Damien Norris on personal and collective rewilding

In this interview, I am speaking with Damien Norris, who I met at an Evolve Move Play retreat in Washington in Fall of 2021.  We were placed in a group together, called the Vikings, and shared interests drew us into conversation about how embodiment within nature can combine to transform individual and collective experience and perspective.   Damien is completing a PhD at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada that explores the links between human movement, philosophy (phenomenology), embodiment, nature connection and human wellness. In his twenties Damien retired from a career in elite gymnastics and began working as a community development and international aid worker and later as a criminal and civil lawyer, public guardian, university lecturer, philosopher and human rights consultant.  After twenty years of working a desk job Damien became a dad and was forced to confront his “fitness”. Desk bound and de-conditioned he reclaimed his fitness through practicing parkour in nature and urban settings. The story of Damien’s return to fitness was captured in a TEDxPerth2018 presentation, “It’s time to rewild”. This project set in motion a much deeper exploration of human movement, world travel and research that lead to his current PhD and a foundational understanding of the meaning of movement.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGNKHmt34gk Damien teaches, presents, mentors and leads workshops, in person and online, on subjects related to his PhD and can be contacted via email: damien_norris@sfu.ca