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# 2018-02-25 - Techniques For Restoring Biophilia | |
Earth pendulum | |
The exercises come from chapter 10 of The Lost Language of Plants, | |
reviewed in the log entry linked below. | |
The Lost Language of Plants notes | |
# Techniques For Restoring Biophilia | |
The restoration of our capacity for biophilia begins with restoring, | |
and supporting, our capacity for feeling. And not just feeling in | |
the grossest sense--feelings of anger or sadness or joy or fear--but | |
the subtle feelings it is possible for us to perceive, if we desire | |
to, in everything around us. | |
We were born with a sophisticated capacity for detecting emotional | |
nuances in the world around us. We feel them every time we encounter | |
the messages embedded within the natural world. Restoring biophilia | |
means exploring these nuances. It means "coming to our senses," | |
especially the sense of feeling--of touch--of being touched by the | |
world. The shadings of emotional color that we can sense come from | |
the touch of the world upon us. And these shadings exist in a | |
thousand colors and tones. It is only through exploring the | |
territory of these feelings that what they mean can be understood. | |
It is not an academic or rhetorical process. It has nothing to do | |
with theory. Feeling comes first, thinking second; thinking in | |
service of feeling. The experience cannot be written down nor found | |
in books. It can only be developed by opening up to the | |
sophisticated capacity for feelings that we possess, by allowing | |
ourselves to be touched by the livingness in the world, and exploring | |
the meanings we encounter. This reconnects us to everything around | |
us--to everything that generates those feelings. It reweaves us into | |
the fabric of life. | |
What follows are a series of exercises that I have used and taught to | |
people for the past twenty years. They may seem dumb or foolish or | |
scary or stupid, even hard and difficult or deeply emotional. They | |
are all of those things. Doing them often and for several years is | |
helpful. So is writing your experiences in a journal. | |
## Exercise 1 | |
Take a day or an afternoon and go to a part of your town that you | |
like. Choose a part of town that is normally fun to you, that you | |
feel happy visiting. You are just going to be walking and visiting | |
stores. | |
Begin by walking in the area that you enjoy most. Let yourself sink | |
into the feeling of the place; let yourself relax. | |
Now. Look around you and pick the store that you feel drawn to the | |
most. Go stand in front of it. What feelings do you have? Let | |
yourself explore them; allow yourself to not be in a hurry. Allow | |
any feelings that arise to emerge; notice what they are. | |
In the beginning this may be confusing. The multisensory nature of | |
human perception and feeling is so commonly repressed that it is | |
often confusing, or scary, or awkward when opening up to it again. | |
Still, allow yourself to notice whatever you feel--don't make any | |
judgments about it. Write everything down. | |
Pay attention to the door(s). To the windows, to what is in the | |
windows. To the sign or signs. To the walk in front of the store. | |
To any plants or trees that may be growing there. How does each part | |
feel to you? Do some parts feel better than others? Can you tell | |
why? Overall--what is the primary feeling the store communicates to | |
you? Is it prosperous? Comforting? Happy? Somber? Melancholy? | |
Spend as much time as you need to feel like you have explored every | |
aspect of the store with your feelings and come to a conclusion about | |
it. | |
Now. Look around the street. Pick another store, but this time pick | |
one that, to your immediate emotions, feels significantly different | |
than the first one. Go to it and repeat the exercises. | |
Compare the two stores. What different kinds of feelings did they | |
generate? Can you tell why? Can you put them into words? (This may | |
take some practice.) | |
Now go to a third store and repeat the exercise and compare it to the | |
two you explored before. | |
All of us unconsciously choose to go to stores or restaurants that | |
meet emotional desires we have, that we feel most comfortable in, | |
even though many other stores may sell the same things. This | |
exercise is a process of beginning to consciously perceive and | |
identify the embedded communications that come from the world around | |
you and are felt in subtle emotions. | |
The businesses that people create embody the world perspective, the | |
underlying epistomologies, that their owners possess. The | |
businesses, principles like the barn in John Gardner's exercise, | |
