Welcome to this Valentine's Day episode of Listening Luminous in Troubled Times - a podcast hosted by Charlotte Dufour, co-founder of Listening Inspires.  

In this episode, Charlotte explores how we can choose love over fear and anger, in world where abuse, destruction, extraction and violence are rife. 

The episode is inspired by a workshop organised by the Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA) in October 2025: Towards Conscious Food Systems: a Collective Transformation Journey, held in 42 acres, in the UK. We explored how to transform food systems from within, guided by the deeply inspiring teachers Satish Kumar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Kumar) and Gary Zukav (https://seatofthesoul.com/). 

To find out more about CoFSA, visit www.consciousfoodsystems.org

Music Copyright: Frank Woeste

I am grateful to my friend the great jazz pianist Frank Woeste for the music in this podcast. It is from “Le Souffle de l'Eau" ("Water's breath"), a piece he composed and plays here with another amazing musician, Erik Truffaz, on the trumpet.  

I warmly encourage you to listen to the full, heart-stirring, recording here. 

Frank’s music is available on all major music platforms (Spotify, Deezer…).

In this episode, Charlotte Dufour shares the origin story, or rather one of the origin stories, of the Listening to the Earth Movement, which is an invitation to collectively tune into the wisdom & power of Nature during key political occasions and in our daily lives. 

She recounts what prompted the idea to offer meditations and moments of mindful moments of mindful connection to the Earth for the 2019 UN Climate Summit and in various events since, such as UNFCCC COPs.

More importantly, she describes what lies at the heart of this call to be Listening to the Earth: an invitation to transform our relationship with Nature by reconnecting to its wisdom. 

Music Copyright: Frank Woeste

I am grateful to my friend the great jazz pianist Frank Woeste for the music in this podcast. It is from “Le Souffle de l'Eau" ("Water's breath"), a piece he composed and plays here with another amazing musician, Erik Truffaz, on the trumpet.  

I warmly encourage you to listen to the full, heart-stirring, recording here. 

Frank’s music is available on all major music platforms (Spotify, Deezer…).

In this episode of the Listening to the Earth podcast, Cynthia Jurs, founder of the Gaia Mandala Global Healing Community, shares what she has learnt from listening to the Earth as she guided the planting of over 55 "Earth Treasures Vases" around the world, in support of Earth's healing and protection. 

She talks about the opportunity we are given to unleash our own treasures of creativity, find our tribe and engage joyfully in support of regeneration in the world.  She shares how the "great teacher", Gaia, can inspire a policy for our own lives, one which guides us to nourish what we want to see more of in the world. She also shares very practical ways whereby we can slow down and cultivate our connection with the natural world, honouring the fact that "we are the Earth". 

In addition to this interview, Cynthia guided a short 3 minute practice with the sounding of the bell, which you can use anytime of the day, when you need to pause and "return", as her teacher Thich Nhat Hahn invites us to do.  You will find it here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/991210/12699905

You can find out more about Cynthia's work, including the Earth Treasure Vases, the Full Moon Meditations and her teachings on Arya Gaia on www.gaiamandala.net. 

The artwork (thumbnail) is copyrighted to Autumn Skye and illustrates the Gaia Mandala. 
(The L2E podcast Jingle is by Hachim Chahidi) 

Take 2 minutes to "pause and return", with Cynthia Jurs (founder of the Gaia Mandala Global Healing Community) who guides us into a moment of connection to ourselves and Nature, accompanied by the sounding of the bell. 

You can listen to a full interview with Cynthia here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/991210/12699880

Illustration copyright is to Autumn Skye; it illustrates the Gaia Mandala (see www.gaiamandala.net) 

In this episode, Charlotte Dufour introduces SDG0, the Sustainable Development Goal of Love and Joy, the ultimate goal and activator of the 17 SDGs that compose Agenda 2030.

Reflecting on the meaning of this SDG, she explores what it is that brings us love and joy, in a world characterised by impermanence and relativity. She sees this SDG as an invitation to focus on the essentials, in our efforts to achieve the 17 SDGs: not just what we do, but how we do it. Not just how much we achieve, but how much we give and grow, as we try to reach these goals. 

Music Copyright: Frank Woeste

In this episode of the Listening to the Earth podcast, Zara Waldebäck shares her love of words and how they are precious companions in her connection with Nature. A source inspiration and guidance, she sees words as playmates that help us connect to our soul and the soul of life around us. 

Zara offers courses on "Writing with soul" in which she guides participants in discovering new dimensions of words and, through them, of the world within and around us.

Zara Waldebäck teaches nature awareness and creative soul practices, to help people connect with the Living World. Working with systemic nature constellations and rights of nature, she also developed Stories of Nature, an animate storytelling method to better hear the voice of the Earth. Part of the Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies, she teaches online and internationally, including Schumacher College UK, Aurora Italy, Hungary, Ireland, UK, China and Russia.

