Earth Spirit Dreaming: Shamanic Ecotherapy Practices - Elizabeth E. Meacham 2020
Ecomindfulness Practices
Cultivating Ecomindfulness: Increasing Our Conscious Connection with Nature
Earth-Connecting Practices
Daily ecomindfulness can be supported through many kinds of practices. Traditional mindfulness methods that help us to tune in to our direct experience work very well. In order to cultivate ecomindfulness, it is easiest to create intentional nature-connecting rituals that fit easily in your normal schedule. The more that I incorporate ecomindfulness rituals into my daily routine, the more I notice the support of the life-world in absolutely every moment of my life. This is one way that I try to be mindful of my ecology on a daily basis.
Beyond becoming increasingly intentional about noticing nature throughout your day, any mindfulness practices that are done with a focus on nature will enhance natural sensitivities; interaction with nature through creativity and movement exercises done outdoors are good places to start. Through nature-focused exercises and rituals, ecological consciousness increases gradually over time, eventually completely transforming our perceptions and sense of self. These small changes in habit reorient us into increased balance with the Earth. Done in community, in webs of like-minded people that reach out and intersect with other Earth-focused communities, these small changes are growing into big shifts in planetary consciousness. This is happening now and has been for decades. This web of Earth-connection and healing is speeding up and expanding at unprecedented rates. Those of us who have been engaged in this practice over decades can feel the exponential increase of “shift” that is now upon us.
EXERCISE: Small Moments with Nature
Purpose
With this simple practice, our connection with all of life progresses day by day. As we connect with nature in small moments on a regular basis, our bodies begin to wake up to our embeddedness within our ecological community.
I try to be very diligent about creating moments of reflection outside. I build these moments into my daily routine in ways that become habitual. Every time I step outside, I try to take a moment to stop and take in the sights, smells and activity of nature all around me. I remind myself that every breath I take is courtesy of the biosphere. I stop to experience profound gratitude for the systems and beings on the planet that make my life possible. The more I do this, the more I notice the support of the life-world in every moment of my life.
Description
By noticing nature more and more, increased mindfulness of the ecological fabric of our lives can become self-perpetuating. To begin, find something that you often pass that can act as a trigger to notice nature. Set a subconscious reminder to galvanize this practice. Find something that is part of your regular landscape and tell yourself that every time you see this you will stop what you are doing and remember that you are part of the life-world. An example is to commit to do this every time you see a certain tree, or every time you see or hear a bird. During these moments, intentionally wake up your senses and feel this moment and the nature being that inspired it; allow yourself to become suffused with gratitude that your life is possible because of the combined life systems of the planet.
Another way to create daily mindfulness of your ecology is to choose a specific time each day when you take a moment to notice nature. Try to find a place in your daily routine to fit in a small moment to relate to nature. Make this ritual something that feels manageable within the framework of your life. I try to actively sense nature every time I walk from my house to my car.
Make a habit of touching nature when you can. When I notice something in nature, I often stop to gently touch it. I run my hands across my bushes on my way out of the door, I press my palm against the bark of the tree by my driveway, I pick up a small rock as I walk into my office and put it back when I leave.
Another possibility is to decide on a specific number of breaths that you will take to consciously immerse yourself in your ecological context during your small moments in nature. I know that no matter how busy I may be, I always have time for three breaths to be with the sight and sounds of the natural world. You have time, too, and these three breaths will add up to many breaths over days, and months, and years. The world’s problems seem so big; it’s hard to imagine that we can make changes in three breaths. But we can. The thought-shifting, the dream-changing, that we do in these small moments become part of a chain of ripples across the planet. Envision your three breaths, your small moments, blending with millions of other people’s small moments across the Earth.
These moments matter, they grow and shift the story. To increase your understanding of the scope and magnitude of the communities all over the world that are creating change through the “small moments,” see Paul Hawken’s book Blessed Unrest. Together, we are growing a very large movement of Earth healers across the planet; each seed planted contributes to the very large and growing garden that is the origin and the result of an emerging healing dream of the Earth.
