This week’s reading on Ecopsychology reminds me that there are two perceptions of the nature: one is that it is our home and part of our self, and the other one is that nature is dangerous or merely a useful resource to be exploited (Davis, J, & Canty, J., 2013). It cannot be denied that the nature has healing power and helps to relax and reduce stress. Sacred sites and thousand years old trees are often visited by spiritual practitioners to uplift vibration and purify energies. Forest therapy and grounding with bare foot touching grass or soil are widely used for mental and energy balance. There was a study on the crystallization of water and chanting by Maseru Emoto proving that positive words, thoughts such as love and gratitude and chanting would cause water to freeze into beautiful symmetrical ice crystals, while negative words or thoughts would result in ugly, distorted crystals. Our healing and experiencing of exceptional human experiences with nature, and the crystallization of water experiment show that we are interconnected with the nature psychologically without frontier.
Davis, J, & Canty, J. (2013). Ecopsychology and transpersonal psychology. In Friedman, H. & Hartelius, G. (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of transpersonal psychology. (pp. 597 - 611). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In reading this weeks assignments, I was struck by the series on Transpersonal Art and how it reflects and is sparked by a greater consciousness. It’s also interesting, especially after having read Grof‘s work, how both themes run throughout Chris Nolan‘s feature film, Inception. The conceit of the film is an hypothesis that through an altered state one can influence thought at the place from which thought comes, and heal a trauma in the physical realm of the characters. The basic premise of the film follows a group of "dreamweaver’s" who, through the use of a chemical catalyst to dive deeper into a person subconscious, create and manipulate the dream worlds and levels of consciousness, and find ways to dig down inside a characters psyche in order to influence his decision. On this journey, traumas of both the subject of the "inception" attempt (the ability to plant a thought in one's mind) and the "weaver's" are explored and in their own way, healed. I definitely see this film with new insight, and I think that's the point of transpersonal art, isn't it?
This week had a very broad choice of readings. There was also a film that I could unfortunately not get access to watch. Out of all of the readings, the one that stood out to me the most was the short excerpt about Ecopsychology from the text book. Surprisingly, I have not really looked into what ecopyschology is until this point. I found it to actually be very interesting.
The lineage of medicine that I practice is based on the Five Element system. In the Five Element system, we are all made of the same material as everything else in the cosmos. As our nature shifts, we can also can experience all of the same states of being that the nature around us can. We can have a flood, or drought, or wildfire inside of us. The role of the medicine is balancing the nature inside of us so that the five elements are all working in perfect harmony. When the elements are all in balance then we experience optimal health in our body, mind, emotions and spirit.
This week’s readings and videos offered interesting teachings, particularly, ecopsychology, which is a new area of study for me. As I stated in a previous posting, I live in the city, in an area where houses are being torn down at warp speed and replaced with large-scale, multi-complex buildings. Our city has grown exponentially over the past few years, and it is challenging to keep up with housing demand. All this to say that I find myself in an environment where I feel out of balance and disconnected. When I go out for walks, I try to focus on the grass and trees, but I find myself seeking a place that provides peace and stillness. I can connect with the earth at my family’s cabin in the country, where I feel a sense of alignment within myself. It was for this reason that I went to the cabin as often as I could during my cancer treatments because of its healing energy. The land there has a feeling, which is difficult to express. Others have experienced it as well and express a feeling of serenity. Swan’s article resonated with me when he discusses places that may have been previous “healing sites, special flora and fauna area” (2010, p. 12). I wonder about the history of the land where the cabin stands, how it was used, and who lived there in past generations. It was my father’s wish, when he passed, that we protect the land from development and pass it down to the next generation.
Swan, J. A. (2010). Transpersonal psychology and the ecological conscience. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 42(1), 2-25.
Dr, Lukoff was inspiring to me..I am interested in learning more about Buddhism, The information on Transpersonal Psychology and its use in medicine was something I am particulaely interested in
Week 7B Discussion of Readings
Engaging with the readings feels like sparks of light bubbling up and chiming the chords of my heart—this is how it feels when something resonates and pulls me in.
