Driving through Amsterdam, I realized I did not have an offering. I stopped at Stewart’s. Purchased a box of large black trash bags and a pair of work gloves. At the trailhead, I asked the natural world for permission before I entered. It is caring to knock before opening.
I am moving differently outside. Thanks to the lessons learned in an ecotherapy certification course, specifically for BIPOC counselors, therapists and healers, offered by the Earthbody Institute. The goal is to use ecotherapy to create a symbiotic relationship with the land. Healing earth and humanity simultaneously.
Honoring the interconnectedness of the natural world
A ritual is a series of actions with a specific meaning and intention. My intention is to provide for the land that has provided everything for us. To use my skills as a social worker to empower humans to deepen their relationship with the natural world, while healing themselves and each other.
The practices I am learning are not new. Their concepts are foreign to our capitalist economy, which has taught us to exploit the land for the highest economic gain. They are indigenous to the people who first occupied Adirondack land, the Haudenosaunee. Honoring the interconnectedness of the natural world and humanity through community, ritual, ceremony and localized healing and wellness.
Confronting fear, asking for permission
At the trailhead to Chase Lake lean-to I asked for permission, waited and offered the land a cleanse. After years of lean-to hopping, I know the amount of trash left behind…