convey to customers experience, though they may not normally be able | |
to say what those feelings are. It is possible, after much practice, | |
to identify these feelings, the nature of the organizational | |
structure of a business, its level of psychological health, its | |
impact on the public, its level of financial health, and so on. | |
## Exercise 2 | |
Now go to a coffee house that you like--one with a bookstore is good | |
for this exercise--a place you can linger for a while and have some | |
coffee or tea. Choose something you especially like. Choose a table | |
that has a good view of the room and perhaps the people entering the | |
shop. Let your eye find whichever person you are drawn to most | |
naturally. Observe them. Since you will be looking with some | |
intensity you will have to be clever not to make them nervous or | |
wonder what you are doing or why. This works best if you can observe | |
them unobserved. | |
What kinds of feelings do you get from this person? Happy? Sad? | |
Nervous? Empty? Masculine? Feminine? Strong? Weak? Poverty? | |
Comfort? Assurance? Indulgent wealth? Indulgent emotion? What | |
thoughts come to you when you look at their face? Let yourself | |
examine their face. How does their chin feel to you? Their nose? | |
Their ears? Their eyes? What is communicated from their eyes? Faces | |
are extraordinarily faithful to the internal world of a person, no | |
matter how schooled someone is at "keeping face." Each part of their | |
face, through the feelings you feel, will tell you something about | |
that person's internal world. | |
Now. Look at their hands. Do their hands seem alive and aware or | |
asleep and unlived in? Are their hands strong or weak, happy or sad? | |
Businesslike or filled with feeling? How old do you think this | |
person is emotionally? Just let a number come. (Have you known | |
other people who seem that age? Are their hands similar?) | |
How are their clothes? What do these communicate? Their shoes? Is | |
the person comfortable in their clothes? Are they comfortable in | |
their skin? Do their clothes match the feeling you have from looking | |
at their face? | |
Do this with as many people as you wish, but at least two. Compare | |
the experiences you had of each. | |
The epistemology within which a person lives is communicated in every | |
gesture, intonation, movement of eye and hand, every piece of | |
clothing and stride of foot. It is possible, with practice, to learn | |
to perceive all of the elements of their epistemology, of their | |
world, to know what it is like to live within it. To understand how | |
people experience them. To understand the emotional tenor of their | |
lives. | |
## Exercise 3 | |
Go to a place in nature that you like. (Be sure and take a journal | |
with you.) Choose a place you have been to before. Find the area | |
you like most and relax. Sit if you want to; get comfortable. | |
How does this place feel? Try to describe it in words. Be as | |
specific as you can. Go on in your journal at length if you need to. | |
Write down everything that comes to you no matter how silly it | |
sounds. Even if you think it's crazy. | |
When you are done, allow your eye to rove, to be drawn to whatever | |
one thing is most interesting to you. Look at it. Let your eye | |
explore it, noticing everything about it. The colors, the shape, how | |
it rests or grows in the ground. Its relation to the air around it, | |
to the plants, water, soil, and rocks around it. | |
What feelings do you have? Write them down. | |
Is there any part of what you are looking at that you like more? | |
Less? Why? Can you tell? Do all parts of what you are looking at | |
generate the same emotion? Different emotions? Write everything | |
down in your journal. | |
Do this with at least two other things you can see. Make sure one of | |
them is a plant. You can get up close if you want to, place your eye | |
on a level plane, take an insect view. How is the plant shaped, how | |
does it feel to your fingers, how does it smell? What emotions does | |
it generate in you? Write everything down. | |
Now, go to another natural place, different from the first. Sit down | |
and relax. Get comfortable. How does this place feel? Write down | |
everything that you notice. Go on at length. | |
Does this second place feel different from the first place you sat? | |
How are the feelings different? Which place feels better--the first | |
or the second? Is there a name you can give the feeling you had at | |
the first pace? A name you can give the second? Names that will | |
make clear the difference in feeling that you perceive? If you can't | |
think of a word make something up. | |
