Following on from the Earth Converse global invitation for each of us to commit to a daily future visualization, I am creating a number of short guided contemplations.
They will form part of a bonus series of the 50 episode-rich anthology of the #earthconversepodcast.
To help us step into life-affirming futures for ourselves, each other and the earth that is our home.
This one focuses on visualizing the climate we want. Listen here, on your favourite platform and/or read below.
Future visualizations
By future visualization, I mean by engaging your imagination and feeling into it with all your senses. Like a sports athlete visualizing a race before they do it, they create the neural pathways and physiological state as if was happening in the present.
In visualizing the futures we want, we are not starting from a blank state. In ourselves, the future is already here, the caterpillar holds the imago of the butterfly, the acorn longs to be an oak. Furthermore there are so many visionaries, philosophers, thinkers, artists, healers, scientists people and beings who offer visions of possible life-affirming futures who can serve to ignite our imagination. Ones who have already painted a picture of what healing is possible and what intelligent responses exist to help and are already helping to regenerate our communities and planet.
And for this visualization on climate, I am choosing to do it by bringing in the work of Charles Eisenstein, and specifically his book – Climate: A New Story. For it invites a wholesale re-imagining of this complex, interconnected and critical issue.
I hope to honour his work and intention in this format of an earth converse visualization to help stimulate your own visions, dreams, longings and truth. I will create prompts generally from the summary points he makes on pg. 58 and Chapter 12 of his book. I know the prompts may come too dense, fast or too slow, that they may or may not fit you. But may they serve to be a reminder of his work, a contribution to your own exploration and be a springboard for your imagination, your work.
Visualization practice
So let’s take some minutes to visualize a climate future for our earth, from a place of calm and connectedness.
I invite you to get comfortable and close your eyes if that feels right.
Maybe take a few long, deep breaths to bring you into the present.
Invigorating on the inbreath, relaxing on the outbreath.
And now scan your body, notice your inner climate, your bodymind: thoughts, feelings, sensations that are arising. What is your mood?
And come into connection to the sacred elements within.
Like with each breath, honour the element of air, and what it gives in clarity, vision and truth.
Perhaps notice the temperature in your body, to honour the element of fire and its gifts of transformation.
Notice the saliva in your mouth, the blood in your veins, the moisture on your skin, to honour water, and what it knows about surrendering to the flow of life.
And notice the points of contact with your own body and with the ground, to honour the element of earth, the playground to manifest your dreams in the physical.
Notice your interaction with the external climate: the air, moisture, temperature, material world.
Tune into the sounds and smells around you.
Notice what else is around you.
You may sense past, present and future generations with you.
Embrace everything that arises with awareness and compassion.
And from this calm and connected state, open to a new story on climate
Where you feel into the earth as a living organism, through your senses as a living organism.
Feel the organs and tissues of Gaia, through sensing your own organs and tissues.
Feel in your heart, climate action coming from love rather than fear.
Visualize a world where each biome, each local ecosystem, each species is free to contribute uniquely to the health and resilience of the whole.
Where all beings, plants, animals, soil, rivers, ocean, mountains, forest, all ecosystems, are respected as alive sentient subjects.
Where human life is integrated with the rest of life, where ecological, racial and social healing is integrated.
See a healthy planet benefiting from the physical and spiritual health of humanity.
Knowing that having listened deeply to the earth, we have developed new ways of knowing and have nurtured earth’s capacity to self-regulate.
Sit in the awareness that our physic, political, social climates are intimately connected to the atmospheric climate.
Visualize agriculture, technology and our economies acting in service of life.
Absorb yourself in humanity contributing its gifts to the beauty, aliveness and evolution of the Earth.
Ground yourself again to the earth, feeling the physicality of your body, as we go deeper into manifesting specific tangible actions. Each of these prompts can be a visualization in themselves. Again, dive into them in your own timing and way.
Visualize a world where land regeneration is generously stimulated by philanthropic, public and governmental support.
Where there is no longer any logging, mining, drilling and development in all primary ecosystems.
Where more land is protected for wildlife in a way that protects indigenous livelihoods.
A world where there are new and expanded marine reserves and a third of the ocean, estuaries and coastlines are no-take/no-drill/no development sanctuaries.
A world where there are no driftnets and bottom trawling in the ocean.
Where there are no plastic bags for retail purchases and beverage containers are refillable.
Where the World Bank serves ecological healing rather than development.
Where afforestation and reforestation projects happen all around the globe with ecologically appropriate native species.
Where all generations are engaged in ecological health.
Where water restoration projects happen worldwide.
And food systems are relocalized.
Where a negative-interest financial system creates flow.
And manufacturers create durable, repairable products with easily recoverable materials.
A world also where neither pesticides nor military exist.
Breath into those possibilities.
As Charles concludes in his book: “all the policies and practices I have described are within reach right now. The vision of a Green World is not fantasy; nor, however, is it realistic. What it is, is possible. It requires each one of us to dedicate ourselves, unreasonably and with no guarantee of success, to our unique form of service. It requires that we trust our knowing that a healed world, a greened world, a more beautiful world is truly possible. I hope this amplifies that calling and trued you to that possibility”.
Coming back to your body, what your heart knows, open your eyes and carry this in your service, to yourself, each other and the earth that is our home.
- Deep gratitude for Charles Eisenstein, and the NAAS community.
- These visualizations are also now available on the meditation app Insight Timer
- Thanks for photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash