Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest from author Robin Easton is a beautiful and emotionally moving, book that highlights her life in the Australian Rainforest. It brings the reader through awe and wonder-filled moments, adventurous stories and soul stirring experiences. A delight for the nature lover and adventure seeker, it bridges the gap between our natural world and the cry of the human spirit to be re-united with it once again.
Every so often there comes a book, written by someone that touches the world and the reader’s mind, heart and soul in the most profound of ways. It tugs at our heart strings, expands our mind of how we see things, and awakens our soul. It evokes deep emotion of every kind, and lets laughter and tears both flow freely. It connects ideas for us, that up to this moment stayed disconnected. It raises our awareness. It reminds us of who we truly are. It inspires us to be more.
This is how I felt upon reading Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest by Robin Easton.
In this review I would like to share with you my thoughts on this book, although I say right up front that I truly don’t know if any words I share with you here about this book, will do this book justice. It is a book one feels, and needs to experience to understand its depth and passion. It is a book that is lived, not just read, that has the power to transform us at the core of our being.
About the Author
Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest was just released in September 2010. It is written by Robin Easton is an author, speaker, musician, nature photographer, artist and adventurer.
Robin loves to hike, camp, canoe, kayak, swim and garden. She has a profound love for nature, whom she credits for her transformational awakening. At the age of 25, Robin left the United States to live in the remote, tropical Rainforest – the Daintree – in Queensland, Australia. She then spent much of her adult life in wild and remote areas.
Her adventures and experiences in nature lead her to connect and awaken to the beauty of life, getting in touch with herself and all of life, remembering who she really is and truly living out the love that we all are on every level of life.
You can read more of Robin’s writing, which she shares on Naked in Eden.
Format and Content
Naked in Eden is a book composed of 10 chapters, along with an author’s note and a short, not-to-be-missed introduction that sets an incredible tone for the entire book. It is composed of over 300 pages, which are a relatively fast read due to the energy that draws the reader into its every page, and makes time almost stand still.
The 10 chapters are as follows:
- Chapter 1 – The Journey Begins
- Chapter 2 – Wierdos and Washouts
- Chapter 3 – The Old Man by the Sea
- Chapter 4 – Goin’ Troppo
- Chapter 5 – Things Eating Things
- Chapter 6 – The Way of the Earth
- Chapter 7 – There is No Separation
- Chapter 8 – Crocodiles, Feral Pigs and Pitch Black
- Chapter 9 – Do Not Intervene
- Chapter 10 - I Am an Animal
As there is some Australian vocabulary used, Robin has also included a glossary at the back of the book to understand the usage of these words.
Personal Commentary
My friends, this is the toughest review I have ever had to write thus far, as I truly feel no words in the world can describe the depth, energy and power of this book.
In a summarized description, the book is profoundly transformational and a joyously incredible read! It is nothing short of a masterpiece, as one is not only reading Robin’s words and her experiences of awakening in the Australian Rainforest, but one is also going through an awakening of their own. The awakening to the sacredness of nature as our greatest teacher, healer and lover. Through this book, Robin gives each of us a gift to open up to the power of nature’s love, intelligence, our connection to all there is and ignite a sacred love for life.
As some of you know, Robin is a dear friend to me, and while some may think this would surely skew the bias of what I write, I became interested in Robin’s work and writing first and foremost over 2 years ago, and then developed a friendship with her. To read something from this woman, to feel her energy even through the medium of the Internet, is enough to be moved and personally transformed for life.
The other reason, why I hold such praise for this book, is because I am a huge lover of nature myself – I feel ‘her‘ within ‘me’ and as ‘me’. I felt Robin’s words and experiences, as if they could be my own. I share her sentiments about the state of this Earth, what we have done and what we can do. Nature is also MY greatest teacher and healer as well, even though I feel I am just beginning to experience the profound depth she holds for me, compared to what Robin experienced as portrayed in this book. Nature, Robin, my personal awakening is also one of the reasons why today I choose to live in a more remote and natural area on this precious planet.
With the Earth wrapped around me I was alive instead of isolated, sterile, and dead. As I woke to full consciousness I began to grasp my place in the scheme of things, and my realization of the equality of all life was born.
