Listening as Earth’s Body: A collective transformation
Moran Wiesel
Session type: Regular forum session
Abstract
How do we allow the earth to speak through us? How might we speak back? With a combination of playfully authentic movement, group ritual, earth-evoked harp/flute meditations, and the trees/plants/birds/earth, this session aims for a deep presencing to our relationships with the more-than-human earth.
We are earth-beings, and yet often our healing and therapy stories revolve around our individual “selvesâ€. This session explores how we might prioritise our deep earth selves in collective transformation. Drawing on Joanna Macys Work that Reconnects as a framework, as well as pair/group practices of authentic meditative embodiment, this session spirals through grounding processes which acknowledge gratitude for earth, such as music meditation and authentic earth-inspired movement, which can enable playful, sacred community.
The session then spirals into honouring whatever emotions may arise from embodying our earth-beingness. We hold collective space for each other to witness, and perhaps transform, any eco-anxiety or eco-grief. Honouring our Pain for the World, in Macys framing, is an essential part of transitioning from ego to eco centricity, enabling a deep recognition that our pain/joy is also earths, and earths pain/joy is also ours.
This honouring paves the way for the last part of the session: a collective sharing of ways participants are currently bringing earth-centred perspectives into their therapy practices, and a reflection on how we might engage more deeply in these earth connections: in short, how we might allow earth to speak through us, and how we might facilitate earth to speak through those we work with.
About the presenter/s
Moran Wiesel is a musician, facilitator, intersectional activist, and wordsmith.
As a facilitator, Moran creates intentional space to enter into collective healing and connection, allowing whatever to be, to be. In 2019 Moran co-founded EarthWalks: Walking Connections in Country, and has partnered with Kickstart Arts to co-facilitate Embodied Earth, Embodied Arts: Work that Reconnects, a creative somatic workshop series. Most recently, they are a co-facilitator of the Work that Reconnects, Deep Ecology, and Active Hope, Network Tasmania offering weekend and day-long forest immersion workshops, as well as an innovative new program Listening with the Body: A Harp Journey – a collaboration with world-renowned harpist Alice Giles AM.
As a harpist and flautist, Moran plays with several ensembles that share the joy of earth-based connection, as well as offering earth-inspired and outdoor therapeutic sound-baths.
Moran also believes in the power of words and ideas in entangling our earth relationships. They are a geographer and spoken word poet, and editor of Friends of the Earths national magazine, Chain Reaction.