© Catherine Meeson 29.11.2015
Firstly, a little about why this work is important to me. I experienced what it was like to be uprooted throughout my whole childhood. From place to place, and then to a different country. I had to adapt and shift with every new location.  In my life experience often the only source of deep healing I could access  with unconditional holding came from the natural world. I always sought out nature to heal, I would walk and seek out what I could following the knowing of instinct without having the now proven findings of science to explain why it was good to do so.  Such findings include affects on all body systems, neurochemistry, biochemistry, hormones, brain wave state, mental emotional harmonisation, spiritual kinship with the community of and foundations for life. The earth was my friend, her life forms, the plants, animals, minerals and elements, my friends, my allies. At the age of 12 I had my first conservation planting experience and from there, the love steadily grew, the commitment to be a voice for the community of life and to build bridges of understanding and empathy and relation became a core element of who I was. Earth was my teacher my instincts and intuition my guides. So I vowed to serve however I could and this is crystallising into unique arts eco therapy approaches, blending a diverse field of multi disciplinary findings and lived experience through creative methodology and  transpersonal arts based research .

The great travesty of the 20th and early 21st centuries is that the collective carries wounded instincts and we are not largely allowed by our cultural models to live as natural human beings, for our created government and corporate legislations have bound us so tight we can barely breathe. People seeking to restore balance are prosecuted for daring to step outside of the control paradigm. Living off grid, walking the land; growing ones own food is not permitted in some places. Many are displaced from their ancestral homelands, the many being of all species. We are living in the era of  the mobilisation of all life and the era of the anthropocene where it is penned, that  humans have become as powerful, as major geological forces, leaving their imprint on the strata of future timelines.

Context aside. In term 4 my class expanded doubling in size, it is proving not just a creative outlet and nurturing space for the children, but a way to make friendships and build community as well, which is fantastic. I have penned a new sideline for Creative Therapeutic Encounters which is ‘ ‘Developing imagination and creativity whilst learning about ourselves and the world’.

Our theme this term, was Environment and pollution. My job is to guide the expression of feeling and thought and the embodiment in action by the children. We started with a site specific walk to immerse in the sense of place, of the sight sounds and the concept of an eco-system. Class room learning will only provide intellectual mental level connection, if at all. It will not inspire lifelong committed earthly citizens. So there is always an educational aspect to this work, but at a level they can understand. Eynesbury township is located  fringing on an  Old Greybox  forest, the trees  have sparse foliage and there are a few shrub type plants. Population is mostly birds, insects, and reptiles (one would guess) and maybe passing marsupials. No doubt there would have been many more species before settlement and the introduction of foxes and rabbits. The surrounding area was divided into farm land. 

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The children were asked to collect a gift that spoke to them from their nature walk. We used this as a starting point for reflection. We sketched out the basic concept of beginning middle and end following a stereotypical descent and rebirth sort of pattern, where the descent was the crisis and the rebirth the solution and celebration of new life.  The children became the land, the animals and the river and spoke from the perspective of their new identities. It is my hope this helps to increase awareness, empathy and relation to and with the world around them.

Richard Louve is a well known figure educating about the benefits of nature and the affect that a loss of that same connection is having on our kids  (If you  remove life forms  from the  community that supports them,  the community falls apart, community as in indigenous and systems thinking / ecosystem). Other prominent figures bringing much needed perspective to our western ways include Craig Chalquist, Amos Clifford and The Forest Therapy Association. There are many people in diverse fields of Eco Psychology such as Bill Plotkin, and many Indigenous practices and environmental ecological fields such as Spiritual and Deep Ecology rising up to remind us of what we so desperately need to remember, that our relation to earth goes way beyond economics, that economics really is an aberration and part of the problem of the consumptive mindset and base desires that is fast leading to the 6th great extinction. The same timeless utterances come down to us from the Ancients from practices such as Daoism, Buddhism and vanquished pagan and  global shamanic practises. It is the nature of life that the timeless wisdoms have to be rearticulated in every age and culture over time. Out task is how to carry this knowledge over to the laymen and women in a language they can understand, where they can get it at the embodied level.
Now I do not discuss these former things with the children. But they do find their way into other therapeutic and educational work I have been engaged in.
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Life in the Old Gum Valley- was the name of our play and it was a celebration of the life of the valley and what happens when something goes wrong. We wrote two simple songs together. I played guitar and  sang and the children played percussion instruments and also sang. In our play we also had a Park Ranger, an Aboriginal man as teacher to the ranger, a Villain and a Police women; we are connecting into the archetypal nature of these characters and what they hold / represent. (What I often refer to as Archetypal Alchemy- embodying the archetypes or archetypal energies to serve intention- explore, express, heal). The valley experienced a poacher stealing all the animals and polluting the waters. We explored what this would be like in song.
 
