Project NatureConnect
THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY CITIZENSHIP ACTIVITY
is offered as a public service by the
Institute of Global Education
In association with the United Nations Deptment of Public Information
For release at will:
In Balance With Earth
A ten minute sensory ecology activity that induces
sustainable personal and global equilibrium.
This activity is also part of the interactive Inner Nature Self-Discovery Trail and may be done alone or in conjunction with it.
Life on Earth might be more at peace and in balance if 600 million people learned to deal with the underlying ecological and psychological causes of our increasing personal, environmental and social disharmony.
In Balance With Earth is a unifying Natural Systems Thinking Process experience for use year round and in conjunction with improving the next millennium. It enables us to create and share moments in nature that let Earth's attraction strings consciously touch us and teach us its peace, balance and cohesiveness.
Activity Instructions
Select here for condensed activity instructions
(In Balance With Earth is drawn from the elements of the applied ecopsychology book Reconnecting With Nature: Finding wellness through restoring your bond with the Earth by Dr. Michael J. Cohen. and has been donated for public use.)
Time needed to complete the activity:
Ten minutes
Introduction:Although we are part of Earth and it is part of us, the global life community does not exhibit our personal, social and environmental problems. The Earth community lifeweb knows how to relate in ways that sustain an optimum of life, diversity and beauty without producing our runaway garbage, pollution, war, stress or abusiveness. We biologically inherit this legacy. It is in us. We often call it our inner nature, or, psychologically, our inner child.
It consists of natural sensory attraction strings that create and sustain the web of life.
The deteriorated state of Planet Earth's natural environment and people infers that we educate ourselves to separate from or injure the Earth community including people. This activity helps you discover immediate positive outcomes from treating the Earth lifeweb community fairly, with respect, as an equal or friend rather than as something to further abuse or exploit.
Purpose:
Global Citizenship: to discover how to treat Earth, nature and our inner nature justly and with respect.
Object:To learn how to obtain a natural area's consent for us to visit it.
To enjoy the benefits from obtaining a natural area's permission to visit it.
The Metaphor:
Bob: What would happen if you walked past a complete stranger and into their house, opened their refrigerator door, took out their sandwich and ate it?
Eileen: They would be frightened, upset and angry. A fight might break out or the police called.
Bob: How could that disruption be avoided?
Eileen: You could first make a friendly connnection with the stranger, thank them for listening, communicate your desire, and ask for and obtain their consent for you to enter and satisfy your hunger. A respectful friendship might develop.
Procedure: This activity parallels the procedures (blue) used in the metaphor about the sandwich above. Follow the instructions below written in red and consider the explanations written in black.
SUMMARY V: It makes sense for people to respectfully obtain a natural area's consent to visit it.
OPTIONAL: On a piece of paper, record the SUMMARY letter above (A: B: C, etc.) along with the numbers (below) that indicate your agreement with the summary statement a) as a stated truth and b) as something you practice in your daily life. Note how you feel about the difference between your a-score and b-score if there is one.
1.........2..........3........4.........5.........6.........7.........8..........9.........10.
disagree..........................so partially agree...........................fffully agree
1) Nature enables things to build balanced relationships through natural attraction energy strings that we can sense. Notice how you feel right now, then go to something in nature that you like, that you find attractive. A park, backyard, aquarium, even a pet or potted plant will do. Their attractiveness is a tangible sensory string connection. It invites, welcomes and consciously, feelingly connects you to them. Just like the thirst string naturally attracts you to water, or contact with water may make you thirsty, you naturally connect with the Earth community through cohesive string sensations, natural loves that feel good. The more natural and attractive a natural area or thing is, the more worthwhile the results of this activity. A goldfish or a flower may be better than a wilderness area if it is more attractive to you.
2. Thank the natural attraction that brings you to this area for being there for you. Thank it for safely activating a good feeling in you through this connection.
