It wouldn’t be complete to discuss the role of nature in our collective quest for health and happiness without examining why we feel separated from nature – why we need to embrace something “out there” – and what “out there” looks like in both western and Hawaiian culture.
As a youth growing up in the Midwest , nature was about going to camp, going to a zoo, going on a field trip, on vacation, always going “there.” I was lucky to live where there were woods across the street or in the backyard – a place where I could run away and immerse myself in the natural world.
In the Avanti Pictures DVD, Suzuki Speaks, biologist /environmentalist, David Suzuki, shares the source of his epiphany.
“When I first encountered First Nations people, they told me we are made of the four sacred elements: earth, air, fire and water. As I reflected on that, I realized we’ve framed the environmental problem the wrong way. There’s no environment "out there" for us to interact with. We are the environment, because we are the Earth. For me, that began a whole shift in the way that I looked at the issues that confront us and the way we live on this planet.”
The idea that nature/environment is outside of us is only one of many beliefs that mainstream American culture propagates to support its continuous assault on nature/environment in the name of “the economy.”
One of the many reasons I have fallen in love with the Hawaiian culture is because they “remember” their relationship with nature and their ancestors (not just the human ones). They refer to plants as their brother, the aina as Mother. They don’t remove themselves from their own story of creation.
In contrast, most mainstream westerners perceive themselves as having arrived on earth in a zip-lock bag – completely separate from nature, and therefore, unaware of the personal and collective consequences of their addictive consumption – indifferent to their impact on the environment – that’s all of us, folks.
I came to Hawaii to heal a painful neuro-muscular “pattern” in my neck and shoulder. That was the intention. I didn’t know that would be the outcome, and I didn’t know what form my healing would take before I came. I was just in a time and place in my life where some self adjustment was in order, and I thought to myself, “where is the most nurturing and restorative place on earth?” Then I trusted my next steps.
Although immediately touched by the aina, it would be several years before the layers of American corporate culture would give way to new, freer neuro-pathways and a more natural and “inclusive” way of viewing the world. That was my remembering. I began to awaken from some kind of sensory amnesia, attuning my body away from the automated postures of a human doing, to a more consciously integrated creature being.
My personal healing and transformation has often been inspired by the natural graciousness of the first peoples of Hawaii – people who care to remember a language that connects them to each other and their history. They know that they are an intricate, inseparable aspect of the natural world.
We are the environment. The things we know to do to improve our health as individuals will also improve the health of the aina, and visa versa.
Growing our own food or supporting farmers who are committed to organic, environmentally sustainable local foods, that don’t depend on chemical pesticides or the fossil fuel inputs required to deliver them to you from half way around the world – that’s good for us! Walking, peddling, going bio-diesel, planning car trips better (anything to get off the gas), that’s good for us! Practicing self improvement methods like yoga, somatics and meditation, instead of opting for “somebody do it for me” methods like surgery and medication, are good for us!
Maui Visions asks “can a more natural lifestyle transform your life?” Indeed! It could transform your world.