When you are finished, as you did last time, find something your eye | |
is drawn to and write down everything that you feel and perceive. Do | |
this as well with two other things, at least one of them a plant. | |
Each place on Earth has unique feelings associated with it, as does | |
each thing that grows or resides there. The numbers of shadings of | |
their emotional nuances run into the thousands. Each can fit into a | |
specific space within different human beings that need them. There | |
is a richness in feeling, a companionability that comes from | |
perceiving, the complex interweaving of emotional textures that | |
reside in the life that surrounds us. | |
# Going Deeper | |
## Exercise 4 | |
(Sometimes it is helpful to make a tape recording of this exercise | |
and play it back. Instead of the words "them" or "they" that I use | |
in the exercise, use "him" or "her" and "she" or "he" and "his" or | |
"hers"--whichever gender you are. If you practice you will find the | |
perfect speed, pitch, and intonation for you to listen to.) | |
Sit someplace comfortable. Someplace you won't be disturbed for a | |
while. Someplace safe. | |
Close your eyes and take some deep breaths. Fill up your lungs as if | |
they were balloons; fill them to bursting. Hold it a minute, then... | |
slowly... release. As you let out the air in your lungs, let any | |
tension you feel inside you release and go out with your breath. Do | |
this again... several times. | |
Now. Imagine the floor or chair under you as two huge cupped hands | |
that are holding you. Let yourself relax into them. There is no | |
need to hold yourself up; let yourself be supported. | |
Keep breathing and letting any tension in your body go. | |
See, standing in front of you, the little child that you were. | |
Notice everything about them. How are they dressed? How does their | |
face look? Happy? Sad? | |
Are you happy to see them? Do they seem happy to see you? Will they | |
look you in the eye? Do you feel comfortable seeing them? | |
Notice everything about your child. | |
Now. (Just inside yourself), ask your child if there is anything | |
they wish to tell you. Listen carefully. Is there anything you wish | |
to tell your child? Talk and listen as much as necessary until | |
everything has been said. Is there anything your child needs from | |
you? Is there anything you need from your child? | |
We are often taught in the Western world, especially in the United | |
States, to divorce ourselves from this part of our self. It is a | |
part of our self that feels very deeply and is very sensitive to the | |
emotional nuances in the world. People often have difficulty in | |
reclaiming this part of themselves. If you imagine a close friend | |
whom you stood up three or four times in a row for a lunch date, you | |
can imagine the level of feelings that might exist in a part of you | |
closeted away for fifteen or twenty years. Sometimes it takes a | |
great deal of work to reestablish communication. This part of human | |
beings does not respond well to ultimatums or threats, but will | |
sometimes respond to promises, especially if they are kept. (Usually | |
you will have to do something in exchange. It is very important that | |
you do it if you agree to.) It is worth the work it entails. | |
Opening the door to this part of you opens the door to reconnection | |
to the world and all the subtle meanings within it. I often suggest | |
that people do this exercise daily for at least a year. This part of | |
yourself will tell you everything that you deeply need. It will also | |
tell you much about the world around you. It is possible to become | |
your own best friend. It is interesting that Luther Burbank, George | |
Washington Carver, Helen Keller, and a great many indigenous plant | |
peoples were all said to be like children. | |
## Exercise 5 | |
You can repeat the last exercise, if you wish, with any developmental | |
age you have lived through, from infancy on. Each has its own | |
intelligence, its own special connections with the world. | |
Developmental stages do not stop at age twelve or sixteen; the child | |
naturally grows to forty and to eighty. It is possible to remain | |
filled with feeling and wonder and openness at any age. Each age has | |
its own teachings. Each is a unique developmental stage of a human | |
being's growth through life. Each has unique perceptions and | |
capacities that aid in the experience of the human condition--at | |
least they do when allowed to bloom, to grow unstunted and | |
unrepressed. The early infant part of ourselves has the capacity to | |
perceive everything simultaneously as it happens. Infants have no | |
words (they perceive in gestalts), but that is all right; the child | |
