Large numbers of people in our culture enjoy spending time in “nature”, that is, outdoors among wild plants and animals, usually engaging in a range of leisure activities. Yet, when I reached out on social media to a wider audience, my post claiming “Nature is the best medicine” was liked by many people whose profiles showed that they loathed “environmentalists” and saw “green politics” as a threat to their way of life and to their country.
I take ecotherapy groups out into beautiful wild places and find that other humans have recently been there enjoying the beauty, yet left all manner of rubbish and often fire damage in their wake.
Over many years now I, along with many other dedicated folk, have gradually persuaded those in public agencies with money and power, to see that time spent in nature with appropriate levels of care and guidance can have a huge and measurable positive effect on peoples’ mental health. Yet, as nature and the outdoors are promoted as a “resource” for human wellbeing, it is rare that any mention is made of the importance of caring for the ecosystems which nourish and sustain us.
HOW DO WE RECONNECT HUMANS AND THE ‘NATURAL WORLD’ FROM A PLACE OF RESPECT AND RECIPROCITY?
HOW DO WE DO ‘SUSTAINABLE ECOTHERAPY’ AT A TIME WHEN OUR PLANET FACES SUCH PERIL AT THE HANDS OF HUMANS?
This workshop is based on the premise of reciprocity: “Healthy People, Healthy Planet – you can’t have one without the other”, a view expounded by ecopsychology pioneers such as Theodore Roszak and Joanna Macy.
It draws upon cultural values held by my Celtic ancestors, and by Indigenous people who have thrived for thousands of years in the country of my birth, Australia.
We will also explore values from the Sufi tradition, where nature is seen to be an expression of divine revelation by the Beloved (God, Creator, Divine Source) and the human is the Lover, ever seeking wholeness and reconnection with its original source, the journey around which all illness and all healing, both personal and global, revolve.
Date: SATURDAY, 29TH MAY 2021 10.00-12.00 UK time zone
(Australian time: 7.00-9.00 p.m. AEST)
(this workshop carries 2 HOURS credit for Ten Directions Students)
Platform: Zoom
Cost: £15
Booking: contact courses@tarikitrust.org to book
Alasdair Taylor has trained both as an environmental educator and psychotherapist. He is also a professional storyteller who uses poetry and mythology as part of his ecotherapy practice. Having worked for many years facilitating woodland-based education and therapy programmes for a wide range of communities in Scotland, Alasdair developed the PRANA (Positive Reflection and Association with Nature Awareness) modality of ecotherapy in 2015, Alasdair has now returned to Australia, the land of his birth, where he teaches and practices through his business, PRANA Ecotherapy. He draws inspiration from a plethora of sources, including activists and educators such as Joanna Macy and Steve Van Maitre, the ancient traditions of his Celtic ancestors, Sufi spiritual lineages and Indigenous Australian elders and teachers.