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Eleanor O’Hanlon is one of the most inspiring teachers I know. She has a vision of the oneness of Creation, that she has enabled me to see through her embodied, raw, visceral experience of relating to wild animals. She has this way of connecting with the animals on both a physical and a spiritual level… I can’t read her writing without tears streaming down my face because she makes so present that other reality that is moving through the visible, and she teaches you how to relate to that directly. She has been very influential for me.

At a recent retreat I lead in Yelapa, Mexico, I read passages to the group from Eyes of the Wild regarding the direct experience of Unity, the difficulty of staying with that deeper knowledge, and the spiritual guidance provided by nature and animals. I find Eyes of The Wild to be personally engaging, vividly and eloquently written, and a spiritually inspiring book.

Eleanor O’Hanlon goes to the ends of all the Earth - the Bering Strait, Siberia, the Arctic pack ice, the Caucasus mountains - and brings back writing that is full of knowledge, insight and deep emotion, telling you things you never knew, showing you things you would never have noticed, even if you’d been there with her.

Eleanor’s beautiful writing perfectly captures the sense of wonder as she gazes into the lives of the great whales. Without being religious I too recognise that sense of wonder and connectedness through immersion in the natural world where at heart we all belong.