The conversation is hosted by Charlotte Dufour, co-founder of Listening Inspires, the NGO which hosts the Listening to the Earth podcast. 

Une série avec Charlotte Dufour, cofondatrice de Listening Inspires (Ecouter inspire).

Dans cet épisode, je présente une nouvelle série, dans le cadre du podcast "À l'écoute de la Terre" (Listening to the Earth), intitulée "Ecoute lumineuse pour temps turbulents".
Dans cette série, je propose de partager des idées et des inspirations liées aux défis de notre époque, qui proviennent de mon écoute des autres, de la nature et de ce que j'appelle mon "moi profond" (ou âme).   

Dans cet épisode, je contemple le pouvoir de l'écoute et je partage la façon dont j'ai découvert, au cours de la vingtaine d'années que je travaille sur la nutrition et les systèmes alimentaires, le pouvoir de l'écoute des autres comme moyen de créer des ponts entre disciplines et de jeter les bases d'une action conjointe malgré des agendas souvent divergents.

Le fait de travailler sur des questions complexes telles que les systèmes alimentaires durables - en particulier dans des pays touchés par des crises comme l'Afghanistan - m'a également amenée à apprécier la valeur (et même la nécessité) de l'écoute intérieure, pour trouver un endroit où se nourrir, par exemple par la pratique de la méditation. Cela m'a ouvert la porte au pouvoir de l'écoute de la Nature, m'amenant à apprécier le monde d'une toute nouvelle manière...

Je publierai des épisodes d'une dizaine de minutes tous les mois.
J'espère que vous vous joindrez à moi dans cette aventure de l'écoute.

Le prochain épisode portera sur le 18e objectif de développement durable sur l'amour et la joie. Il n'a pas été explicitement écrit, mais nous (l'équipe d'Ecouter inspire) le considérons comme le fondement de l'Agenda 2030 et l'appelons SDG 0. Nous y voyons le but ultime et l'activateur des 17 SDG. 
Restez donc à l'écoute, pour ce que j'espère être des moments lumineux et inspirants !


Copyright pour la musique : Frank Woeste

Je suis reconnaissant à mon ami, le grand pianiste de jazz Frank Woeste, pour la musique de ce podcast. Elle est tirée de "Le souffle de l'eau", un morceau qu'il a composé et joue ici avec un autre musicien extraordinaire, Erik Truffaz, à la trompette. 
Je vous encourage vivement à écouter l'enregistrement complet, à couper le souffle, ici. 
La musique de Frank est disponible sur toutes les grandes plateformes musicales (Spotify, Deezer...).

A series with Charlotte Dufour, co-founder of Listening Inspires.

In this episode, I introduce a new series, as part of the Listening to the Earth podcast, called "Luminous Listening in Troubled Times".
In this series, I offer to share insights and inspirations related to the challenges of our era, which come from my listening to others, to and Nature and what I call my "Deep Self" (or soul).   

Today, I reflect on the power of listening and share  how I have discovered, through my 20+ years of working on nutrition and food systems, the power of listening to others as a means of building bridges between disciplines and laying the foundations for joint action across often divergent agendas.

Working on complex issues such as sustainable food systems - in particular in crisis-affected countries such as Afghanistan - also led me to appreciate the value (and even necessity) of inner listening, to find a place of nourishment within, such as through the practice of meditation. This opened the door for me to the power of listening to Nature, leading me to appreciate the world in a whole new way...

I will post episodes of no more than 10 mins on a monthly basis, and hope you will join me in this inspiring adventure of listening. 

The next episode will be about the unwritten 18th Sustainable Development Goal on Love and Joy, which we call SDG 0 - the ultimate goal and activator of the 17 SDGs. 
So stay tuned, for what I hope will be luminous and inspiring moments!


Music Copyright: Frank Woeste

I am grateful to my friend the great jazz pianist Frank Woeste for the music in this podcast. It is from “Le Souffle de l'Eau" ("Water's breath"), a piece he composed and plays here with another amazing musician, Erik Truffaz, on the trumpet.  

I warmly encourage you to listen to the full, heart-stirring, recording here. 

Frank’s music is available on all major music platforms (Spotify, Deezer…).

In this short meditation, guided by Lissia Amach, we invite you to unite with the flow, majesty and life force of trees...

We wish you a regenerative moment of mindful connection to the Earth!

In this short meditation, guided by Myra Jackson, we invite you to connect to the life force and fluidity of the Freshwaters. The 1% of waters on our planet on which all life depends...

We wish you a regenerative moment of mindful connection to the Earth!