3. Recognize that as part of the Earth community, justifiably, this natural area or thing desires and has a right to exist, build beneficial relationships and grow, just as you do. Decide that you are going to respect its integrity by asking for its permission to visit it.
SUMMARY W: It makes sense to respect a natural area's right to exist and grow.
OPTIONAL: On a piece of paper, record the SUMMARY letter above (A: B: C, etc.) along with the numbers (below) that indicate your agreement with the summary statement a) as a stated truth and b) as something you practice in your daily life. Note how you feel about the difference between your a-score and b-score if there is one.
1.........2..........3........4.........5.........6.........7.........8..........9.........10.
disagree..........................so partially agree...........................fffully agree4. Silently, aloud or in writing, ask this natural area for its consent for you be there and do this activity there. It will not give you permission to visit if you are going to injure, destroy or defame it, or if it will not be safe for you. Negative relationships are not attractive, promise this area that you will treat it honorably.
5. Sense the area for 10 seconds or more in silence and respect. Be aware of negative signals from stress, discouragement or danger from it, such as thorns, bees, poison ivy, ticks, cliff faces or unpleasant memories, thoughts or feelings.
A. When the 10 seconds are up, note that if the area still feels attractive, or has become more attractive. If it has, it has consented to your visit through a multitude of your natural senses.
Proceed to 6.B. If this part of the natural area no longer feels attractive, thank it for its guidance and simply select another natural part of the area that feels attractive to you and repeat the gaining permission process. Do this until you find a ten second period when a safe attraction feeling remains for a place, color, shape or other natural thing. When this occurs, you have multisensory permission to visit it. In that moment, many additional natural senses are connecting and consenting.
6. As soon as you gain a natural attraction's permission to visit, genuinely thank it for giving its consent.
SUMMARY X: It makes sense to thank a person or creature for consenting to supportively share its life with you
OPTIONAL: On a piece of paper, record the SUMMARY letter above (A: B: C, etc.) along with the numbers (below) that indicate your agreement with the summary statement a) as a stated truth and b) as something you practice in your daily life. Note how you feel about the difference between your a-score and b-score if there is one.
1.........2..........3........4.........5.........6.........7.........8..........9.........10.
disagree..........................so partially agree...........................fffully agree7. Now: Compare how you feel about being in this moment with how you felt when you first started doing this activity. Has any change occurred because you gained this natural area's consent and thanked it for consenting? Does the area feel better or friendlier to you? Do you find it more attractive or rewarding now than before you received its consent and thanked it? Do you feel better about yourself?
Write down if you obtained good feelings or rewards from doing this activity, what they were and whether you trust them. Share them with people close to you or others who are doing the activity.
SUMMARY Y: It is reasonable to recognize if and how a relationship makes you feel.
OPTIONAL: On a piece of paper, record the SUMMARY letter above (A: B: C, etc.) along with the numbers (below) that indicate your agreement with the summary statement a) as a stated truth and b) as something you practice in your daily life. Note how you feel about the difference between your a-score and b-score if there is one.
1.........2..........3........4.........5.........6.........7.........8..........9.........10.
disagree..........................so partially agree...........................fffully agreeIf you find that thankfully gaining permission to visit a natural area is rewarding, remember that whenever you want to feel rewarded, you can repeat this activity. Remember too, that nature exists in people, we are part of nature. Thankfully asking permission and gaining consent to relate to people's inner nature also provides rewards and helps build good relationships. It is also rewarding if you thankfully request that people seek permission from you with respect to how they relate to you and your nature. Doing this Earth Day activity may help them learn to relate that way.
SUMMARY Z: It makes sense to learn to trust the string connection process and sensations in this consensus experience because they are safe, supportive, earth linked, sustainable, in balance (multisensory) and feel good.