Ecopsychology: The Transformative Power of Home
Ryan A. Mest suggests that ecopsychology is fundamentally the psychology of belonging and being-at-home in the world—something I have personally always longed for. I never felt safe in the world growing up. It has taken immense healing work to reach a place where home becomes multidimensional through my connection to source and heartfelt connection to others—first healing the connection I call home within, then mirroring it out to the external world.
Mest (2008) quotes from Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous: "The dreaming, the imaginative life of the land itself, must be continually renewed, and as an aboriginal man walks along his ancestors' dreaming track, singing the country into visibility, he virtually becomes the journey ancestor, and thus the story, the earth is born afresh" (p. 170). This gem vibrates through my whole being—I feel myself to be that Aboriginal dreaming the Earth I walk on, interconnected and one with the land, Mother Earth.
Transpersonal Psychology and the Ecological Conscience
James A. Swan argues that encounters with nature possessing transpersonal or exceptional qualities—especially those involving synchronicity or mystery—are the most powerful catalysts for lasting ecological responsibility. These "significant life experiences" (Swan, 2010) such as peak experiences and sacred moments serve as the foundation for enduring ecological commitment, going beyond eco-facts and crisis warnings that overwhelm people. This resonates deeply through my own awakening experience in nature—the interconnectedness of all living things as Oneness. I agree with Swan on the need for transpersonal psychology to explore, validate, and facilitate exceptional ecological experiences. This is the way forward.
References
Mest, R. A. (2008). Ecopsychology: The transformative power of home. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36(1), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873260701415538
Swan, J. A. (2010). Transpersonal psychology and the ecological conscience. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 42(1), 2–25.
From this week’s readings and videos I was deeply inspired by James Swan’s insights into what Aldo Leopold coined “Ecological Conscience.” From the many examples of individuals interviewed or studied by the author, it is clear that factual information is not ample in inducing the needed appreciation and involvement to preserve the (and not “our”) ecosystem. Instead, meaningful experience and encounter with the natural world, is! And the key word here is “meaningful.” I respect this because we leave the surface facts and dive into intuition and personal involvement.
In short, we are talking about transpersonal encounters that are, in the words of Eliade “hierophanies”—that is, encounters with the sacred. And if it’s sacred, it must carry attributes that transcend logical understanding. One phenomenon he mentions that accomplishes this is synchronicity—and swan furthers the concept with “magical harmonies.” Surely this marks the integration via transpersonal experience of one’s psyche and the natural world it inhabits. I hear his theme come through strong: we need to find ways to get people into nature because standard educational knowledge doesn’t work. Direct encounter does. And another thing that doesn’t work is fear-based approaches, which he points out tend to backfire and cause people to withdraw in escapism.
But the lived experience, and especially fortunate, the Maslowian “Peak Experiences” generate the lived conviction, the gnostic understanding of how precious our ecosystem, and all the beautiful creatures that live in it, is.
REFERENCES
Swan, J. A. (2010). Transpersonal psychology and the ecological conscience. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 42(1), 2-25.
What is most interesting was listening to Dr Lukoff and his history about Transpersonal Psychology. He brought Buddhism into Transpersonal Psychology which I believe fits perfectly. I have always been interested in Buddhism and along with Dr Yifa's training I am able to see things more clearly. It was also interesting to see Britain accept Transpersonal Psychology { mind, body, spirit }as a sub culture of Psychology and not classify it as a religion. They did that before the United States did. Also, the fact that Transpersonal Psychology can be used in medicine for healing is a major break through. The health community has accepted this as a part of the healing process. It was interesting to follow the timeline for these events to take place. There was a lot of work from the 1980's to the present for this to happen.Lukoff, D. (2019) Listening to One's Deepest Self: Opening to Transpersonal Dimensions of Healing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap9uo8J_4SY