Embodied Practices for Re-Imagining our Relationship with Nature
Project Overview
Intellectually understanding our physical interdependence with the environment around us is different from actually living in that understanding. Our ability to live differently in our relationship with the environment begins with imagining new ways of perceiving it. This research project developed three different practices for accessing our physical awareness of interconnection with the ecosystems around us and recognizing our relationships with ecosystems where we may not traditionally look for them. Through movement, presence, and intention, we may discover new ways of being and support for our human and non-human communities.
I began this research with the question: how can movement help individuals become more aware of their physical interconnectedness with the environment? Using my experience in dance, intermedia, and Yoga practices, I explored several modes of creative access to this question and collected feedback about the experiences to make them more accessible to diverse audiences. The three activities below are the results of my research and provide grounding experiences that can be listened to or experienced in and around your home or incorporated into your own practices. Each one guides your attention to the connections between your body and whatever ecosystem you are living in (with some focus on urban ecosystems) and provides the space to form a personal connection that may shape new perspectives and actions towards it.
Meditation
This meditation is intended to be listened to in an indoor space where you can be comfortable and relaxed. Before starting the video, please find somewhere to sit or lie down and support yourself with pillows, blankets, or other props as needed. You may want a journal or something to write on nearby.
Audio Walk
This audio walk is intended to be experienced during a walk around your neighborhood, it can be experienced elsewhere but know that it will start and end in the same place. Before starting the video, please collect what you may need to be outside for about thirty minutes and exit whatever building you may be in.
Yoga Asana Class
I designed this Yoga Asana class to focus on the values of interconnection and the Yama of asteya (non-stealing). It incorporates Yoga mythology and stories to illustrate the way that intentional action is connected to sustainability. You are welcome to use the lesson plan as a format for your own Yoga class if you are a teacher or incorporate the prompts into your personal Yoga practice. The class that resulted was taught in February 2022 but was not documented in order to allow the students to experience the class without distraction. An on-demand video of the class is also available to practice at home.
Movement Practice
An additional creative practice that came out of this research was a physical grieving process that was necessary for me to be able to create these experiences. As much as it was healing to imagine new ways of being and develop physical practices for those ways of being, I also had to make space to grieve what we have already lost to human disturbance and the suffering that is still to come from climate change. This movement practice is what resulted when I came to terms with my own grief and found faith in the resilience of our planet. It will be showcased on May 5, 2022 in Hopkins Hall.
Supporting Literature
Cahill, Kate, et al. A Field Guide to Ilanding: Research Scores for Urban Ecologies. 53rd State Press, 2017. (link: http://www.ilandart.org/ )
Hanh Thich Nhât. How to Connect. Parallax Press, 2020. (link: https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/key-books/ )
Jamail, Dahr. The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption. The New Press, 2020.
Kolbert, Elizabeth. Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future. Thorndike Press, a Part of Gale, a Cengage Company, 2022.
Pattanaik, Devdutt. Yoga Mythology: 64 Asana and Their Stories. LLEWELLYN, 2022.
Kara Komarnitsky 