.

Holly Thomas shares an inspiring excerpt from the Stephen Batchelor book The Art of Solitude

In the Joy of Birdsong, Holly Merker shares a winter soundscape from her backyard in Pennsylvania, and wonders if birdsong can alleviate not just winter doldrums, but also seasonal affective disorder.