Did you know that we are nature?
Humans are not separated from nature. And the more we feel this connection with nature, the more balanced, peaceful and happy we feel and also it makes us want to protect nature more.
In fact, nature already has in it all of the solutions to our emotional turbulence and to our environmental issues.
How many times have you watched your own body heal itself?
In the same way, nature heals herself if we just give her the space to do it.
Scientists now recommend that we leave half the earth to nature, only building and farming on the other half, to allow mother nature to heal herself and the environment. This is our best bet in combating global warming and climate change.
Photo by Patrick McGregor on Unsplash
We are nature
We are nature, there is no doubt about that. And however much we try and be all civilized and clean and technologically advanced, once we distance ourselves from nature we spiral quickly into imbalance and suffer physically, emotionally and mentally.
We can see it on an environmental level too… Instead of connecting and flowing and growing with nature, we try and control it and amend it and bend it to our will, and oh no! What have we done!
"something we know from any big social change in history is that there is no power like people's power. Our community banding together is what makes us strong."
The floods we just experienced right in our town in Australia just now were unbelievably catastrophic.
I’ve seen horrid mudslides in the last couple of weeks that have wrecked houses and tragically drowned many people; they would probably not have happened if people did not log this whole area 50-100 years ago.
Some of the major loss of human and animal lives and property here could have been avoided if dams that burst would never have been built.
Photo by Jorick Jing on Unsplash
We’re seeing the shocking impact of climate damage on the people and places we love, right in our very own backyards.
We know that climate change is making flooding, bushfires and storms more severe and unpredictable. This is science, not just a news story.
Sometimes a problem can feel so big, you might wonder how you – just one person – can help. But something we know from any big social change in history is that there is no power like people's power. Our community banding together is what makes us strong.
The climate crisis is here
It does no one any good to keep talking about disasters like this as “one-in-a-hundred-year events”. Climate damage is making them happen every few years now.
Climate change is harming our health, safety, livelihoods and our fellow beings on earth as well.
"Don't turn off the news. There is no perfect, peaceful place. We make peace only by making friends with ourselves, and caring about others, not by hiding from our world."
The last thing any of us need is more bad news. But today’s report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) explains in detail how climate impacts – such as floods, bushfires and heatwaves are coming faster, hitting harder, and will be felt more widely, especially in the world’s most vulnerable communities. Read more here.
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
These floods show how we’re already living with the consequences of climate inaction. But the faster we cut emissions, the more climate damage we can avoid. What we do now will determine how much worse things get.
Floods are just one event… 2 Years ago we had catastrophic fires, before that we had a drought, other places are experiencing heat waves, tsunamis, king tides, erosion, inundation and coral bleaching, hurricanes, tornadoes and more.
Don't turn off the news. There is no perfect, peaceful place. We make peace only by making friends with ourselves, and caring about others, not by hiding from our world (which I would love to do sometimes).
Life finds a way
Life finds a way…Let’s also find a way, with nature, to strengthen this movement, to educate ourselves into positive purposeful action and to stop climate change in its tracks - For the environment, the animal and for people!
Many of us, including myself, want to get offline and stay offline and avoid rushing around and avoid social media and avoid politics. But the world needs us. We have no choice but to engage in this life and world, so let’s choose to engage positively and make a difference.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
It is heartening to see that amidst the flood damage, people are coming together to protect lives, communities and livelihoods. As the city of Brisbane recorded more rain in a single week than London’s average annual rainfall, Queenslanders were supporting each other with emergency services and mutual aid. At the same time areas in NSW such as Lismore and Gympie and here in Mullumbimby were hit by record-breaking floods, people were banding together to evacuate people stuck inside their homes and offer vital support and now we are all in it together to clean up the giant mess that was left behind and find housing to the many newly homeless.
While the latest news can be difficult to hear, it’s important to maintain hope.
Credible, urgent climate action, like switching to a plant-based diet, phasing out fossil fuels, rapidly switching to renewable energy, and electrifying homes, businesses and transport systems, will boost our economy and create jobs for generations while protecting our homes, livelihoods and ecosystems from further catastrophic harm. We just need to get on with it.
Photo by Dhaya Eddine Bentaleb on Unsplash
Together, we have to keep pushing bravely and boldly for solutions. And work harder than ever to secure a safe future for the people, animals and places we hold most dear.
The half-earth project
And with all of this happening right now, I was so amazed to see the project of Half-Earth come into real life in front of my eyes… I’ve been reading about it in environmental science fiction books for years now imagining this scenario and now people all over the world are partitioning to giving 50% of the earth back to nature - AMAZING! - Join me and sign the petition here!