These people these people
They’re polluting our Lands
These people these people
They don’t understand
These people these people
They’re polluting our lands
It’s like we are living
In a fantasy land
 
I helped the children articulate and craft the song and suggested a melody, the words were all theirs.
Our villain was tracked down by the ranger and the Aboriginal man and arrested, the waters were cleared up, the animals returned and life restored to balance.

Our home is happy in the Old Gum Valley
The water is pure our home is safe
Our home is happy in The Old Gum Valley
The trees are moving Our home is improving
Our home is Happy in the Old Gum Valley
We’re all together and we’re safe again
Our home is Happy in the Old Gum valley x2
 
At this moment I can only share with you a picture of the masks some of the children wore. I am seeking permissions to use/ access some photos.

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The work was performed at the Rockbank End of Year Community Celebrations  at the Rockbank Community Hall to Rockbank Primary school and other members of the Philippino and Islander Communities, Community Gardens members and other groups associated with the Neighbourhood House programs by Melton City  council. We had a total of seven weeks to pull this off and we did it.
If this work interests you please enquire, I can facilitate and cater for Eco Arts programs for you or any other social justice /social welfare issues both creatively, and experientially with therapeutic  and educational benefits to enhance well being.

Triple Ecology Collective Associated Inc Victoria is planning the second Triple Ecology gathering in the Yarra Valley region to explore and deepen work along these themes. I will be offering a workshop there in April. Stay tuned for details and tickets in January.

Triple Ecology- Arts Activism- Healing the tree of Life Workshop with Catherine Meeson
Experiential multi modal, guided response, media and presence. Co creating a Healing Ecology.
I will also be hosting The Open Mic at the Event and the Creative Visioning Space.

Links of Interest
 
http://www.natureandforesttherapy.org/
http://richardlouv.com/
http://www.terrapsych.com/
http://www.animas.org/
http://www.childrenandnature.org/
 

Triple Ecology Gathering- Sonic Relations How sound is the world? Blog 21st August 2015

© Catherine Meeson words and pictures

A Sharing of Deep Sacred and Healing Ecologies at Kinglake April 24-26 2015

The Triple Ecology Gathering came about by a collective dreaming and happened to manifest  in direct alignment with some workshops I had been offering titled ‘Healing Persons Healing Communities Healing Planet- An Empathic Visionary Practice’. This also came close on the heals of finding the Be the Change Community and doing the Awakening the dreamer Changing the Dream Symposium leader training of Pachamama Alliance. At this time I started to see just how many others were saying the same things as I was and in what fields they were active and these fields had names. They were not just indigenous and tribal peoples, but scientists theologians, activists artists, every shade and colour of humanity one could think of. This was very heartening to me as I had felt very alone in my perspectives and work for a long time. I had been presenting workshops which deal with healing of person and planet through creative arts methods and incorporating a whole lot of spiritual wisdom and scientific perspective from an artists and healers orientation.

So the Triple Ecology Collective was dreamed into being by a small group of mostly women but a few gentleman and we began the work of event planning with a  focus on the three ecologies and also linking in to the global knowledge and lore commons around the triple theme in all its incarnations. On our first dreaming day in Warburton we planted our intention by the river with the trees as witness and the waters to hear our prayers. Our children played by the river, they who are the future  they for who we do this work, as well as the earth herself  and the whole life communities. To summarise- we defined the ecologies as-

DEEP ECOLOGY –IS DISSOLVING THE SEPARATION BETWEEN HUMAN AND NATURE

SACRED ECOLOGY –ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE NATURAL WORLD  REQUIRES REVERENCE AND  UNDERSTANDING

