Book description
Skimming Stones and Other Ways of Being Wild
is a book of simple skills that can help us to interact with nature,
achieve a deeper connection with it and even step inside another
dimension.
Rob Cowen and Leo Critchley teach us, for example, making
and flying a kite, making an elder whistle, damming a stream and
building a den - and at the same time teach us about life.
Their techniques are intended to be not only of practical value but
also techniques for meditation. They help us to live in the moment,
recover ancient insights and rhythms and encourage nature to reveal to
us her secrets and treasures.
They write that '...there are forces deep in everyone's subconscious
that find a pure expression in the simplest of activities. This book
explains why we should be taking the time to do them. It is born out
of a wish to share our passion for our landscape and the
contemplative, reflective pleasures and joys that were well-known to
our grandparents, but which are in danger of being lost and forgotten.
They will help us get back to a place where we all belong'.
Growing up on the Yorkshire Moors created a passion for
the natural world that has been central in Rob`s life ever since.
Since graduating with first class honours from Leeds University, he
has become a prolific writer and musician. His work has appeared in
the Independent, Express, News of the World and Yorkshire Postand his
songs on Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6Music, with Q describing his lyrics as
`worthy of John Betjeman`. Rob is married and lives in North London
Leo was born and raised in London but always pined for the fresh sea
air and wide-open spaces of the south west where he was taken on
yearly holidays. Graduating from Christ`s College, Cambridge having
switched subjects from Natural Sciences to English Literature due to a
lamentable lack of poetry in the former, he went on to start a company
teaching kung fu, before a spell as a management consultant and web
designer. He now writes and lives in West London.