knows lots of words. And they are often willing to act as | |
interpreter. | |
## Exercise 6 | |
Repeat Exercise 1. Go to the same places. Ask your child to be | |
present with you, perhaps standing beside you and invisibly holding | |
your hand. Let yourself relax and really begin to see and feel the | |
store you are looking at once again. How does it feel to you today? | |
Remember everything you know about it. Now. Ask your child what he | |
or she feels. What part of the store feels best to them? What part | |
do they like most? Ask them to tell you everything they are willing | |
to tell you about this store. Spend as much time as they need you to | |
spend. Are there any differences from when you went alone? What are | |
they? Is there any pattern to the differences? | |
Go to at least one more place you went to the first time and repeat | |
the exercise. What are your child's feelings and perceptions? Which | |
place do they like better? Why? When you are ready to stop, make | |
sure that before you do you thank your child for helping you. | |
## Exercise 7 | |
Now, repeat Exercise 2. Take your child with you again. How do they | |
feel about this place? When you are seated and comfortable, begin | |
looking at more people. Pick one that your child is most interested | |
in. Have them tell you everything they perceive about that person. | |
When you are done, have your child pick someone else. If they are | |
willing to, someone they are uncomfortable with. Have them tell you | |
why. What is it about that person that is uncomfortable? Have your | |
child go into as much detail as possible. | |
## Exercise 8 | |
Repeat Exercise 3. Go to the same place in nature you went before. | |
Remember to take a journal. Find and sit in the same place. Let | |
yourself relax. Imagine the Earth upon which you are sitting to be | |
huge hands holding and supporting you. Take some deep breaths. | |
Now. Ask your child to come and sit with you. Have them tell you | |
everything about this place. Go to the plant you sat with before. | |
Touch it, smell it. Have your child touch and smell it. Have them | |
tell you everything they know about it. Write it all down. | |
Now. Let them choose another one they feel drawn to. Have them tell | |
you everything about it. Write it all down. Repeat this at the | |
second place you went before. When you are done, make sure you thank | |
your child for helping you before you stop. | |
Sometimes, later, it helps to go and look up things about that plant | |
in a book, perhaps a medicinal herb guide. The depth of information | |
that the child can often gather from plants is amazing. People who | |
have done these exercises with me over the years have described in | |
detail information about plants they do not know and have never seen | |
before. They have described medicinal uses, craft uses, clothing and | |
building uses that are exceptionally sophisticated and are not | |
apparent from the exterior appearance of the plant. I have even put | |
plants in a closed box and have heard a person's child describe them | |
in detail when the person, themself, could not do so earlier. It | |
seems amazing, but it is not. It is just the way things are. | |
## Exercise 9 | |
Do these exercises often (you may even discover others of your own). | |
The more you do them, the more connected you will be to your self, | |
the more your capacity for perceiving and responding to subtle | |
emotions will increase, and the more you will be connected to the | |
world around you. After a while it becomes instinctual; this part of | |
you integrates, is no longer separated out (either internally or as | |
an exercise). It can take a long time. | |
As you develop this experience there will be a constant flow of | |
information and complex feeling between you and the world in which | |
you live. Smells may become vivid, colors enhanced. You may begin | |
to take on a childlike demeanor, to spend hours sitting under trees | |
talking with flowers. You may find yourself wearing bright colors | |
and having a tendency to hum off tunes. You may find yourself | |
laughing for no reason or even gathering knowledge that you cannot | |
explain with your rational mind. If you do this long enough and | |
often enough you will start to have unusual adventures, you begin | |
living in a world where biophilia is commonplace. You begin | |
reinhabiting your interbeing with the world. You will start moving | |
into biognosis. If you go on with it even longer you might even | |
realize that you are here to do something in particular, that you | |
were born for a reason. | |
tags: biophilia,outdoor,spirit | |
# Tags | |
biophilia | |
outdoor | |
spirit |