HEALING ECOLOGY –TWO WAY EXPERIENCE OF HEALING BETWEEN HUMAN AND EARTH

Many people were invited to come camp out with us and host workshops along these themes. Our home ended up being Kinglake which was so devastatingly affected by fire in the black Saturday fires a few years back. Our site host lost his whole Wildnerness Park facilities and had to rebuild. The Trees spoke to us all weekend. The land has not fully recovered despite green shoots everywhere. The trees are amazing beings who must of screamed as their life force receded to the roots and the inner layers of their skins to hold on for dear life as the flames encircled and devoured their foliage to the very tree tops. There is a marked absence of bird life and song, even for autumn, I listened , there were a few birds but not  what one would expect from a lush forest. Tragic. So we were well placed to bring healing intent here to this land where over a hundred people and no doubt thousands of animals and plants lost their lives.. Please enjoy the photos of the space.

Some camped some cabined, and we had tipis for workshops as well as the main hall and the forest. We had a magnificent caterer Sun Hyland  who made absolutely divine food nourishing everyone. It was a weekend of linking head heart and hand, or the thought aspect, and the higher mind to the heart –compassion, to action and will being the  tangible means  of change making.

In alignment with this my offering was  from a Sonic Activists perspective.

Catherine Meeson is a multi modal artist/ musician trained healer and transpersonal therapist with a passion for arts eco activism. She uses creative arts therapy methods in workshops to explore person and place relations with an experiential focus using all sensory mechanisms. She has her own record label Sonic Sanctuary – for her Ambient electro acoustic folk rock and soundscape work. She is currently developing comprehensive course material in Sound Music and Healing field. 

‘Exploring knowledge gleaned from a lifetime of study and life experience in the field of sound music and health, Cath will explore Sonic and power relations (acoustic ecology) and how sound affects and reflects the health in ecosystems. It’s biological, Psychological and ecological impact.  This will be experiential and contemplative using sound, image, lecture and white board with process work. She is a ‘Sonics Educator and activist’ .

My presentation was educational and contemplative as I provide perspectives and then ask you to experience engage , contemplate and dialogue finding your own answers I provide the facts from a spiritual science and knowledge of the ancients perspective, also incorporating  conventional science  findings from the diverse sound studies field and music therapeutics. I covered the nature of sound- human and animal perception, sound levels and propagation, sonic behaviour in space, environs, Masura Emoto , Margaret Watts Hughes, Cymatics and the World Soundscape Project, Acoustic Ecology. Prayer intention, Sounds affect on matter, and sounds affect physiologically, psychologically emotionally spiritually and how it impacts behaviour and explorations of how sound mediates relations. And I posed the need for ‘a sonic ethics’, challenging things like the outdoor dance parties which take over natural spaces and bring high level sound systems in affecting all life around them. Such knowledge is the staple of my work and also getting incorporated into my Sound Music Health training, equipping you with the knowledge and information to be a voice and presence for healing, sanity and sanctuary.I assert that the world( as a larger collective entity of persons  and systems) is not very sound.

The Triple Ecology Collective also had the intention to establish a community of practice by networking all interested in this work and establishing a foundation for further events knowledge dissemination and training/ workshops etc.

We are about to begin working on our 2016 gathering and the Triple Ecology  Gathering is also taking root up north where persons are engaged with organising a Triple Ecology Gathering  of their own up Byron Way.

If anyone is  interested in my work I would be happy to come  and do a presentation as a consultant or workshop facilitator  and can tailor work specifically for your event. I offer half day training and weekend workshops. Please peruse my other blogs for more information about my work  and visit my music website below.

Next series of blogs a belated review  looking at Conference Earth Shaping the Future a two day event held last year at Deakin University. Cluster  a new facebook model for Do-gooders enabling social change and mass scale networking and directly engaged philanthropy, and Exploring Eco Spirituality- Faith Ethics and Professional Life with the Australian Earth Laws Alliance plus What Counts as a Good Life for the Planet, for cities and for individuals (notice the triple theme) an event held t St Pauls Cathedral as part of National Science Week a panel of theologians and academics for senior high school  students and community . Stay tuned for these.

Also visit my Youtube channel for examples of my music, performance art- sacred theatre and arts activism. I hope to branch into documentary making and video commentary later in the year as well as film making  and have a third album Contemplating Buddha due for release soon as well as a three act play By the Mandate of Heaven well under way.

LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/user/CatherineMeeson

 www.creativetherapeuticencounters.com.au

www.catherinemeeson.com
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The first photo demonstrates a  small tract of land that has been left relatively as it was according to local government. I do not know the expected life span of the Greybox species of tree ( 40-200?) or other local flora but most of the trees are small. I feel it is a place of constant renewal.

It is just down the road from a current work site in a  very scenic new building by an artificial lake.

My concern whilst acknowledging the intention to protect the land for ‘future generations’ is with Generations. What does it imply? In the minds of most people it is for their use or benefit, what we call the anthropocentric view. It is essential emphasis is given to the ‘future generations’ of plants and animals protecting their right to be; the self existent matrix of life present   the local eco system and the place itself. Including all the mineral ores, microbes and other such aspects that make up a whole.

We must start teaching our children that the world is not here to serve them. It is not here only for humans. We are not masters of the domain but  a part of it. A co-habitant. We occupy the same space as every other species and yet our actions, our lifestyles, indulgences and appetites are wiping them out.

It is tragic to lose the beauty of life. Whether one subscribes to views such as transmigration of souls, of  life forms  that allows for and accepts the movement of life between kingdoms and realms, or not, and gives a space for all souls all life forms to recycle. Loss is  loss and often unnecessary. The point for me is, the great beauty and diversity here now, of which we have lost so much already. The life that exists does so as part of an integrated whole. For complex systems to evolve and thrive takes the passage of long spans of geological time and the essential stability of conditions. Climate change is a constant , the tides of life on earth are always shifting, species always move, adapt mutate and settle new areas, emerging as new forms, but now we are taking over the earth there is very little space left to go that allows for this movement without a big cleanse. We have degraded our environments considerably, changing the very face of the earth ( clearing, mining, etc) and her innards (drilling, hydraulic fracturing, tapping the water tables, injecting nuclear waste and toxic chemicals for storage). New balance must be found and it will, it may not favour the human realms. Unless the human realms make  reparation efforts and become mass agents of re-genesis and bio-genesis.

QUESTION What does future generations mean to you?

I write this as I sit and ponder the future of my programs  combining the arts, therapies and activism. I am working on Eco arts Education. What ever workshops I do I try to weave in relational themes, environmental themes. I am not an exert but I do care and I do what I can. With the children it is crating awareness of life, through pictures, through songs, through reflecting on what they know about their world already and what they know of their body in space.  How it is all one big jigsaw puzzle. We work with imagery of forest, flower garden, birds, butterfly’s simple things which can carry stories  which reveal a state of awareness (or not) of the world around them. A couple of pictures of the children’s art is included.

Spirit of place musings. Eynesbury Grey box forest.

Most of the trees are young, I would be surprised if any were over fifty years. You can see the rate of growth and regeneration. Some elder trees are present but not many. This  was a land teeming with forest pre colonialism. The rate of growth does not seem to match the rate of decay. Yet there is a good presence of birds. It is dense but dispersed. It is a small pocket of land that just stands out starkly in the clear felled landscape all around it, that was originally back in the 1860’s onwards converted  farm land. So what has been allowed to remain is important, a green wedge a vital sanctuary for local species, a corridor. Yet how we think that narrow spans of green life, of  bio habitat are enough to ensure conservation of species is beyond me.

The place says help us to remain- help people to understand we exist too, if we are not regarded we cease to be. Life is to behold the majesty of creation, the diversity of forms- Speak for us. The same  message I get from land everywhere. Speak for us, speak for me. The winds share the mystery of the cycles of time, the forest holds the memory in tis dna, know the seasons, know the tides, understand the field of life. Relate, be with us.

I include pictures which demonstrate signage in the area. Talking about concepts like Our Home- a current future estate development a few minutes down the road. A place of displacement from over a hundred years ago for other species. A place that was cleared, a place that is now to be home to humans  and dogs and all their creations. Another showing bones, that speak the melody of the past, natural tree sculptures and other things.