Scientists say we’re in the midst of the next great extinction, humanity is taking a chainsaw to the tree of life. But an ambitious new plan to protect 50% of our planet would heal our home, and governments are meeting soon to discuss the crisis.
Up to one million species could be gone from our planet, many within decades. Life is being extinguished as fast as when the dinosaurs disappeared, and it’s happening because of humanity’s carelessness.
Photo by Antoine GIRET on UnsplashUnless we stop this tragedy, the Earth’s delicate biodiversity could completely collapse, leaving our planet deathly silent and uninhabitable for humans. But there’s hope - top scientists are backing an ambitious plan to put half our planet under protection and restore harmony with our home.
Scientists now say our best chance to save our ecosystems and most species is giving them enough safe space to thrive, then nature uses its wisdom to regenerate.
More than 50 governments have just agreed to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 - protecting half the planet from deforestation, dirty energy, and industrial fishing and agriculture is now just a step away and likely remains the best way to sustain our intricate web of life.
Photo by Biorock Indonesia on Unsplash
It is a great unwisdom of our species that we have become so disconnected from our natural world. But it's not too late. We have the capacity to grow wiser. Our hope for change built this massive movement, and we won the Paris climate deal. We are within sight of protecting 50% of our planet. Let's come together, lead, and restore the harmony between humans and our home.
People have thought of so many solutions to the climate crisis, but none of us is as wise as nature. If we just leave nature alone, she fixes herself!
When we bought our home and founded our animal sanctuary and charity in the hills here the previous owner showed us pictures of the house and valley from when bought the property 35 years ago… There was not even one tree standing! It was all logged.
It’s hard to believe, but now our whole mountain range and valley are a thick forest full of life and biodiversity - Look what mother nature has done to heal herself in a mere 35 years!
Look at the complexity of the solar system, the weather system, the human body… Atoms! Wow! We are not in the same league to compete with that yet.
Photo by Eutah Mizushima on Unsplash
With all of our advances, nature is still the best solution to fixing herself.
We did not invent any machines yet that can draw as much CO2 as forests or oceans… We just need to pull our industrial claws back (at least 50%) and let nature work its magic on its own. Does it make sense to you?
Nature is a key part of the solution to the climate crisis, bringing wildlife back from the brink of extinction and re-connecting our communities.
Healthy forests, rivers and oceans provide homes for wildlife and filter the air we breathe and the water we drink. Big old trees cool our towns, cities and our climate. More nature makes people happier and communities feel more connected.
Photo by Geran de Klerk on Unsplash
Together, we must:
???? Connect communities to nature and to each other, right across this beautiful earth
???? Protect the places, the animals and wildlife we love
???? Restore the damage so everyone and every living being can thrive
Our forests, wetlands and bush lands provide homes for our unique animals, birds, insects and reptiles and are places where people restore and revive. And best of all, protecting these places also helps keep down climate pollution!
???? Our old-growth native forests store a lot of greenhouse gases. When forests are logged and burnt, especially older forests, massive amounts of carbon dioxide are released into the air from the trees and the soil and it takes generations to be captured again in regrowth forests.
???? The mangroves along our coastlines are not just home to a vast array of birds and marine life like turtles. Along with underwater kelp and grass meadows, they also store even more greenhouse gases than tropical rainforests.
And when we face more extreme storms fueled by climate damage, mangroves help protect communities and coastlines from storm surges.
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
???? Even grasslands are an important climate solution. The vast grass savannas of Northern Australia are a great store of greenhouse gases and with roots buried in the soil they are protected from fire… And places like this exist all over the world!
By protecting and restoring our big backyard and keeping it free from further human intervention, we can reduce our climate impact, safeguard the places, plants and animals we love and keep people and nature healthy.
Making the world a better place
You are wondering how it is all related to teaching yoga to the next generation?
With technology penetrating every area of our lives, it is hard to feel our natural connection to nature. Sometimes we are all too busy to even care.
Slowing down, thinking, meditating, being mindful with our choices and actions, speaking up from our hearts… All of this and more we can learn while doing yoga and all of this can make a difference.
Below you will find a short meditation for you and your family or students to help you feel this connection to nature, helping us realize that the solution to all of our problems, inner and outer, is already here - We are nature, and we need to protect it.
With hope,
Gopala
Breathing With Trees Meditation
This week we are going to start the class very quietly, connecting to nature.
So sit still or lie down…
Breath deeply and try to feel how with your breath you connect to your friend, the animals, the trees and to the whole universe.
We constantly breathe each other’s air and we nourish each other in this way.
We and all the other animals inhale oxygen and exhale more carbon dioxide - The flowers, grass and trees breathe in carbon dioxide and in return exhale more oxygen.
We all support each other and we are all interconnected through our breath and through our every choice and every action.
See if you can feel this connection now with every breath that you take…
