ECOPSYCHOLOGY “If the earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating a few feet above a field somewhere, people would marvel at it. People would walk around it marveling at its big pools of water, its little pools, and the water floating between the pools. People would marvel at the bumps on it, and holes in it, and they would marvel at the very thin layer of gas surrounding it and the water suspended in the gas. The people would marvel at all the creatures walking around the surface of the ball, at all the creatures in the water. The people would declare it precious because it was the one, and they would protect it so that it would not be hurt. The ball would be the greatest wonder known, and people would come to behold it, to be healed, to gain knowledge, to know beauty and to wonder how it could be. People would love it and defend it with their lives, their own roundness could be nothing without it. If the earth were only a few feet in diameter.”
“Earth Ball” by Olaf Skarsholt (Clinebell, 1996) It is possible to experience nature, and even the environment you live and work in, as being nurturing and enlivening whilst also helping to heal and nurture the Earth. Ecopsychology and ecotherapy are emerging fields that provide principles and practices for developing a more conscious and sustainable relationship with nature, world and spirit. Here is a path of discovery for a way of being that provides soulful wellness, fulfilment and an enlivened connection with home, workplace and the whole living earth community for an eco-conscious present and sustainable future. Consider the Earth
Olaf Skarsholt’s “Earth Ball” invites each of us to contemplate the nature of our own relationship with the Earth. By considering the Earth as a beautiful ball within our sight, feeling and care this simple imaginative exercise calls forth our wonder and compassion for the planet. It invites us to recognize the reciprocal relationship that lies at the heart of our nurture by nature. As we become conscious of being more connected with the whole Earth we are naturally drawn toward earth care as an act of mutual recognition and expression of love. We begin to experience our own soul life as an active relationship with the soul and presence of nature and the world. Nature can be our healer, teacher and guide. For some it can even be a deep and enlivening companion and friend. Through simple practices each time you bring your awareness and presence to nature you can learn how to open to nature nurture! This receptive and gifting connection with nature involves a developing bond between you and the earth. It can enable you to become increasingly authentic and empowered as a soul living and expressing your true nature, life force and care for the planet. Being in nature and your whole life in this way can free you of stresses, bring healing, rekindle your joy and vitality, reawaken you to the sacred, and bring new insights and meaning, including a growing clarity of your life purpose and vision in relation to the soul of the world. Restoring soul
Ecopsychology is a relatively new professional field linking ecology with psychology. Ecology is the study of the dynamic relationships between all living things. Psychology, on the other hand, studies the care of the human psyche or soul. Ecopsychology, emphasizes that an interdependent wellness relationship exists between our care of the soul and care of the Earth. One of the primary goals of ecopsychologists is the facilitation of artistries of conscious living that help foster both personal and planetary wellness. The remarkably significant message of ecopsychology is that key practices exist whereby our personal and planetary wellbeing can be mutually promoted. One of the relationships that ecopsychology explores is between a person’s health and surroundings. Our home as our most immediate living area is one environment we all tend to recognize as influencing our happiness, health and wellbeing. Whilst most of us aim to create quality home environments that enhance wellness this is often only very partially achieved. This seems surprising until we realize it reflects the profound soul loss of our consciousness, culture and time. Suzanne Lewarne, professional counsellor and consultant for ‘Your Sacred Space’ explains “many people don’t recognize their homes are actually living environments that reflect back their personal state of being and inner reality. In working with their need to develop a more conducive home environment we often find that in losing recognition of this link they have also lost their own sacred connection to themselves, their environment and their world.” The same might be said for our work and public environments. I have found through my own professional corporate consultancy work as an ecopsychologist that people can learn how to re-establish this embodied and alive connection with these restored environments and themselves. Such a practice is an active way to help care for the soul and spirit of both person and place. Outcomes of ecotherapy
