today (including most psychologists, educators, and religious leaders) are unaware of this breakdown in the natural sequence of human maturation, a failure now plainly evident — as witnessed in the current epidemics of psychological dysfunction as well as social and ecological degradation. Vital threads in growing whole are missing from the cultural fabric. Too many of us are only troubled guests on this Earth. Our developmental dilemma stems primarily from our disconnection from nature, from both our “outer” and “inner” natures: the loss of our experienced belonging to and entanglement within the natural world and the loss of our communion with the ver... posted on Jul 26 2021 (5,480 reads)

Pittman on Vandana Shiva There are forces of nature, and then there is Vandana Shiva. Hers is a name close to the lips of anybody engaged in questions of sustainable agriculture, of social justice, of globalisation, of any of the great sociocultural fights of the past couple of decades. Wherever there is a pulpit, where there is land and tradition to protect, she’ll be there. She is loved or she is loathed, depending on who you talk to, but she is clearly a woman with a mission—to fight the rise of Big Agriculture, and the end of biodiversity. Born in 1952 in India’s Dehradun Valley, in the Uttarakhand state at the foothills of the Himalayas, Vandana didn&r... posted on Aug 23 2021 (4,786 reads)

together, we work with the child, then they might add something to the conversation. The parent might add something to the conversation. There's this dynamic fluid exchange that's constantly unfolding, and then that process -- it's literally a process, because the intelligence is leading us through it -- that will guide us ultimately to an outcome. And often it is a piece of the story within that child that is searching for transformation. Right? Because ultimately the fundamental nature of healing itself is transformation. In order to heal, something must change. Something needs to move and shift and transform. That's the essence of it. So at some point we'll reach ... posted on Dec 31 1969 (169 reads)

that we live under, so that’s the system I’m looking at. And for all its economic achievements and scientific breakthroughs—which are very unevenly distributed, with a lot of inequality, which itself is a source of illness—it’s a system that’s based on fundamental assumptions. One is that the profit of the few is for the benefit of the many. That’s not how it is showing up. Also, that people are individualistic and competitive. That’s not our nature as human beings. In fact, from an evolutionary point of view, had we been individualistic and competitive, we never would have evolved. We evolved as communal creatures in close contact with ea... posted on Oct 2 2022 (6,184 reads)

we love horses or not, whether we have contact with horses or not, they can teach us a lot about wisdom, love, and beauty. How do we get close to an honest openness to the potential magic of horses? And what does it even mean? The horse as a mirror for the soul and a vehicle for the soul could show us our true nature, and carry us into sacred spaces, initiating us into transformational healing and insight. Horses could heal conquest consciousness and help us reindigenize. But, for that to happen, we would have to become initiates. How can we properly seek initiation into the great mystery of life?- Nikos Patedakis Nikos Patedakis himself has practiced m... posted on Oct 19 2022 (3,781 reads)

Mayuka Yamazaki, a high-level business executive, ikebana — the ancient Japanese art of floral creations — is not just about arranging flowers. It is about attuning to the wisdom and beauty of nature and enriching our experience of being human. As a master of the art, she explains that ikebana is a word derived from the verb ikeru (to bring alive) and hana (flowers), or combined, “letting flowers live.” For over 20 years, Mayuka has been letting flowers live, and most recently, she has brought this practice to help restore wholeness to schools, international organizations, communities, and most notably, corporations. As a young child in ... posted on Jan 10 2023 (2,144 reads)

a hot air balloon, big, colorful things, you’re not going anywhere while you’re tethered. They even call those tethers—I like it a lot. The cord, the ropes are tying you down to the ground, and they’re tied in. You’re not going to go up, put more helium in, put more hot air in, I don’t care, you’re not going up because you’re tethered. If you cut those tethers, it just goes up automatically. You don’t have to do anything. It’s the nature of things that it will rise because it has helium or hot air in it. So that’s what’s happening to you. There’s nothing wrong with your energy flow. There’s nothing wrong... posted on Feb 3 2023 (5,924 reads)

making them safe. And it is important that we understand what during sleep actually transacts these memory benefits, because there are real medical and societal implications. And let me just tell you about one area that we've moved this work out into, clinically, which is the context of aging and dementia. Because it's of course no secret that, as we get older, our learning and memory abilities begin to fade and decline. But what we've also discovered is that a physiological signature of aging is that your sleep gets worse, especially that deep quality of sleep that I was just discussing. And only last year, we finally published evidence that these two things, they're no... posted on Feb 15 2023 (11,432 reads)

that nothing arises on its own, that this dies because that dies. For this to exist, that has to exist. John Donne talked about how no man is an island. Walt Whitman says that every atom belongs to me as much as it belongs to you. Indigenous cultures here in North America, when they talk about health, there’s the Medicine Wheel, which has four quadrants that includes our biology, our emotions, our psychology, our intellect, our social relationships, not to mention our spiritual nature. And modern medicine—I used say modern medicine—modern science has shown that it’s all interconnected, that we are inseparable, that our minds and our bodies are not distinct ... posted on Feb 26 2023 (7,208 reads)

In the tea room, in Chinese ink paintings, in the arrangement of rocks in a traditional Japanese garden, and in the development and organization of a beautiful essay, asymmetry provokes the viewer to move about the piece. The movement is prompted by a sense of disjuncture between asymmetrical parts. It invites us to look for places to link. If nothing is forced, the sense of potential, on a subconscious level, is encouraged to fruit. As Okakura writes: The dynamic nature of the Zen and Taoist philosophy laid more stress upon the process through which perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty could be discovered only by one who mentally comp... posted on Mar 6 2023 (2,549 reads)

together, we work with the child, then they might add something to the conversation. The parent might add something to the conversation. There's this dynamic fluid exchange that's constantly unfolding, and then that process -- it's literally a process, because the intelligence is leading us through it -- that will guide us ultimately to an outcome. And often it is a piece of the story within that child that is searching for transformation. Right? Because ultimately the fundamental nature of healing itself is transformation. In order to heal, something must change. Something needs to move and shift and transform. That's the essence of it. So at some point we'll reach ... posted on Mar 16 2023 (2,692 reads)

anything below people's shoulders. I don't know why I have nothing against what's below the shoulders, but I am just drawn to this, the bit above the shoulders. I don't know why, but I just like it. So I do it and it draws my full attention. In fact, I once went to a conference and it was about presence, apparently. That was the central focus and I was introduced as someone who would help us to be more present. And I had to say straight away to say, oh no, that's not the nature of it. That's not how I think presence works. Presence isn't something that you do. It just is there. It doesn't need anything. I can show you that. It doesn't need anything. No... posted on Apr 11 2023 (3,170 reads)

9, 2020 As we grapple with the first global pandemic lockdown of our lifetime, our daily routines have been upended, and it’s difficult to keep up with new changes. Many of us are overwhelmed by the precarious nature of our health, our loved ones’ well-being, and our financial security. But in the midst of uncertainty and fear, inspiring videos are emerging from the countries most affected by coronavirus—Iranian doctors and nurses dancing in hospitals and Italian residents singing from their balconies. This footage not only uplifts the spirit of those in close proximity, it also brightens the mood of people watching from around the world.  ... posted on Apr 18 2023 (25,937 reads)

Offering wild prayers for all the beings who come after us, as well as gratitude to all of the teachers, both human and wilder Ones, is a practice to help destabilize my everyday mind and perceptions. Sometimes it is as if I hear the world breathing in response to the melodies.   The everyday mind might intellectually understand that the world is saturated with intelligent presences, but experiencing the world’s animate and participatory nature is a different dimension of depth and heft, and likely engages the body, felt-senses, emotions, and imagination as well as the intellect. In an alluring shift from a human-centered perspecti... posted on Jul 1 2023 (2,408 reads)

of cheerfulness, of love, and of poesy. These little joys … are so inconspicuous and scattered so liberally throughout our daily lives that the dull minds of countless workers hardly notice them. They are not outstanding, they are not advertised, they cost no money! Illustration by Maurice Sendak from Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss He points to the most readily available, most habitually overlooked of those joys — our everyday contact with nature. A century before throngs of screen zombies began swarming the sidewalks of modern cities, Hesse writes: Our eyes, above all those misused, overstrained eyes of modern man, can be, if only... posted on Jul 2 2023 (6,040 reads)

go unfulfilled. Should you find yourself teeming with dreams without strong inclinations towards any particular direction, make do for a spell by hedging your bets. Place your many eggs into many baskets and see what springs forth, as amphibians do with their jellied prospects while living ambivalently between worlds. You could get lucky. Up might hop a red-eyed tree frog and accompanying agency seeking photogenic talent! Up might slither a slender salamander partner of the most gregarious nature! But most likely nothing will rise from those waters and never will, for the majority of hopes unfostered are swallowed up by opportunists lurking in the reeds, or swept out to ill ends by ill ... posted on Jul 10 2023 (2,666 reads)

beneath our fanged fears, beneath the rusted armors of conviction, tenderness is what we long for — tenderness to salve our bruising contact with reality, to warm us awake from the frozen stupor of near-living. Tenderness is what permeates Platero and I (public library) by the Nobel-winning Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (December 23, 1881–May 29, 1958) — part love letter to his beloved donkey, part journal of ecstatic delight in nature and humanity, part fairy tale for the lonely. Healer on a Donkey by Niko Pirosmani, early 1900s. Living in his birthplace of Moguer — a small town in rural Andalusia &mdash... posted on Jul 25 2023 (4,152 reads)

sister who had been the picture of perfect health when he left Austria, sent him a photograph in 1876 showing how afflicted she had become.  She died three years later.  “But I love this life.” He wrote of her death, “for the sake of the work that I do, and I love my fork for the sake of my life and that of my dear wife and children.  I did not wish to die, and I fully made up my mind to fight death.”  He set upon a life’s work of studying the nature of breath, both from the standpoint of anatomical studies and practical exercises.  By 1887, he gained the position of organist and choirmaster of St. Paul’s Chapel in Manhattan, a p... posted on Sep 17 2023 (2,396 reads)

poem The Best Friend, the Welsh poet and occasional vagabond W.H. Davies pondered a timeless question: “Now shall I walk, or should I ride?” This seemingly simple dilemma encapsulates the modern industrial choice between slow-paced ageless wandering on foot or embracing the thrill of motorized transport, along with the attendant speed and freedom it offers, which has become such an integral part of our contemporary lifestyle. It likewise speaks volumes about us and about the nature of the choices we make daily. Gone perhaps are the days of poetic musings over the merits of walking versus riding. Yet one can’t help but wonder if we have lost something essential al... posted on Nov 22 2023 (2,499 reads)

I thought and much more fragile. And this creates a different feeling towards people in general. I found, anyway. I hear that a lot, that grief and empathy are very much connected, in the same way as loss and love are very much connected, too. And that the common energy running through life is loss, but you can translate that into love too, quite easily. They’re very, very much connected. And that comes around from an understanding of just how fragile and vulnerable and precarious the nature of life seems to be. Tippett:There’s something that you said in the book, and I think you’re talking about this, but I’d like to hear a little bit more. So: grief makes dem... posted on Dec 6 2023 (3,389 reads)