OPTIONAL: On a piece of paper, record the SUMMARY letter above (A: B: C, etc.) along with the numbers (below) that indicate your amount of agreement with the summary statement a) as a stated truth (1-10) and b) as a 0-100 % percentage of your daily time that you think you practice this truth. Note how you feel about the difference, if there is one, between your a-score and b-score.
1.........2..........3........4.........5.........6.........7.........8..........9.........10.
disagree..........................so partially agree...........................fffully agree
Discussion Question:Earth naturally produces an optimum of life, diversity and beauty without producing our runaway garbage, stress or abusiveness. Do you think it accomplishes this "miracle" by having each thing in nature somehow establish permission to exist with its surroundings?
Select here for condensed activity instructions
The Experiences of Others:
Below are some reactions other activity participants have shared with each other. Many additional responses are located in the Archive.
"It was hot. Soon after I asked for permission to visit with the grove of young trees, a gentle, refreshing breeze came through them. It cooled me, and the trees waved their leaves at me. It felt good, like the grove smiled its consent. Thanking the grove strengthened that feeling as does sharing the experience with you now."
"I was attracted to the sound of a raven on the rocks ahead. I stopped and sought its consent for me to enjoy its presence. It began to come closer and closer, increasing my delight and excitement. That was so fun and unforgettable. I feel thankful to that experience and this group"
"My whole attraction to the moss on the rock increased. I felt more intensely than when I first arrived, it felt like a hug from the planet."
"Many times I have forced myself to back away from the deadlines and details of the our super demanding lives and return to nature. In every case I have found the same welcoming feeling of self. In fact, I had to stop today (a particularly stressful day) and gain permission to connect from a beautiful maple tree outside of my office window whose leaves are just popping out of their buds. People often ask me how I stay so calm while they are all running around like crazy. When I try to share the ideas of this activity, so many people look at me as if I was the crazy one."
To determine your present Global Citizenship Potential:
Add up your agreement a-scores for SUMMARIES V-Z, multiply by 2 and add a % sign. (or a decimal point for a 1-10 rating).
Add up you b-scores, double them and average that number to uou
You may increase your Global Citizenship Potential by repeating this activity (with additional attractions in nature), the GBT activity and Letting Earth Teach
NOTE: Every week, Project NatureConnect's update email letter gives you short responses to these activities, like those above, from its online course participants.
To receive the weekly email: address a blank e-mail to majordomo@ultimate.org. In the body of the letter type:
subscribe natureconnect-update (your username@your user address)
Additional Free Activities:Enrichment:
- Worthwhile information: To read the fascinating validations
of people who helped develop and have done In Balance With Earth
visit the archive
. Extended results of the activity are shared at nature/results
- Network internationally: To communicate with others who are
using In Balance With Earth join the NatureConnect List by e-mailing
the message: INFO NATURECONNECT to: natureconnect
list
- Get involved: Obtain information and updates about internships,
distant learning activities, courses and degree programs that use In
Balance With Earth and similar sensory reconnecting activities. Visit
our homepage
or send a blank e-mail to program@infofree.com
- Reference: An additional 23 applied ecopsychology activities,
methods and materials may be found in the self-guiding Ecopress
book: Reconnecting
With Nature: Finding wellness through your bond with the Earth. Because
the book is available at 50% off from Ecopress
in lots of 24 books, it is an appropriate inexpensive gift for a variety
of occasions. Copies for review purposes are available from Ecopress
by calling 1-800-326-9272
- Additional copies: People may receive copies and updates of
this activity by sending a blank e-mail to activity@infofree.com
or by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to In Balance With Earth,
P.O. Box 1605, Friday Harbor, WA 98250.
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..........ALTERNATIVES
LINKS TO THE
Institute of Global Education
An associate of the United Nations Department of Public Education
DEPARTMENT OF INTEGRATED ECOLOGY
P.O. Box 1605, Friday Harbor, WA 98250
(360) 378-6313 nature@pacificrim.net
Project NatureConnect
www.ecopsych.com
program@infofree.com