The Roots of the Project
The intellectual roots of this project began during my undergraduate studies at Fairhaven College in Bellingham, WA. This alternative college stresses interdisciplinary study and self-directed learning. Although the latter was challenging as an 18 year old, I managed to have a rich and transformative education which is still influencing me today.
My initial studies were in human ecology and environmental science. I had grown up with wilderness and had an instinctual feeling of connection with and sacredness of the natural world. I couldn't understand the pollution and degradation that I saw around me. I wanted to understand how our cultural and individual relationship with the earth affected the choices made about how we used our resources. These were very compelling questions but it turned out that my body had other ideas.
I had been plagued with bouts of eczema (an idiopathic skin condition) since childhood and in my 20th year it took over. I had red, itchy, weepy, hot rashes all over my face, arms and torso. I took showers and peeled my skin off. After a visit to the dermatologist that ended with a verdict of "We can give you some hydrocortizone but really you will have to live with it for the rest of your life." I decided to heal myself and that is what I did. I stopped drinking, smoking, eating wheat, dairy and sugar and started exercising, paying attention to my body and emotions. I saw a naturopath, an acupuncturist, a shaman, a massage therapist and started taking classes called Awareness Through the Body with Leslie Conton, Phd. The gestalt of all of this began to clear up my eczema. My skin healed and I knew that I needed to find a livelihood that kept me in touch with my body. I also had the realization that I had been treating my body with the same disrespect that I had been so appalled by, in regards to the planet. I needed to be a steward to myself in the same way I understood being a steward to the land. I ended up creating a degree entitled The Ecology of Health which studied health and healing from a cross-cultural perspective.
My interest in healing and body awareness led me to study at the Brian Utting School of Massage in Seattle, WA. That began a 10 year inquiry into how we inhabit ourselves.
After touching thousands of people I came to an understanding of the body as ecosystem; a nested interrelationship of systems, structures and rhythms. While touching skin, muscle, fascia, breath, emotions, perceptions and structures of belief, I realized that my role was one of tracker and guide, seeking the inner capacity to heal that is within each of us. As I worked with injuries, trauma, and chronic stress I found a theme of isolation and an advent of healing when whatever fractured part found again its conscious relationship with the whole. As I got more skilled as a practitioner I began to work with and see how our sensory connection to our environment; our feet's knowing of the earth and our eye's commitment to the horizon affect our posture, our sense of safety and all kinds of inner workings that ultimately affect our ability to heal and be resilient. From the body I had been led back to the earth and environment.
With questions about how we inhabit our bodies, the earth and how this affects our health and choices I am setting out on a journey of inquiry. Hoping to find some insights by talking to people about their sense of place, what health means to them, their sensory experience of living in contact with the earth or not. How do we perceive this connection? At this point, the journey is about questions not conclusions.
What is an Ecology of Health?
Ecology
is a branch of biology which studies the interrelationship of organisms
and their environment. As a science it came into its own in the second
half of the last century. It is in many ways holistic and
interdisciplinary drawing on research from biochemistry and cellular
biology to botany and zoology, as well as disciplines researching
aspects of the environment such as meteorology, geology, geography,
chemistry and physics.
Even though, as a science, ecology is relatively new, the concept and understanding is old. Indigenous knowledge systems the world over are based on empirical observation of the environment and have developed traditions of ecological understanding. We need to look at the interrelationships not only within the body but the mutual influence between the individual and the world to understand health.
In order to look at health through the lens of ecology we have to first answer the question "what is health?". Dictionaries define health as
a soundness of mind and body or freedom from illness and disease. If
we look back at the roots of the word we find reference to wholeness,
to being whole, holy and sacred. What does being whole mean for an organism made up of 70 trillion individual cells all humming with their own actions in various organizations of tissue? How does each organ, each muscle, each conscious moment express soundness and wholeness? What is the experience of this. How can we recognize and nurture our health? Can
our health be independent of our environment? How do our actions and choices reflect our state of health? We are living within
communities, within ecosystems and ultimately the biosphere. How does the integrity of these systems influence our concept of health and, ultimately, our
expression of health? This question will probably have many answers
depending on the individual, the culture and environment.
We
know about our surroundings by our senses- sight, smell, hearing, touch
and taste. Yet it is our perception, the meaning that we give to the
raw data of our senses that influences the choices made in our lives.
Which food should we eat? Which road should we take? This informing by
way of sensory experience also builds our sense of home, our sense of
connection and understanding of our environment. Are there cultural
differences in how we perceive our place in the order of things? How
does this perception of place affect our perception of health?