Ask yourself What Does Conserved for Future generations really mean? What guarantees are there that people will honour their words when the bones tell us life goes in cycles, creatures come and go civilisations rise and fall. Decay is a certainty, growth a constant, yet some growth is out of control. Ponder. How might you make a difference and educate the future? What bones do you leave behind?

http://www.gondwananet.com/australian-gum-tree.html

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/greyboxgreygumwetFD.htm

© Catherine Meeson June 2012 & 2015

I am part of a local Friends network whom 9 years ago began the task of rehabilitating our very neglected local creek. There were a few dozen to begin with and well as with all things volunteer, enthusiasm wanes ,life and other duties get in the way and the work slows. There are many factors that contribute towards successful cooperative ventures but in the case of environment and conservation I believe it is love, love of life, love of all life, the natural order and an appreciation for beauty. What also drives efforts such as ours, from my perspective, is a deep sorrow over what modern man’s lifestyles and habitation are  doing to the environment. Mankind mercilessly continues to clear land for homes and farming, reducing the natural habitat pushing the boundaries of flora and fauna further and further into the void of extinction. In place we would plant what we would like, often misguided choices that are not sustainable in the name of vanity and show. Now there is nothing wrong with a beautiful garden and a mix of worlds, but I think it is a question of balance and now we have the know how; of  what is, appropriate. Are our actions in harmony with the greater good or just selfish desires? That is a question that must be tackled by everyone alive, it must come from the heart and the mind aligned to higher will for  the benefit of all living beings.

We co-habitate this planet, we should not dominate it. Dominion has been falsely and  selfishly misconstrued in the name of power, to corrupt and abuse at will. Our dominion in the misunderstood name of the Eternal Father has ruined the mothers balance and killed off many of her life forms. Enough said in this light for now.
This is a story , that I share of inspiration and a little knowledge that may promote a different view of the natural world and the healing process. I believe as many do,  whom are inspired by the old ways, the knowledge and wisdom of indigenous cultures and our own Western spiritual teachings that the Earth is sacred. The garden of Eden, of delights, of experience, plenty and beauty. The earth is populated with a bounty of species most of whom we will never know personally, and yet they dwell with us. Their cell stuff composed of the same earth materials, the water they consume , ours too, the air they breathe and generate; our heritage together. It is all these beings together that generate the web of life and the planetary life force. The Earth herself has an aura which science terms the Atmosphere, with  layers, the Troposphere, closest to Earth, followed by the Stratosphere and Mesosphere and the Thermosphere. They serve the same function as an aura, for a smaller being, life support and protection. It is not just an inanimate mass of rock with plants and animals dwelling upon it. There is great variety in the many types of species and habitats and ecosystems in which they dwell. Climatic variations, topographic variations, geological and  botanical, account for the diversity that has developed over aeons of time, etc. The point  in mentioning this is the need to understand what a given place can and cannot sustain, which brings into question how much we should impose our will and technologies upon adapting and changing the given to do what we want. The question has to be asked by every human being, and the responsibility for the consequences of our actions born equally by all.

In Australia we have the benefit of insight from habitat change and species introduction, being able to observe in a small time frame what such introductions of non native species has done to the plant and animal kingdoms. Across the nation many volunteers  and employees are setting about the task of rehabilitating lands and waterways. It is a long process, indeed inter-generational work, costing a great deal of effort, money, and heartfelt enthusiasm. It is take  a great deal of effort now and  into the future for coming generations who value and understand the integrity of all life systems, of all living beings, to create the needed change. The site at the beginning and in 2012 in the gallery below.


In these short years we have been able to remove noxious weeds, plants, and re-vegetate with native and indigenous plants of the region. It is important to know what is part of the region,  the local ecosystem, for the web of life that dwells there, providing food, shelter, materials and habitat for them. We took photos when beginning and now we have a transformed place. The energy is different, the community ownership different. The work is done by many in the community from volunteers in the group to various businesses, schools, Corrections Victoria people, NAB, Volunteers Australia,  Melton special School, Local council, Western Water and Melbourne Water contractors. This collective collaborative effort has wielded the results you can see for yourself.

All whom participate tend to have a sense of pride and enhanced self worth for having contributed. Many say it is a relaxing thing to do, though at times strenuous,. On a completely different level,  the title of the piece is called Community  Social and Environmental rehabilitation. As we tend to the rehabilitation of Earth and water, of our planet, we are tending to the rehabilitation of our own bodies and souls . Through affinity, resonance, relatedness and a whole complex bio energetic phenomena, involving the planetary life force that the many ancient masters speak of as chi/ prana etc. We exchange chi, life force, life energy. Our energy field harmonises with the field of place spoken about in geomantic literature. We bring our heartbeat into rhythm with place, our brainwaves synchronise with the Earth’s natural frequencies , or the Schumann resonance of 7.86 Hz cycles per second. If one even imagines the Earth inside an Aura, a bubble is  what one sees, like an egg in the first stages of cellular division. We live in this planetary egg.

For optimal states of health and well being people need to dwell in various consciousness states and be able to transition effectively between them. The life enhancing  states  support  both relaxation and stimulation. Yet our culture tends to be geared to ‘ gogo go’ on stimulation all the time, in excess. Our electrical lives, plugged into the ‘Great Grid Umbilicus’, the new navel, which runs at 60hz to power our devices. To be in those fields all the time is unhealthy . We seek out peace, quite, and nature instinctively  to restore the balance. The sounds of nature are also composed of harmonics and frequencies that are life enhancing,  covering the complete range of human hearing 20- 20,000 Hz. These sounds were created as part of the same bounty of life as we were, part of the creators bosom.  Coming to places like the creek exposes you to elements of sound that are harmonious, and renewing, such as bees, frogs, water trickling, bird call, gentle and soft sounds. One will leave felling released and recharged, even after a short time.

In Australia we have a landscape of floods and rains, as was once said by one of Australia’s early poets, Dorothea Mackeller. This means, it is quite normal for us to have extremes . I reflect on this because the old river red gums that grow so beautifully along the creek can be uprooted and have their mighty branches snap.  Many of the younger River reds we have planted have been uprooted by flooding, or vandalism but not all. The whole river has changed, and the walking courses differ from what they were before settlement. This Toolern Creek site is earmarked for development and so is the Werribee River and Melton Reservoir. This means more pollution, more  illegal dumping and less habitat for many creatures. These lands were once very different 150 years ago. But all was cleared by White man for farming and grazing.

Collectively we grieve, we grieve for the loss  that we see all around us, of habitat, of species, of life. Our culture our civilisation seems like a big monster, a mighty machine with so many cogs, so complex, that no simple solutions are enough.  How could there ever be enough to renew and replenish what we have already lost, the thousands of species slipping into the void of extinction daily..

I come here to sit and commune, to listen to nature who has taught me so much. I come here to plant and weed, to remove rubbish, I come here to vent and rage at what I see, I come here to say sorry. I come to listen to myself, to soul, to the movements of the whole which can always be discerned in the smaller systems of life. A river is like a tributary leading into the body, connecting, nerves, muscles and bones interconnecting through it’s arterial system, the whole. The rivers are the life blood of the earth. For aeons, we have depended upon the rivers and the seas, all one needs to do is look, all one needs to do is listen,  to feel,  to know. Know that the balance needs restoring; know that our actions are powerful. Know that we can be creators of great beauty and harmony as well as destroyers.

The dual nature of existence lay within us all.  Humanity is a Creator Destroyer, but the actions of our species ‘now’ are the key. Not all destruction is destructive. Destruction can lead to regeneration and  renewal. Maybe we need a great destruction of biblical proportions, to re evaluate. It is a question of balanced relations. Not all creations are creative in the sense of  the beauty of an illumined mind. We destroy the beauty and we create ugliness and in -harmony. We go against the wisdoms of the ancients. We deny our collective knowledge and heritage at our own peril. Now we are trying to recreate the beauty and reverse the ugliness. They are ALL manifestations of the being within. We are planetary stewards, stewards of life, we were not meant to destroy the delicate balance. With that I ask you to consider what your legacy will be? Because the responsibility is yours you see, and mine, and his and hers and theirs. There is no us and them in relation to a whole race of beings’ dwelling within a planetary system. There is only ‘Us’.
By listening, we hear. We enhance our hearing and our perception our knowledge. We listen to what is audible, and that will tell us a lot about the nature of any given place. Have you wondered why we don’t seem to see or hear, the birds, the sounds of the natural world any more, bees, leaves, water rustling. We have created towers in the sky. Fields of houses  replace the once green forests. Concrete runs rampant like a tumour. Our creations blind us, they block out the suns light, they cast shadow .they limit our perception of the Universe. Our creations deafen us, traffic, trains, the sounds of industry, of our electronic gadgetry. We terrify the animals with sound pollution. Our electronic illumination has not necessarily illumined our minds or hearts. We have desensitised ourselves to the planetary being and now we seek to colonise Mars!

The planet contains a living evolving energy field. I ask you,  What do you need to survive as a human being, the essentials?. Cast aside your way of life for just a moment and ponder your essence. Water, food, shelter and  relatedness. This all comes from the Earth, it is sustained by the planetary being. Whether vegetarian, meat eater, vegan, it is not just about the nutrients we ingest but the life force, the essence. We are all composed of the same stuff, and we are all dependants, though we claim otherwise. What happens when crops fail, when floods, destroy yield, when scorching sun turns crops to a crisp and  dries up lakes and rivers? Through time, through our history we moved on.  Through time and through geological history such changes happen, slowly and rapidly. We as a species adapt. All other species adapt or perish. We don’t have many places we can migrate too any more, and we leave pollution and destruction in our wake, toxicity and residue that will seriously interfere with the functioning of  ‘all species’.

So in this realisation, is a key to the future health of us all, of our planet, our cultures, and the collective of beings. It is not only our physical selves that suffer, but emotionally, mentally, spiritually we suffer too.  So do the animals. So do the plants. And so does the mineralogical layers of Earth which are strata of  all our life. True healing can not occur only at mind level, through laboratory studies and chemical trials / vaccines or pharmacology. It has to start at the level of relations. Planetary relations between all kingdoms. From the place of ‘I am that’, of kinship with all life, as the Indigenous have always demonstrated. It is only since the Industrial Revolution that we have gone out of kilter in such a dramatic way, the machine age, the age of science, which must come to the conclusion that whilst we can seek to know, we will always be humble seekers, we are given so much , so with this we must carefully consider. True healing needs a bodily integration, a spiritual insight, an energetic knowing , a relatedness. A comprehension of the whole being by the whole being.

I believe that conservation and rehabilitation should be integrated into schooling, into formal rehabilitation programs, for physical level rehabilitation and mental health programs. I believe if we create places of sanctuary and healing and allow people to interact with the environment in the multitude of ways possible, that  healing will be much more rapid . All hospitals should have sacred gardens, doctors surgeries could be fitted with plants, harmonious colour schemes, mellow music to ease patient anxieties.  . Urban landscapes should have not only parks, but many many more community gardens for people to grow food and flowers, for  all of us to learn what was once our collective heritage. . Education should have curricula centred around contact with the natural world where children are taken out regularly on field trips as part of their learning., Writing , maths all the essential stuff can be integrated into field learning, tactile contact.  To comprehend what conservation is, one needs to have  an active relation to established, honoured and  nurtured.

On a bio energetic level we need to connect to the earth through our base chakra, through the body, through the feet, through the hands. If we work on this level we will affect all other levels of being. I believe spiritual realisation is the key to integrated living and community environmental rehabilitation.. If our base chakra is blocked, we will struggle to connect to the earth, we will struggle with connectedness in relations, we will have body problems and problems on other levels of our being. Our cultural practises are very mind oriented and the global body (Earth and person) suffers with conditions such as obesity, anorexia, many diseases and traumas, which reflect our relation with and to, Earth. The better connected to the earth we are, the healthier is our state of being. If we work to heal the environment, we work to heal ourselves, in reciprocal relationship. If we work to heal ourselves, a consequence of balance is to walk balance, in all relations., and contribute to giving at a community level. But this level must include the Earth and it’s inhabitants. Human beings can no longer be the dominant species, wreaking havoc on the natural world. We need to become wise beings . We need to let the heart guide, the heart of love, not pride. The heart that is connected to the same pulse as all life,  which is connected to the wisdom of the ages. We were given these wisdoms, as a guide, the more  we ignore them on a collective specie hood  level the greater the peril we will face on a , resource level, habitat level into the future. The days of instant gratification and short term gain must cease to be motivational factors.

The question now is what will we do? How will we choose to be? Given what we now know? Will we collectively heal and restore the environment and our community or will we continue on our selfish mindless path, consumers who preach dominion at the expense of other species and who practise  exploitation as a god given right?

See Beginning Image and Now (2012) Images 3 & 4 in  the gallery below.

Your body is my body.