EXERCISE: Spending Time Outdoors Each Day
Purpose
While we spend most of our time inside, many of our ancestors spent most of their time outside. Time outside wakes up our senses and can be surprisingly restorative. Time in nature reduces stress, lowers our heart rate and blood pressure and encourages the development of healthy cells in our bodies. Scientific studies increasingly support what we know from intuition and experience: the beauty of the world is restorative. A long-term study conducted in Japan on forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, concluded that time in nature boosts the immune system by increasing the development of “killer” cells that fight cancer and other diseases (Qing Li, et al., 2009).48
Description
Try to find a natural location that you can visit frequently. Many people, especially in cities, find it difficult to find natural settings where they feel safe and relaxed. Going in groups might be easier and more comfortable. If you live in a loud or unsafe place, or cannot get to a natural setting, create a space of nature in your house. A terrarium, a small garden of pots, vertical indoor gardens or a small window garden are excellent ways to create “nature” indoors. I often use rocks inside as well. If you cannot go out, commit to bringing nature in for a daily practice of connection. This prayer by 18th century rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav inspires me to commit to this important mindfulness practice:
Grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day, among the trees and grass, among all growing things, and there may I be alone, and enter into prayer, to talk with the One to whom I belong.
May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field (all grasses, trees and plants) may they all awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things.49
EXERCISE: Walking Barefoot on the Ground
Purpose
The book Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever!, by Clinton Ober and Dr Stephen T. Sinatra M.D.,50 discusses many studies that support the simple act of walking barefoot on the ground for health. The authors suggest that, at minimum, we should walk barefoot on the ground for 30 minutes a day. While I feel many positive effects from doing this, I find it hard to incorporate 30 minutes of barefoot walking into my life every day (especially in the colder months!).
I practice outdoor meditation at a medicine wheel that I have built in the woods, up the hill behind my house. As I sit, I enjoy watching two creeks tumble down small gorges to meet at the crumbling old stone railroad tunnel. After a bit of repulsion at the muddy ooze that I often find on the slippery hill between my backyard and the medicine wheel, I decided to walk bare-foot to the wheel each time I go, affording me 20 minutes of barefoot time. I also meditate at the wheel barefoot, which can add minutes, and sometimes hours. My feet get muddy! My toenail polish chips! Sounds ridiculous, I know, but I think we need to dig out our resistances to walking barefoot on the Earth, which was a basic fact of human life for millennia. We evolved to walk barefoot on the Earth, and, like many basic biological realities before “civilization” and industrialization, these things turn out to be very important to our health and well-being, beyond what we know or can imagine within the framework of our current “science.”
Description
There is not much in the way of instructions for walking barefoot on the ground. The real work is to explore whatever blocks we may have to this very basic human function. For some people, this is an easy and comfortable practice. For others, I’ve found that no amount of encouragement will get them to walk barefoot on the ground. Sometimes this can be for medical reasons or because of injuries. Often, I find that people have fears of nature or the woods, or of getting injured, that get in the way. Also, if we have our shoes on most of the time, it can be painful to begin walking barefoot. Another option is to sit with your hands on the Earth. Surprisingly, I often find people are more comfortable with this, especially if they can sit on a blanket or waterproof pad on the ground. Find whatever way is most comfortable for you to touch the Earth with your bare skin.
EXERCISE: A Grounding Meditation
(this meditation can be done with or without shoes)
Begin with your feet planted firmly on the ground, in a standing position. Slowly and deliberately, begin rolling your feet around on the ground so that every surface of your toes and feet make contact with the Earth at some point. It is okay to do this through your shoes but doing it barefoot is ideal.
Feel each part of your foot begin to wake up. Imagine breathing in and out through the bottom of your feet, feeling the energy of the Earth meeting the soles of your feet, and eventually your energy body. When breathing out, imagine that you are reaching with the breath from your body down to meet the interiors of the Earth, through levels of dirt, maybe aquifers, through layers of old and older rock to the searing heat of her molten heart. Imagine that you can feel the fullness and steady thrumming, the pulsing energy, of the Earth.
Imagine that there is one beat of the heart of the Earth for every breath that you take. Once you can clearly imagine that you are reaching down with roots to touch the inmost bass notes of the rhythm of the Earth, let that heavy thrumming move slowly up your body. Roll your ankles, move your knees, swing your hips slowly around in a circle, undulate your spine up and down, roll your shoulders, reach in large circles backward, and then forward, with your arms, roll your head sideways, forward and back, then in a circle. Once your body is awake, return again to the feeling of your body reaching down through your feet to touch the powerful beating of life. Send gratitude and love through each breath, say a prayer of gratitude for all the Earth does to allow you to exist and to support your learning in ways that intertwine with her dreams.