Robin Easton, Naked in Eden
When I first picked up this book, I truly delighted with glee like a child who has just received a gift they have been longing for. I knew about this book in the making for about 2 years now, and couldn’t wait to experience it myself. Holding that book for the first time, I felt Robin’s energy and soul more deeply than I have thus far. The book was finally here and I shared in Robin’s extreme joy of putting together her experiences on paper, which have changed and shaped her to become who she is today.
Upon opening the book, I read every single page, and all that it contained from cover to cover. The introduction is incredible as it grabs the reader’s attention and sets an incredible tone of adventure for the book. This is not some fairytale, this is not some made up drama, or sci-fi story – this is the true story of coming face to face with life, healing and experiencing the sacred connection to all of life by one particular young woman.
As I begin to read chapter after chapter, I truly did not want to put the book down. Had my personal obligations at this time, not required it of me, I would have read this book in one sitting, whether it took 10 hours or 16 hours.
I also learned that there is nowhere to “be”; we’re already there. Everything we need is right in front of us.
Robin Easton, Naked in Eden
Here is a young woman, who was dying physically, emotionally and spiritually in our typical day-to-day fabricated society. One day with her husband, she embarked on a journey that would not only transform her, but heal her and fully bring her back to life and to herself, to truly know herself on every level. They decided to live in the remote Daintree tropical rainforest of Australia, indefinitely, with just basic supplies.The courage Robin exemplifies throughout the journey leaves one speechless
Amidst some of the most dangerous creatures and circumstances on this Earth, Robin sharpens her awareness and connects to all life, truly understanding for the first time ever who she is and what ‘oneness‘ truly means. From humorous bandicoots and wallabies to life threatening obstacles, she lives the delicate balance of life and death. She experiences her own “Eden“, nothing short of “Heaven.”
As she sheds away the layers of pain, her old conditioning, societally induced limitations, and moves through her fears, she strips away both emotional and physical layers that no longer serve, to expose who she really is. She truly is “naked in Eden.”
Mother Nature began her work of stripping away the fabrication I’d called “my life”. She spoke directly to my innermost self, and the human-animal within me heard her voice, picked up its ears and grew restless.
The contrast between who I really am and the role I’d tried to fill in society was so great it was beyond understanding.
Robin Easton, Naked in Eden
When I reached the ending, I hungered for more. Thus, I am delighted to hear that there will be a sequel, and perhaps Robin will even make it a trilogy.
I appreciated so many things about Robin’s style of writing and literary talents throughout this book. One of those things was that even though this type of story has the potential to be a “typical Hollywood drama“, Robin did not play into that energy once. There was no artificial suspense or drama built up at any point along the story. Every experience was raw and real, as if we were all there living it out next to Robin.
I also appreciate Robin’s vulnerability and courage to write all that she had, as often her experiences touched upon very personal and intimate areas of her life. Robin shared it all, with the authenticity in which it came.
What else I found just perfect, was that as I held a question of how this or that was done in the midst of living so remotely, Robin answered it usually in the next paragraph or page. And the poetry at the end of every chapter provided by Russell Hume was a perfectly beautiful addition.
I shared with you here but a few quotes from Naked in Eden, of the dozens of the amazingly profound pieces of love and wisdom that the book holds. It was impossible to pick my favorite, as every piece of wisdom held special meaning for me, and I wanted to share it all with you the readers.
This book is suited for anyone both young and old, and will encompass a wide variety of audiences as it reaches out to us from a sense of adventure first and foremost, as it brilliantly weaves in messages of awakening, love and wisdom.
No matter how scientific, educated or advanced we become, our whole society appears unconscious. We seem to accept our separation from other species as an established reality.
Robin Easton, Naked in Eden
Robin, thank you for taking me, and anyone else who reads this book on an incredible adventure – a journey of a lifetime. Thank you also for allowing us into the deepest, most intimate parts of your life as you experienced the magic, the beauty and the transformational healing from nature. It was a humbling pleasure to get to know you more intimately and understand better how it is that you are the unconditionally loving, kind, joyful, connected and emotionally-rich being that you are today.
May we all continue to awaken to the connection and sacredness of all life, and heal ourselves, as we heal our great Mother.
You can read more reviews and get your own copy of Naked in Eden from Amazon.com below: