Healing the Heart, Healing the Planet: A Workshop for Ending Climate Change View Digital Media

Workshop Presentation
Katrina Rogers,  Leni Wildflower  

How do we link the healing of ourselves to healing the planet? What is the connection between self-care and care for the planet? Thich Nhat Hanh, a renowned spiritual teacher, argued that peace in the world is only possible when there is peace within ourselves. Once the qualities of peace, that is love, compassion, and altruism, are cultivated within us, then we can expand and extend this peace from the individual to family, and from family to community, and community to the world. This is not necessarily a linear process. Strategies towards self-healing and healing the planet are interwoven and mutually reinforcing. The opposite of peace is violence; in the case of climate change, the anthropogenic-caused devastation, primarily as a result of massive natural resource extraction, is the ultimate violence against other species as well as ourselves. Incorporating the writings of Joanna Macy, Meg Wheatley, Bill McKibbon, and others, this workshop is a speed data collection round for research that explores methods and tools for healing ourselves that link to healing of the natural world. In our time together, we will experience three practices and examine how they may be used in our professional work, including scholarly research and policy change. Come join us!