EXERCISE: Sitting or Lying on the Earth
Purpose
Recently, I went with a friend to do yoga in the woods. Just as perceptions in general are intensified in the woods, so is the experience of doing yoga. As I stood in Tree Pose, I found my vision aligned with a tree that came from the small creek gorge we were overlooking. The branches of the tree extended high into the sky. Just a few feet from this tree, slightly slanting on the edge of the hill, I found my relationship to my own balance intensified by the knowledge (really just fear) that if I lost my balance I might fall over the edge. At the end of my practice, I moved into Child’s Pose, pressing my cheek against the loamy dirt and dry leaves. With my face and legs, and the backs of my arms and hands, pressed to the Earth, I felt connected and safe. Flipping over to lie flat on my back, I gazed at the sky through interlacing layers of green leaves as they whispered and moved in the wind.
Description
Like walking barefoot on the Earth, few directions are required for sitting or lying on the ground. The important thing to do is to find somewhere that is safe and as comfortable as possible. Going in groups helps the feeling and reality of safety, and truly expands this communal experience with nature. Use a blanket, a pad or a yoga mat if that is helpful. Wear old clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty or wet. Many people are not comfortable lying face down, or even face up, on the bare ground. That is okay. Whatever works for you is the best way to do the practice.
The simple act of lying on the ground, one that children do naturally, fills me with such profound gratitude for something as basic, and as miraculous and beautiful, as leaves.
Thich Nhat Hanh offers guidance for lying on the Earth in his article, “I Want to Be Grounded,” that he contributed to the magazine Shambhala Sun in July 2012.51
EXERCISE: Lying on the Earth, by Thich Nhat Hanh
You may like to lie on the Earth and be in touch with our beautiful planet. The Earth can receive all our pain and tension, and she gives us protection and energy. We know that countless cells in our body are constantly being born and dying. In every moment Mother Earth produces us as a wonderful manifestation and receives us back. When we die, we return to her, and she brings us forth again.
You might have a conversation with Mother Earth: “Dear Mother Earth, I am clearly aware that you are present in me and I am part of you. You gave birth to me and provided me with everything I needed for my nourishment. You give me air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, and medicinal herbs to heal me when I am sick. Because you gave birth to me once, I know that you will continue to give birth to me again and again in the future. That is why I can never die. Each time I manifest, I am fresh and new. Each time I return, you receive and embrace me with great compassion. You are the great Earth, this beautiful blue planet.52
EXERCISE: Sitting or Lying Down with Rocks
Purpose
As an addition or alternative to lying outside on the ground, you can place rocks on your body while either sitting or lying down. Focusing on the feeling and pressure of the rocks is the practice. Rocks are very grounding. They are the oldest part of Earth surrounding us at any one time and, as I’ve learned by knowing and speaking with rocks, they hold the original dream of the planet, the earliest intention of the cosmic expression of life. Rocks hold and represent ancient history, and help us connect with old, old knowing. Memories of the past can arise during rock meditations, both the past of our own lives and ancestral memories buried deeply into our DNA. Holding the memory of the original intention of the Earth, rocks illuminate the spirit calling that brought each of us into form in this time and place.
Description
I collect rocks that I keep in my house and office. I ask and listen for guidance when seeking these rocks. I ask if they want to come into my life to share my journey for a while. To be with them, I simply lie on the floor, or on my bed, in a comfortable position. I place rocks onto my body wherever it feels good to do so. In a group, you can take turns placing rocks on each other’s bodies, and listening as the person lying or sitting with rocks talks about what comes up for them. There can be laughing, tickling and often tears as we remember ourselves in both very old and very new ways. Be sensitive to individual comfort levels regarding touching bodies, and respect boundaries at all times.
Ask the person you are putting rocks on what areas of their body they are comfortable having you place rocks. Ask the rocks themselves for guidance; listen to your intuition; trust yourself when doing this very special practice, either for yourself or for others.
