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From the author of The Zen of Climbing and The Craft of Bouldering, a manifesto for a new approach to connecting meaningfully with the wildness around and within us.
In recent years, we have woken up to the crucial role that nature plays in our well-being. As we live increasingly urbanized lives, we seek out wilderness and green space in times of hardship and turmoil, or simply for our leisure.
Weaving together ideas from spirituality, neuroscience, religious philosophy and art history, Francis Sanzaro argues that we obscure opportunities for real connections through our attachments, our anxieties, and simply through our egos. We rarely observe nature without subconsciously filtering out the parts that don't fit into our perfect snapshot.
To foster a genuine connection with the natural world, and to better protect it, we must embrace its contradictions as well as the surface beauty. Through deeper engagement with our environment, we can discover the wild within ourselves, too.
Nominated for the 2026 Reading the West Book Awards
“I love the idea of this book because I’m a sucker for philosophy. This book has the descriptions of a poet. Based on the author's personal, relatable experience in the Rocky Mountain West. It is not a quick read, but worth the effort of a deep read.” Cheryl Glenn, Last Chance Bookstore
Praise for the Zen of Climbing
"Climber Sanzaro ... writes simple but elegant, vivid prose to make his case for a unified approach to movement and mind ... An inspiring book aimed at rock climbers and other athletes that's ideal for both spirituality and sports psychology sections. Its emphasis on the virtues of cultivating mind-body awareness will also appeal to readers interested in New Age wisdom" Library Journal
'Written by a climber, and for climbers, there is no better book to get you started climbing with the right mindset." Adam Ondra, first person to climb 5.15c and 5.15d, multiple World-Cup Gold Medalist
"A skilled and experienced climber, Francis Sanzaro writes about his long-time application of Zen Buddhist mind-training techniques to overcome the difficulties of fear and enhance performance in life-challenging, climbing situations ... The lesson: we could bring this wisdom not only into climbing and other athletic pursuits but also into modern-day life in all its many aspects." John Baker, co-editor of Cutting through Spiritual Materialism and The Myth of Freedom
Swimming Naked Just Past Midnight on a Tuesday—Preface
Our Good Friend Adam
Liquid Trance
When the Student is Ready, the Shit Plant Appears
The Bigger The Beauty
Microtopia
Night Run
Big Nature
The Stuff of Nature
Attacking Planes with Arrows
The 1181 Saint
Soul Doctors
Cooking with Pathology
Our Biophillic Phantom Limb
Fuzzy Metrics
Starved Out of Plenty
Hippos in Alaska
Stimuli vs Sensatio
Wisdom of the Body
You Can’t Ignore Motherhood
Fully In a Body
When the Whole World Feels Like Leather
The Inescapable
Impersonal Forces
Skillful Means
Magrogan: A Cosmic Parent
Hidden Assumptions in Buddhism
Manicured Lawns in the Amazon
Self as Coin
Concept, Conception, Conceive
Nature in History
Hiking Mt Sinai
Puddle Run
To Be in a Body
Homeostasis
Sucking the Pus
In the Toxin is the Cure
Mono No Aware
The God of Harmonia
A Tale of Two Images
Nature’s Lack of Personality
Let it Realize Itself
The Formless Obsession
Luxury Assumption
The Experience Economy
Porcupines and Wine
Coda: The Sweet Spot