NatMovSoc
Blog
Exploring the ideas that inspire
Embodiment Movement
Connection
Blog Post #1 Nov 15 2022
The Indigenous Worldview
Planetary + Human
Health
"The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity -- then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective."
David Susuki
Right Story
Worldviews are collective stories, rooted in philosophies, languages and cultures that grow to become systems of belief.
"Humanities worldview is the channel through which we interpret reality as we see it and experience it. Our worldview directly influences every aspect of our lives from what and how we think to how we act, our emotional responses and how we form, maintain and uphold our beliefs, values and goals. "
Carol Anne Wilton
Wilton gives us a collection of general themes and distinctions between Western/mainstream and indigenous worldviews.
This knowledge will help humanity cope with the devastation of climate chaos and give a better understand a. how we got here and b. what action we can take to heal.
The following is a summary of her distinctions between the two polarities of thought:
Western
Mainstream
Ownership
- Rooted in Roman Law
- Right to use, produce
- True ownership is the right to destroy
- Contractual
Indigenous
Ownership
- Collective
- Rights extend across generations connected to stewardship
- Based on Responsibility
- Not singular, everyone has vested interest
- All living things
Compartmentalised
Individual
Hierarchical
Segmented
Disconnected
Egoic
Indigenous
Time
- Cyclical
- Nonlinear
- Multidimensional
- Generational
- Future
- Natural cycles
Western
Mainstream
Cause and Effect
Risk and Liability
- Risk liability to be managed, externalised to others, can be bought and sold
- Responsibility to owners or shareholders
Western Mainstream
Spirit
- Devoid of spirit
- Evidence in numbers and metrics
- Spirit is not measurable therefore irrelevant
Looking at the dichotomies,
Can we bridge the gap?
How can we learn to communicate across our perceptual divides?
Indigenous
Cause and Effect
Risk and Liability
- What you do to the environment you do to yourself
- Separation is a symptom
- Spiritually rooted
- Sacred land, stewardship connect 2 identify
- Liability is in carelessness, lack of connectivity and relationship
- Risk takes form of caring for ancestors and they care for us
- Risk in in lack of care for relationships, rooted in justice and law
- Responsibility passes across lineages, between worlds, spiritual, physical
Western Mainstream
Economy Money Value
- Amassing wealth for the individual
- Represents status, disconnected from community
- Needs structure, measurement, intended to multiply
- Status earned by amassed wealth
- Competitive
- Hierarchical
- Growth based
- Competition is necessity
- Performance
- Mechanised
- Comparative
- Wealth is collected
- Short term measurements
- Gold rush extraction based, get out of ground asap
- Land and resources should be available for development and extraction
- Community good
- Quality of relationships
- Symbolic, not always monetary
- Status earned by ability to give
- Distributive
- Generosity forms basis for success
- Family, grandchildren
- Collaborative
- Abundance from nature and connectivity
- Gift giving demonstrates wealth
- Ceremonial
- Circular, wealth returns as action not collection
- Resource and responsibility intertwined
- Resources are our relatives
- Economy is a way to express spiritual truths of reality
- Cooperation is essential
Indigenous
Spirit
- Universal spirit
- Everything has spirit
- Spirit is everywhere
Indigenous
Economy Money Value
Western Mainstream
Spirituality
- Science Based
- Skeptical, critique
- Requires proof as basis of belief
- Truth is formed through empirical evidence and methodology
- Truth establish proof and be replicable
Community
Connection
Whole Systems
Inclusive
Ecological
Land Based
Western
Mainstream
Time
- Linear
- Framework of time reinforces industrial structure of productivity
- Growth and time
- Quarterly annual profit based performance
- Time is money
Indigenous
Spirituality
- 4 central operating domains
- Emotional, physical, spiritual ,mental
- Spirituality oriented experience of reality
- Based on belief in natural world as knowledge systems
Resources are our relatives
Are we in right relation?
