How often do you wake up under a roof of leaves, in a self-made hut? Or just in the open air? Whether you slept well or not, whether the sun is shining or it is raining, there is a fire on which water boils and which is the heart of the camp. You can make this fire, read and understand. You run the camp together with the other (temporary) residents. Fetch wood, saw, make appointments, who knead the dough so that there is bread later? And what do you eat with that bread? Maybe fish? Where will you obtain that fish? Can you make a net to catch fish? You work on your projects, you are guided by the weather, seasons, that which is needed. Living by Nature.

It is more likely that you will wake up to your an alarm playing a radio station or your own tune. You first snooze the alarm twice before you start the day. A hot shower, clean clothes straight out of the closet. A few sandwiches or maybe a smoothie with some exotic fruit. And off to work by bike or in the car. Meetings, reports, customers, budgets. Tired and satisfied in the evening or disappointed by boss or colleagues back home. Or maybe you have the care of children, household, caregiving. Who’s not busy anyway? Or never worries about money, home, family, future?

That it used to be better, of course, goes without saying. But it was different, very different! And biologically, emotionally and mentally, we are still that human being of old. Only with a lot of comforts now in our society. This means that we spend an awful lot of hours behind screens and sit on all kinds of seating surfaces, get oxygen through climate control systems and can eat all kinds of fruit or vegetables all year round.

As convenient as our facilities and inventions are, it does not meet the primal needs of the hunter and collector in us. We also want to go outside! Just how you do that again, that being outside, that’s what we as modern people have forgotten. There are now all kinds of possibilities; things you can do outside. Either you can watch a movie indoors, or you can go outside, hike or bird watching and much more. Anyone who likes to be outside and in nature knows the terms, Survival, outdoor and probably bushcraft as well. We introduce the term Living by Nature. What’s the difference?

• Outdoor activities; are all kinds of things you can do outside. It is a kind of umbrella term that includes a lot of activities.
• Survival; this is aimed at ‘surviving’ in nature following a sudden and unintended event. At Survival you try to make contact with the inhabited world as soon as possible and go back to it.
• Bushcraft; this is often a hobby in which all kinds of nature techniques and crafts are learned, studied and applied. Both modern and primitive techniques are used interchangeably.
• Living by Nature; this is the whole of nature skills, primitive crafts, social skills, self-knowledge and perception, which are necessary to be able to consciously stay in nature for a longer period based on Native possibilities. Natural materials and old techniques are mainly used.

What we do

We’ll teach you to truly experience being outdoors again. No loose activities but the whole of what we call Living by Nature. When we go for a walk, we see where which plants grow, useful for when you need them! We will be aware of animals noticing us and learn to interpret their reactions. We ‘ll learn about them warning others about our presence. We’ll notice a roedeer fleeing away because it heard the birds being alarmed. We’ll notice the changes in the air and learn to determine a change of weather We’ll notice the fallen tree, determine it’s species and realise it’s use. Is there anything for us now? Maybe we can use the fibres to make rope or strings. A completely different experience from your regular stroll. A trully valuable experience!

But with a Living by Nature look you will experience, hear and see more.
We teach you to see, feel and understand the coherence so that you become part of the whole. We are nature! Whether we’re between walls or not, we’re part of a larger cycle. And the more you learn and experience about it, the better you will feel even when you ‘have to’ do other things.

For whom.

Are you Living by Nature yet? Everyone is part of nature, even if you live in a flat in the middle of the city. Just not everyone is in the middle of it or wants to delve into it. We see in everyone a potential Living by Nature person provided you want to delve into the aspects that come with this. We sometimes get asked if we also live vegan or vegetarian. Although we support these personal visions, this does not fit within a hunter / collector and Living by Nature philosophy.

Think about all modern things. No houses, no supermarket, no washing machine no cars not even roads. What you do have is endless nature, trees, swamp, plains mountains, sun, cold, wind and rain. Imagine having to pick wood, make fire, repair your clothes, braid baskets to build a new hut or a canoe or a sled. You’re up all day. If so, a nettle soup with some seven-leaf and dandelion is not enough to provide the necessary energy. Many things depend on season, fruits, nuts and seeds. Of course you can preserve some for later, but not everything. Our chickens lay an egg all year round! But that’s not common at all! How should a chick survive in winter? In terms of food, fish and also meat are absolutely necessary. Oh, and that’s just food.

Clothing was made of skins (buckskin) super soft leather. Without warm clothes you wouldn’t make it in most of Europe in the cold months and vegetable clothing just can’t to the extent you use it, the effort it takes to make, the wear and how hot you would be.

If you want the knowledge of the way of life, that’s basically all part of it. If you want leather clothing, it makes sense that you also know the process of skinning, cleaning and preparing. And if the animal is killed for us, then we also use everything we can use. Bones, tendons, a bladder, for example. You can make the most beautiful and useful objects with that.

Respect for nature and specifically for animals and what we ‘take’ is incredibly important. In fact, we notice to everyone who becomes Living by Nature that this goes all natural. The more you become a part of nature, the more passionate you become and the more careful you are with everything that is there. We don’t just do anything, everything gets a function.

We focus on nature lovers who want to go beyond survival, bushcraft or being outside. We expect that you want to learn our Living by Nature knowledge, live on and also apply it yourself.

Our Passion (what we stand for)

We are passionate about how people lived thousands of years ago. All the knowledge and skills they possessed. And about how everything is related when you look from a natural perspective. We see how people learn, grow and enjoy working in and with nature. That’s what we’re doing it for. We stand for, pure, authentic, good theory, practical experience and personal support. Because people didn’t live alone in the past, we pay a lot of attention to working together as a team.

Our Motivation (what we go for!)

We bring people back to themselves, to their knowledge of nature and the opportunity to live with nature. All our activities are based on life as Hunters and Collectors. We teach our students and students the skills needed to stay in nature for a longer period of time. This goes beyond what is usually meant by bushcraft. An important part of our offer is the annual training. In addition, a group of people will delve into all techniques and crafts for a year. We are the only Living by Nature school that offers this in the Netherlands. In our individual courses we also work as far as possible in the natural way.

Where it leads

We train people in the basics in nature skills. But you learn so much more:

• Theoretical knowledge about all areas that fit Living by Nature and long-term stay in nature.
• Practical experience, all subject matter is applied in practice.
• Teamwork, collaboration and group dynamics.
• Knowledge about psychological aspects of Living by Nature
• Learn to see how everything is related in nature.
• Knowledge of cause and effect, learning to read signals
• Functioning under stress. It’s not always easy. Nature is not a supermarket. You learn to work focused under different situations.
• More alert living, greater perception also in daily society
• Self-knowledge, also your own signals, hunger, thirst fatigue which expands into experience and behavior and interaction.
• Knowledge of others, it is important to recognize the signals in another person. If someone gets hypothermia, you recognize dehydration.
• Planning and thinking ahead, how long are you working on a task, how much energy does it cost, so how are you going to plan this. You make a fire first, and then you go hunting? Or vice versa and why?
• Knowledge of the surroundings, it matters where you build your hut or where you burn your fire.
• Living more consciously in modern society
• Being good in your ‘skin’
• After the annual training possibility of further / instructor training.

What it does to people

We notice it ourselves and we hear it back from our participants. The experience of workshops, courses and outdoor living has an impact on people’s daily lives. The trees in the street suddenly look different. People are more alert, see more and many of our participants feel more connected to nature. Sometimes we get participants who are in a difficult situation or have finished. We are proud that they give back that in a weekend forest they can make a leap forward. Without deliberately sending this and without explaining or explaining this, we know that this can happen. It’s the extras people can take with them.