One of the best ways to provoke a deeper sense of awe and wonder about the natural world is to spend more time watching nature documetentaries.
Personally, I found that watching inspiring documentary films has been a catalyst for sparking my curiosity to learn more about ecology and the wonders of life on Planet Earth.
In this post, I want to share with you some of the best educational nature documentaries I’ve seen that I feel can inspire a fresh way of seeing the world.
1. Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds
Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds is a fascinating voyage examining the ancient axion of “as above so below.”
Explore how the outer nature of the cosmos is interconnected with the inner exploration of the mind and spirit in the world’s ancient meditation traditions and sacred ritualistic practices.
2. Baraka
A groundbreaking documentary film originally released in the early 1990s, Baraka is the masterpiece of legendary visual documentarian Ron Fricke.
In this awe-inspiring film, he explores the astounding diversity of the world’s peoples, languages, rituals and religions while juxtaposing this with the diversity of wild landscapes and time-lapses of the startling beauty of Planet Earth.
3. The Art of Effortless Living
This nature documentary is based on the traditional philosophy and teachings of Taoism and how it connects people with the flow of natural rhythms.
It explores the central Taoism practice of wu wei, which translates as a state of non-doing that aligns a person with a natural state of flowing consciousness that is associated with the spectrum of flow states.
4. Origins
Take a journey back into the mists of time to explore the biological roots of where we have come from and where we have gone.
Origins shows how man, technology, and nature can walk together in balance but how modern society has become disconnected from what makes us thrive and feel connected to each other.
5. The Call of the Forest
Forests are one of the world’s most significant sources of food, new medicines and oxygen. Time spent immersed in forests heals people and can provoke deep experiences of awe and wonder.
Come with scientist and author Diana Beresford-Kroeger as she explores our profound biological and spiritual connection with trees. An understanding of trees and their essential role in the web of life is crucial for reversing climate change.
6. 2040
Award-winning director Damon Gameau embarks on journey to explore what the future would look like by the year 2040 if we embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them into the mainstream.
This film is an optimistic look at the future and an antidote to the fear, negativity and mass anxiety spread by the mainstream media and social media networks simply because people pay the most attention to threats (resulting in more clicks on ads).
7. Decoding the Secret Patterns of Nature
Astrophysicist and writer Mario Livio, along with a colorful cast of mathematicians, physicists and engineers, follows math from Pythagoras to Einstein and beyond.
It all leads to nature’s ultimate riddle: Is math an invention or a discovery? Humankind’s clever trick or the natural language of the universe?
8. The Earthing Movie
The bare feet of a growing part of humanity living in cities almost never touch the Earth anymore.
This documentary film explores how this fundamentally disconnects children at a young age from nature and contributes to many adults feeling tired, depressed and completely out of sync with natural rhythms.
9. Fantastic Fungi
Join legendary mycologist Paul Stamets as he explores the nature of fungi, mushrooms and mycelium in the evolution of intelligent life on Planet Earth.
Go down the rabbit hole with leading scientists who are exploring how fungi can improve human health and help us clean up our pollution and heal the damage we’ve done to our planetary ecology.
10. Escape From The Cult of Materialism
Last but not least, here’s the most intense documentary of them all. Does the prevailing philosophy today of materialism work to destroy our identities, experience, and environment?
Come on a thought-provoking romp through the available evidence and decide for yourself if you’re in the cult and need to escape back to a way of life that aligns with nature.
I hope you enjoy watching and learning from these fascinating documentary films about the natural world.
Did I miss any of your personal favorite nature documentaries?
His mission at Mindful Ecotourism is to share mindful awareness, experiential learning and community building practices that can reconnect people with nature.
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