Social groups come together as a form of social service but the principles go much deeper. If this level of volunteer effort was embraced and actively pursued by many more, the transformation would be immense, yet one can only act from a sense of relation to. If someone feels they have no relation to, they will not act. So how do we re-establish interest, in relation, to? It is the relationships that are primary, the relations to all things, the Buddhists speak about it, all Native traditions speak about it.  We know in our collective psyche what we must do, yet our habits die hard, the immensity numbs, the apparent lack of time thwarts many a willing hand. It will not take miracles, just a little  individual and collective effort, a little love to restore right relations. A snowflake can start a snowball which can start an avalanche. Let our avalanche be motivated by love and relation.

One can just come and work on whatever level one is able. Even people who seem incapacitated, such as folk in a wheel chair, could be involved, giving out the plants to be planted that are on the table, or handing out the seeds to scatter! When engaged one slows down, connects with the body and the breath, becoming absorbed in the activity and replenishing the nervous system. It is  like an active  meditation and relaxing for most, even though digging can be really hard work, and bending all the time etc.  Even people with diminished capacity can still give what they can. Every bit counts. Administration, management of people, communications,  storytelling and teaching the young, conducting walks and exploration days. For those whom have no garden, it is a way to tend the garden, establishing in them a sense of ownership, relation and pride.

know for me this process has been very healing, very heartening. I know there is an emerging field devoted to Eco - psychology or therapy, the use of nature for health and healing. It is about life, at a fundamental level of relatedness, belonging and connection. I keep saying his because it is true. Many have grown up with little contact with nature since they were kids. Some grow up in countries living in high rise with hardly a green thing around!

I have been on a long healing journey  from both chronic  physical illness, and P.T.S.D./ Depression. I have been able to reaffirm self and relation to the wider world. It was not something I was taught it was something that was within, that was nurtured by listening and relating directly, by interacting with nature in all her elements. I have rebuilt slowly, remodelling my life, to what I want. This process of remodelling and reconnecting could be offered as intentional rehabilitation on many many levels, for diverse client populations. There are many community health concerns which could benefit from working with nature, both in environments which are in a good state and those that are not.

Concerns and  fears and phobias over snakes and spiders, or other predators/ dangerous animals should not halt our efforts. Land owners and corporations  have a greater responsibility to the collective and the  span of time, because they have the Earth to work with, they have more resources . We have together worked on a piece of land, a water way that while extremely small and modest, it is a beginning, an example of what can be done with dedication and many hands over time. Yet one needs to realise that it is indeed inter generational work ( it has taken generations to get like this ), to change the habits of our ancestry, of ourselves and replant the seeds for the future in a more ecological manner , educating our children in right relations.  These are our tasks. I  want everyone to get inspired, to care,  to heal the earth and themselves which will affect the  community level at the same time. Make connections, pioneer, build relations and inclusiveness, every effort is worthwhile. Even a small crack in a hard veneer is enough to allow the trickle of wisdom to enter.

We are a bit beyond just doing my bit with recycling. Consumer habits and practises need to change We need a fundamental rehabilitation of our whole way of life, as a culture from the ground up. We have the knowledge, we have the ways, we have the means, Do we have the Will?

The beginning and looking up the embankment (see gallery below image 5 &6)

Leadership is needed from Individuals, from Corporations and Organisations, from Schools and Governments, policy makers, all levels of society, to effect the necessary change in a timely manner. Economics can no longer be the motivating factor for action. We must take the task on, of  Environmental and Social Rehabilitation , for it is our collective  responsibility.

From the ground up it is time for direct action.

In closing, I want to apologise if this sounds preachy. My mother always criticised me when I was passionate about anything, and yet I must speak up, with the voice I have been given, with the insight I have developed however meagre and use the abilities I have to make a difference. Here is a link to a wonderful article I found which supports my proposition here, giving context within the very framework which got us into this mess, that of our own theological interpretations and societal underpinnings..
an interesting article on the same is  available at the link below

http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?922

A book I highly recommend on Environmental Rehabilitation is Earth Repair by Leila Darwish
http://earthrepair.ca/

I also recommend if you want to explore these themes and see what you can do to respond, participate in The Awakening the dreamer Changing the dream symposium developed by the Pachamama Alliance. 
http://www.pachamama.org/engage

Local Facilitators including myself can eb connected to via Be The Change Australia
http://www.bethechange.org.au/


The kingdom of Heaven is within, and if so, then  what is within your kingdom?  for that; is what you bring into the world!.

Friends of Toolern Creek 2009