Blake Hestir
Blake Hestir (he/him) is interested in our shared lived experiences as a dimension of nature, how we think about and engage with nature, and what it means to live authentically and flourish.
Blake Hestir lives in Fort Worth, Texas, the sacred ancestral lands of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. He works as Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of CALM Studies at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.
He serves as lead director and co-founder of The Mind Body Ecology Institute and an advisor for the Dallas Movement Collective.
He enjoys nature wandering, guiding eco programs, playing guitar, storytelling, and dancing, and has journeyed throughout North America, Japan, South Korea, Europe, and Central America.
His teaching and scholarship are in the areas of ancient Greek philosophy, philosophy of mind, and phenomenology, as well as ecology and contemplative research.
He currently teaches the introductory courses Mind Consciousness Self, The Art and Science of Flourishing, and Mindfulness and Modern Life. He offers the upper-level courses Mind Body Ecology and Self and Selflessness.
These “experiential philosophy” courses weave discussions of theory, worldviews, and the lived experiences of individuals with exploration of evidence-based practices like mindfulness meditation and mindful movement, along with storytelling and journaling. The intersection of these elements helps students understand and think impactfully about the conceptual, cultural, and structural waters within which we swim while expanding their opportunities for success in work and life.
He is developing a book The Ecology of Flourishing (forthcoming 2027) and a journal article, “The Ecology of Self and Flourishing.” Relatedly, he has a co-authored paper with Mark Dennis (East Asian Studies, TCU Religion Department) “Flourishing as Practice and an Activism of Belonging,” in Women and Representation in Buddhist Asia (forthcoming SUNY).
Each of these projects centers on the patterns and contours of flourishing based on the fact that we “inter-are” with all living beings and the land, rather than existing as somehow separate from nature.
He is also author of Plato on the Metaphysical Foundation of Meaning and Truth (Cambridge, 2016) and has two forthcoming papers on the interdependent dynamics of language and being at Cambridge University Press and Ancient Philosophy.
He is a dual certified RYT-200 yoga instructor and a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher with additional training in Trauma-Informed Mindfulness through Holly Rogers’ Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults. He is currently training in Rochelle Calvert’s Healing with Nature: Trauma Care, a 12-month certification training on healing the physiology and psychology of trauma with the Earth. He has also twice participated in Inner/Outer Nature Ecodharma training and meditation retreat led by Johann Robbins, David Loy, Rochelle Calvert, Lin Wang Gordon, and Cornelia Santschi at the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center.
