Earth Time Autumn 2026:
The Lost Art of Being Human
9-week exploration
Mondays 3:00-5:15pm, Darebin Parklands
Photo by Max Roux
“Wildness is a form of sophistication, because it carries within it true knowledge of our place in the world. It doesn’t exclude civilisation but prowls through it, knowing when to attend to the needs of the committee and when to drink from a moonlit lake.”
We are alive in a remarkable time. Never before have we held such power in our pockets, our phones beings of mythic proportion - growing in capability daily.
In an age when machines can do so many things for us, what is gained from going outside, unplugging, and apprenticing to the old ways?
This course is born of a curiosity to explore ancient technologies. Technologies of awareness and perception, that rekindle enchantment, aliveness and intuition. Technologies that connect, rather than disconnect, us from the world around us.
Evolving over millions of years, shaped by the elements and the experiments of our ancient ancestors, we were not born expecting such fast-paced, screen-based lives. Our bodies and brains evolved to exist in the wild, in daily conversation with the waters and plants and animals on which our lives depend.
We are wired to notice the subtle shifts of energy as raptor flies through, to notice the return of kingfisher in spring, and to observe the first day the wattle flowers. We are built to mimic and mirror and dance what we encounter, giving us an innate capacity to experience the world from the perspective of the wild other. We have the potential to find our way intuitively to our destination, to be called by the plants we seek. Life was designed to be mysterious, an adventure, a becoming.
But modern life encourages us to move directly from A to B, without space for an adventure in between. It suggests we need to know the answer instantly, and not take five years to find it. It encourages us to fill spare minutes with the checking of email, or the news, or the feed, rather than sink a little deeper into the sounds and smells and the patience it requires to be alive.
We have a choice though, to take small steps toward a wilder, more intuitive way of living. There is no one right way to relate to the modern world, and our goal is not to eliminate the new, but to be conscious of how we interact with it. Maybe sometimes we can choose ancient technologies over new ones.
In this course we will:
build slow connections with real beings, human and non-human
open our senses, including our intuition
practice routines of nature observation and awareness that root us deeply in place and time
allow life to be an adventure
learn skills to replace reliance on apps and enable more time offline
learn psychospiritual and practical tools for more mindful engagement with technology
Each week we will explore a different nature connection practice, as an alternative to a common app. Topics will include:
Natural navigation and songlines (alternative to google maps)
Bird language, mimicry and multi-year mysteries (alternative to Merlin ID app or voice recorder)
Plant observation and drawing (alternative to plant ID app or camera)
Clapstick carving and music making (alternative to Spotify)
Sense meditation and silence (alternative to scrolling)
Wandering with questions and intuitive tracking (alternative to googling)
PLUS: Making peace with your phone: physical and spiritual practices for befriending your pet rock
“Don’t just look at nature from afar – saturate yourself with it.
Get out on the edge of life and let the waves of the wilderness wash over you.
Feel the power, listen to the crashing roar, let the wind buffet your body and sweep the cobwebs from your brain.
Immerse yourself in nature’s symphony and let your senses burst with joy.”
Program info
Mondays, 3:00-5:15pm, Darebin Parklands
Autumn Term Dates 2026:
Feb 2
Feb 9
Pause: No class Feb 16
Feb 23
Pause: No class Mar 2
Pause: No class Mar 9
Mar 16
Mar 23
Mar 30
Pause: No class Apr 6
Apr 13
Apr 20
Apr 27
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.
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 am a complete beginner, should I still come?
Yes! All levels of experience are welcome.
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.
Emily has a complex relationship with technology, having previously worked as a policy analyst researching a circular economy for consumer electronics, and as a software developer in a renewable energy company. She is an advocate of open-source software, a Linux user since 2010, and yet even as a programmer, never liked computers and wished she could write her code with pen and paper. Emily was also co-director of the UK Tar Sands Network, a grassroots organisation partnering with First Nations Canadians battling oil developments on their lands. Emily has a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and a MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy, both from the University of Oxford. More recently she has completed an Advanced Diploma of Transpersonal Counselling, and is a trained Vision Quest Guide.
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 | Bird Language was a powerfully embodied learning experience. I was guided into new ways of tuning deeply inwards while at the same time strengthening my connection to the living world, with all of my senses. Our facilitator Emily (a remarkably embodied and perceptive storyteller) generously shared with us myriad ways to further belong and be in right relations with nature as a lifelong orientation, in a way that is grounded in wisdom.”
—Kim Lam
“Emily is a wonderful facilitator and her program fosters a satisfying and enlivening connection to nature and to community. Bird language is like a portal to the voice of mother nature. She is speaking to us all the time and it's friggin' epic to take the time to listen and understand just that little bit more. The nine weeks is a beautiful immersion into a greater awareness. Under Emily's expert tuition, the birds have taught me so much.”
—Katia Krassas
“These Mondays have been the anchor point in my week. Helping me ground myself and to remember that I am part of a greater whole. I've made new friends – bird and human, and expanded not only my knowledge but awareness of bird languages and behaviour. I'm very grateful for the community of co-creation and bird nerdery. Thank you.”
—Luna Darling
“Earth Time has really helped me to maintain my nature connection into the colder months and notice the beauty of this transition. Having a regular place to visit with a tribe of lovely humans has been one of the highlights of my my week. Em is a gentle, knowledgeable and intuitive mentor who offers guidance to deepen your awareness of the natural world and grow connections with birds and other beings.”
—Cristie Butler
“Bird language time with Emily has been such a treasure in my week! A precious opportunity to connect with community and learn about ways to attune to the patterns and behaviours of birds, and through this deepen my relationship with nature.”
—Grace Jane
“Thank you Nature's Apprentice and Emily for sharing your knowledge and wisdom helping us to connect deeper to the more than human world with our senses, weaving in the power of these skills with imagining and intuiting you have provided a powerful container to help us reconnect to the wild anywhere we find ourselves.”
—Rosie
“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
“I signed up to this because I wanted support to connect to nature more than I was doing on my own. I got that in spades, as well as connection to a like minded group of people who also inform and inspire me in their own ways. Within one session I was already noticing more, and over the course of attending more sessions I've been able to engage more with nature in my regular life, even as the cold of winter has descended!”
—Rachel Bucknall
“Emily ran a beautiful and balanced series of sessions. I was able to go much deeper into my understanding and embodiment of nature connectedness. Thank you Emily.”
—Carolyn Shurey
Thank you Emily.
For creating space, holding space.
For sharing and receiving.
For being so generous with yourself, your knowledge and your heart.
Thank you.
—Samantha Patterson
I highly recommend this course. Learn about birds, open your awareness, and be transformed.
—Annett Finger
“I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one.”
Cost:
EARLY BIRD (before Dec 15): $260
Full price: $290
Earth Time consistently sells out so book early to avoid disappointment.
Numbers are capped at 14 participants.
Cancellation Policy
Refunds on term and half term passes available until 7 days before term starts, minus $25 admin fee.
If you can no longer make it you may onsell or gift your ticket at no extra cost. Please let us know the name and email address of the person who will be taking your place.
Note that there are a number of scams on facebook at the moment with people pretending to sell tickets. Please only buy tickets through the Nature's Apprentice website or from someone you know.
See event on Facebook
“One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began”