The restoration of health, wellbeing and soul through contact with nature and more whole home, workplace and public environments is sometimes referred to as ecotherapy. Research citing the potential healing aspects of a wide range of projects in ecotherapy has been published extensively in medical, leisure, psychological and other journals. This includes studies on the wellness and psychological benefits of time in the wilderness, transformational rites of passage experiences, involvement in conservation projects and contact with wildlife and smaller animals. It is reasonable to expect that the results of these studies would reflect our own common experience: that being in quality, non-urban, natural environments can deeply restore us. Participants in these ecotherapy studies have included business leaders, leadership trainees, those seeking self-actualization, distressed people and children with emotional and behavioural problems. Reported outcomes were wide ranging depending on the nature based involvement. They also extended well beyond the general deeply restorative consequences frequently reported – that being in nature is therapeutic and healing. Apart from the typical health benefits associated with exercise, other outcomes were: improved self-image, better employment prospects, more realistic self-reports of weaknesses and strengths, a sense of greater self-sufficiency with respect to their use of time and talents, improved group participation, an increased sense of concern for others, enhanced self-image and humility, self-actualization, the feeling of being part of a greater system connecting beyond the individual, and increased likelihood of spiritually uplifting experiences. The triangular balance
True ecotherapy involves more than using nature to derive positive physical, psychological or even spiritual benefits for oneself or others. It involves a mutually beneficial and sustainable interaction within a whole system where is also benefit for the Earth. Susan Moylan-Coombs, a Gurindji Woman living in Guringai Country (north of Sydney), explains this distinction between use through ownership (this land is mine) and identification, kinship and belonging (this land is me) from an indigenous aboriginal perspective in her teaching called “The Triangular Balance” (personal communication): “In the film ‘One Night the Moon’, Paul Kelly’s character, the white settler sang ‘this land is mine…..’ while the Aboriginal tracker, played by Kelton Pell sang ‘this land is me…….’ The white settler sang about his defined ownership over the land, the black tracker sang about the rocks, water, animals and trees as a part of him, ‘they are my song…..’ For Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples there is a deep bond and reciprocal relationship between humans and country. This landscape or Mother Earth is a part of us and we are a part of her. We are born of the land, we walk the land and when we die we go back to the land. We identify ourselves within the landscape which we are connected to. There is a synergistic relationship, that when broken, suffering occurs. For the environment, there is ecological destruction, for humans, grief, despair and sickness. If we do not listen to the wisdom of our Elders we will travel too far down the path of destruction. We need to care for this country, we need to reconnect to this country because when we do there will be healing for both. If we look beyond the surface of the seamless beauty and unity between Indigenous people and country, there exists, on a deeper and more fundamental level of Being, an expression of life lived out of the same absolute source, called Spirit. The triangular balance in life is the harmony that exists between the human world, natural world and the spirit world. Our identities are embedded within this and the balance as humans in the landscape and within the Dreaming. Meaning is found everywhere in our stories, songs and dances and in the soundscapes and rhythms of Mother Earth. As our self identity is entwined with nature, the loss of those songs, dances, stories and sacred places is far more devastating, than often understood. With Indigenous people’s soundscapes and oral traditions being replaced with the contemporary emphasis on the written word, we as a nation continue to become impoverished. When we only perceive meaning about the world around us through text and not through our sense, then life’s natural magic is lost. As the human mind is shaped by the world we live in, contemporary western society is starting to recognize that the escalating spread of pain and despair being felt by people is a direct result and response to the continual destruction of the environment. This destruction has occurred at the hands of our own species, which makes one doubt the intelligence and wisdom of mankind in destroying his own backyard. This destruction is not likely to end, until human beings regain an identity and bonding with Mother Earth. This land is mine..….(or)… This land is me…….’ In her final statement “This land is mine…. This land is me” Susan is inviting all of us to choose whether our soul life embraces this deeper identification and emotional bond with the Earth. Personal soul ecology
The message of ecopsychology parallels that of indigenous wisdom – our human soul is an integral part of, and most naturally at home in connection with the Earth through nature. This sense of earthy belonging can arise simply at times for many of us – whether at a beach, in a rainforest, in the garden, at a place where nature has been disturbed or harmed, or in an almost endless array of possibilities and times. These moments are characterized by an experience of connection with our surroundings where our sense of self opens to, and may even identify or merge with nature in some way. A wide range of personal experiences are possible in these moments. There may be an appreciation of nature’s beauty, strength, its capacity to thrive, or recognition of its suffering. Depending on the experience you may feel a sense of wellbeing, wonder, joy, inspired, energized, compassionate concern, or even anger, dismay. These indicate that an empathic or emotional bond is present. Theodore Roszak (2001), one of the founders of ecopsychology, says this indicates we have moved our awareness from our ‘ecological unconscious’ (a sense of self that is separate from nature) into our ‘ecological ego’, our earth caring, ecological self. The nature and quality of your personal soul ecology depends on the dynamics of how you are within yourself and in relation to life. Social and corporate ecology
Opening into an ecotherapy bond with nature, others and our world promotes the wellness, healing and soul alignment with Spirit so many of us seek. As we attune to our inner and outer environments a deeper sense of relatedness arises (our ecological self!). This can lead into a more authentic, fulfilled and active participation with our true self, and those we live and work with. The skills in how to attain this state for a more holistic sense of success and meaning, conscious relating and sustainable living can be taught. Imagine the benefits for each of us, our organizations and our planet if individuals, businesses and all people learnt how to do this! As an ecopsychologist and director of Earth Institute I see remarkable results from consultancy and training programs when this personal, social and corporate ecology is actively taught, supported and lived. The current crucial transformation to more ecologically aware, soul-centered living and working requires Earth conscious, socially responsive actions by individuals, business, government and organizations. As psychologists discuss the need for a new diagnostic mental health category of ‘ecological despair’ it is important to realize that apathy, denial, guilt and overwhelm are less than healthy responses to the challenges we face. The call of our time requires a shift in the human psyche from the ecological unconscious to living the principles and practices of ecopsychology and ecotherapy. These can actively empower personal and corporate transformation, consciousness and social responsibility for our intentioned and preferred future. Living dialogues
Awakening to deep attunement with one’s true nature and the Earth can be a powerful soul threshold experience. Participants of earth retreats, rites of passage vision quests and work / life transition programs offered by the Institute frequently provide moving accounts of peak experiences in nature. These programs differ from other nature based experiences by providing a psychologically appropriate structure, process and support where deep transformational experiences can be effectively integrated into the individual’s sense of self, life and work. In simple terms, however, I am reminded by the wise words of one of my teachers, the anthropologist and shaman Michael Harner who said: “The shaman sees with the eye of the Heart.” Seeing, hearing, feeling, sensing or knowing nature’s guidance, healing and empowerment directly in any moment is both a natural way of being and an enchanted adventure of discovery. Relearning this natural art requires intentionality, openness in one’s embodiment and feeling, trust, surrender, the preparedness to consciously be with whatever arises within and around oneself, and sometimes guidance and support in the right setting. The artistry of a living dialogue involves the responsiveness of one’s essence with the heart and soul of the world. This is perhaps the most crucial form of relatedness and social action anyone could now engage in. All positive change flows from this authentic and soulful form of dialogue. Our personal, social and corporate lives need to awaken to this ecological congruence and relatedness with the Earth. The presence of an alive and aware Earth awaits and needs our conscious presence in every moment. This need is mutual. Our soul life and wellness needs living dialogues of Earth care. Here are five steps toward embracing ecotherapy as a way of life: 1. Read and live in accordance with the Earth Charter www.earthcharter.org
2. Live ‘nature nurture’ – openly connect with nature and design an eco-conscious lifestyle where the ecological circle of self-care, earth-care and soul-care becomes established in your life (Clinebell, 1996).
3. Apply the principle of simple eco-living so all life may simply live.
4. Practice nature awareness, eco-meditation and earth retreats that build your relatedness with bodily feeling, sensing, hearing and knowing the voice of the soul, nature and spirit.
5. Pro-actively endorse and encourage the commitment, actions and transformation necessary for living personal, social and corporate ecology in alignment with the Earth Charter Article published in Wellbeing Magazine, August issue #111. www.wellbeing.com.au
Paul Perfrement is Director of the Earth Institute - a college, consultancy and centre for life and work fulfilment and care of the future. Located in Sydney, we provide education and development opportunities to address the current challenges facing individuals, organisations and the global community. We offer a series of professional studies, individual consultations, life programs and corporate and coaching services in these and other exciting areas: Shamanic and Energetic Healing; Contemporary Astrology; Corporate Services; Psychodrama; Shamanic Journey; Eco Meditation and lots more.
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