In Depth

Ecological Selves 

 

The Aliveness Initiative Program and Practices were assembled to support the expanded awareness of our interconnectedness within ourselves and with the more than human world, and interbeing. And, to foster the transition of our cultural narrative towards relationship with the community of life. They prepare a relational foundation to sustain and integrate the awareness of interbeing and catalyze planetary flourishing.

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We embrace and seek to model the lessons that nature, our planet teacher, gifts us every day: 

• The whole is greater than the sum of the parts

• Living systems are evolving and learning 

• Small changes can have great impact

• Diversity helps us flourish and thrive

• Healthy systems find balance in right relationship

• All life is interdependent, moving through natural cycles of birth and death

• Life is imbued with an innate healing potential

• Life is unpredictable

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These teachings are sacred gifts and important lessons for the health of both our internal and external worlds. They help us embrace our unique contributions and our own sacredness, and thus the sacredness of all life.

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“The land is the real teacher. All we need as students is mindfulness. Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer

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If we seek true healing, as a species and as a living planet, we must reconsider our culture’s flawed story of separateness from the community of life and recognize that inner and outer transformation are collective processes, intimately intertwined. 

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Nature and Psychological Well-Being 

 

Studies, like this one from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, have shown that psychedelic medicine increases nature-relatedness. More so, an increase in nature-relatedness is positively correlated with increases in psychological well-being. Disconnection from the natural world (from urbanization, technology, and other cultural causes) is linked to worsening mental health. Aliveness has the potential to help humans rediscover their intimate relationship with the more-than-human world, embrace their ecological selves, embrace their inner healer and find right relationships with other species.  

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Explore Your Relationship with the More than Human World

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Nature-relatedness is a term that defines the depth of our connection with the natural world, as reflected in our emotions, beliefs, thoughts, and experiences. While this may exist as an enduring trait throughout our life, recent research suggests nature-relatedness can be enhanced through the use of psychedelic medicines, opening us up to a deeper awareness and appreciation of the living world.

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The Nature Relatedness Scale (NR-6) measures the strength of one’s psychological relationship to nature, a characteristic associated with happiness and well-being. For your education and exploration, we’ve added a Nature Relatedness Scale calculator tool to our website. Curious to learn more?

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Let Us Reconnect with Nature

 

On a planet over four billion years old, the timespan of humans is but a blink of an eye— inseparably woven into planetary ecological cycles of birth, life, death, and transformation. There are many practices that that help reawaken us to the mystery of life and remind us of the lessons that living systems gift us every day. These practices and medicines help prepare and sustain a new way of being in relationship with the mystery of life and the more than human world; to embody our ecological selves. If you are called to learn more and integrate into your lived experience or have ideas for how we further our mission of helping people flourish and thrive in right-relationship with the natural world, please let us know!  

 

Learn, Grow, Integrate, and Embody

Reconnecting with life is a matter of moving from intellectual knowledge towards rediscovering and finding right-relationship with embodied wisdom, a felt sense of interbeing, and radical wholeness. In this section, you will find some examples of programs and practices to help you learn, grow, integrate, and embody a deeper relational presence.

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The One Sacred Earth Project invites you to participate in the co-creation of a gifts of nature gratitude invocation with others in your local community, organization or with others from around the globe. Explore this example , curated from submissions across the globe. 

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Nature-Positive represents an aspirational, inclusive, and intuitive summary of societal goals for nature. The growing evidence of the impacts of species loss on planetary and human flourishing has led to increased recognition that we need to move beyond ‘minimizing harm’ to actually delivering real and measurable improvements in the state of nature – in other words, to become ‘Nature-Positive’.  The Aliveness Initiative focuses this work on the inner mindset of nature positively. What consciousness is required to support and foster nature positively? 

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Emergent Dialogue

The emergent dialogue process is practical and profound. Not only does it enable you to engage pragmatically with complexity and conflict, it also enables groups to discover a new and deeper source of collective creativity. 

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“In emergent dialogues the intelligence of the field becomes part of the conversation. Our different perspectives cohere into a living and united creativity.” – Thomas Steininger

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Reach out if you'd like to learn more or engage in this practice.