For this practice, you can use rocks that you collect outdoors, or that you buy from a store. Many people work with crystals in this way. I like crystals, but I mostly work with “regular” rocks I find in my yard, in the woods and in various places I go to. I have a bag of sacred rocks I take with me to work with in my personal practice, and when I work with others as a facilitator or guide. Everyone can foster a relationship with a set of sacred stones that they meet in reverence and get to know over time.
EXERCISE: Creating a Set of Sacred Stones
Purpose
If you live in the city, or travel often, one way to create a “natural setting” to carry with you is to find, and cultivate, your own set of sacred stones. Over time, you can build up a collection of intentionally activated sacred stones. These stones eventually become a basis for vibrational and shamanic work, which I will discuss later in this book. For now, begin to know and care for your own sacred stones; remember that they choose you as much as you choose them, and sometimes more so.
Description
To begin working with your set of stones, start with seven stones representing earth, air, fire, water, Spirit, cosmos and the veil to other realms.53 To find your stones, go to a local creek or area in nature that feels beautiful to you, or visit a store or your own existing collection if you feel more drawn to work with crystals, either in general or at the current time. Sacred stones change and move, following their own flow and yours over time.
When you seek stones, ask the area or place that you are visiting if you may seek a stone to take with you. Feel with your body and your intuition for a response. If you get a good feeling, go ahead and collect your stones. If you get a bad or uncomfortable feeling, do not take a stone from that place. Gaze intently at any stone that attracts you. Ask the stone with your body and heart if it would be willing to leave with you to become a part of your set of sacred stones.
It is important to remember that we do not own the stones. They have their own inherent history and ends. Though stones do not have human experiences, we can use our own experience to attempt to relate to their wildness and individual stories. Yes, we are projecting our own kinds of perceptions onto the stones, but it is for a useful reason. Since we cannot be stones, we use our own experiences as humans to relate to them. Be ready to release them or return them to the Earth at any time, based on continually checking with your intuition about each stone. My stones sometimes seem to want to “re-Earth” by staying in the woods or taking some time in my creek. Over time, the stones can lose their Earth power, as they tend to ground us by taking on heavy energies. Re-Earthing your rocks helps them return to their natural vibrations. My set is currently in my medicine wheel after a hiatus in the creek by my house (where I sometimes cannot find them again). One of my rocks is a very powerful vision stone that I found on the beach of an island on Lake Erie. Another is a healing crystal to which I am very attached (note: at the time of this writing, both of these stones are now gone on their journeys to other people or places).
One of my absolute dearest stones holds the imprint of a 150-million-year-old fossil. I found it by a rock covered with petroglyphs carved by a tribe that lived in Ohio 4,500 years ago. While using this precious vision rock during a ceremony in a friend’s backyard, I felt drawn to place the stone in her mandalas of stones and leave it there. It was hard to let go of that rock. Again, I am aware that I am anthropomorphizing the stones. I do it consciously in an attempt to relate to them. It is a method for increasing my sensitivity to their energy, movements and unfolding cycles of time and evolution.
As you bring stones home with you, take time to feel into their subtle energies. One way of doing this is to place the stone near your bed, or under your pillow, and set the intention to dream with the stone for a few nights, or even a week. While dreaming with the stone, you can discover archetypal and symbolic meanings that the stone can represent for you or draw into your life. Your set can be used in daily meditation, rituals and ceremony and during your outdoor spiritual practice. You can also use your sacred stones to build medicine wheels on your floor, table or altar. Be creative! I use a few sets of stone of various sizes, depending on where I might use them, and based on their weight and energetic imprint. I have a large basket of stones at home that is too heavy to carry, a medium-sized bag of stones for classes, retreats and workshops, and a small bag of especially sacred stones that I use in ceremonies and healing sessions. Let the stones become a part of your spiritual practices in unusual and creative ways; let the stones guide you.
Once we are more connected to our ecological context, and the nature beings all around us, we are ready to deepen our sense of place with the land where we live and visit. The practices in the next chapter focus on restoring a connection with patterns and cycles in nature that are often lost or overshadowed in the dominant Western worldview. Finding, and returning again and again, to the same place unlocks and supports our natural attunement to the rhythms of nature. Developing a relationship with a specific place over time helps us to feel more at home in the web of life, and to fulfill the very human need to feel integrated with specific natural settings.