Further Reading
Carol Anne Wilton, Indigenomics, Take a seat at the economic table
Tyso Yunkaporta Indigenous thinking will save the world, Academic
David Susuki Environmentalist, Zooologist
Leroy LittleBear founding member of Canada's first Native American Studies Department
Summarised and formatted by
Amber Billingham
Undergraduate English Language and Sociology, University of Sheffield
Sheffield University Natural Movement Society Founder
My Reflections
Of course, Wiltons distinctions of the 2 categories "Western/Mainstream" and "Indigenous" clump together vast arrays of complexity and nuance, which will rightly trigger anyone well versed in the stories of either. Let this generalisation be rather, a meeting place to bridge two deeply complex and ancient worldviews, looking at the trunks of two different trees rather than the vast tendrils of root networks and branches. For both trees grow next to each other, their roots conjoined and intertwined, their branches supporting and obstructing each other, places of symbiosis and places of light competition, one of the same yet marked by different conditions of growth, eventually meeting each other.
No one worldview can be perfect, though it is vital to explore the differences between each way of thinking and being so that we can find a balance necessary to reembed our systems in nature for planetary health. It requires an open mind, to look at ones self and life experiences, education, assumptions about the world from an outside perspective. I may be able to understand the concepts, but in implementing change I become aware of the resistance in my external environment. As I go deeper into the work on a personal scale my external environment changes. I used to be debilitated by climate grief, rage and hopelessness, and though these emotions still arise regularly, I am more grounded and directed. I understand now that a better world is possible, and the more I learn, the more I realise that the future for those next 7 generations can be more than my heart ever knew was possible. Over the last few years I have been on a research journey, trying to understand a. How we got here and B. What can we do about it? I am coming to realise that there is no one answer. Our external environment is a reflection of our inner turmoil. Humanity needs to heal, reforge our connection. I started Natural Movement Society as a way to bring all these values together. Embodiment Movement Connection is our mission statement, it is rooted in a paradigm shift, a different way of seeing, inspired by indigenous philosophy. It is wholesystems thinking, connecting us back into our bodies so that we can move again and connect, not only to each other but to earth and cosmos.
Thanks for reading x
Blog Post #2 Nov 16 2022
Holding Space,
A Declaration
A Container.
A Space.
No Agenda.
No Dogma.
No External Authority.
No Healers.
No Gurus.
You
Support Your Healing, Your Journey.
Holding Space for you to reconnect to your intuition, your truth, your internal compass that reorients you to the healing path unique to you.
Trust that you can figure out what you need.
This is your journey. No one can do it for you, you must take the step.
We simply hold space, direction, clarity that can facilitate your reconnection to your inner intuition.
Intuition and Connection
I'm inviting you to reconnect to your innate wisdom and self expression, no fixing or saving needed.
Taking off the Masks of Culture, Let yourself be seen
We spend most of our lives in patterns of behaviours, restricting our movement flow and expression in exchange for acceptance. Have you ever said "I can't dance" or "I can't hug"?There is great healing in being seen in our vulnerable, sober, human, imperfect selves. Being seen like this creates Lifelong connection.
For once, dont override yourself
Sit, dance, laugh, cry with what is present within you now. Take part as much or as little as you need right now.
We Create the space
+ You fill it
Amber Billingham
Undergraduate English Language and Sociology, University of Sheffield
Sheffield University Natural Movement Society Founder
Written + formatted by
Blog Post #3 Nov 19 2022
Building Healthy Communities
Everybody Worships
Everybody Cults
The only question is How
It's no surprise that today cults take up vast spaces in our culture, from documentaries to speculatory reddit feeds
Tribalism is deep in our biology as primates, it's how we have been wired and in the age of climate chaos, we are vulnerable to seek leaders outside of ourself.
Yet in a post-pandemic world we are simultaneously highly aware of the necessity for healthy communities.
How can we be both self-sovereign in our own healing, yet connected to a community?
What is a Cult?
cult (n.)
from Latin cultus "care, labor; cultivation, culture; worship, reverence,"
If Cult originally meant culture and worship, where did Cults begin to become unethical, how can we reclaim spaces of community worship and redefine the term Cult (Cultus, Culture)?
Jamie Wheel describes the evolution of cults and religion in "Recapture the Rapture" as:
- Traditional Cults
Submission of Self to Lineage
Generations of cultural norms of institutional participation, membership, roles, rituals, behaviour.
"Playing in the Orchestra"
Self as Sovereign
Building healthier communities of worship.
No surrendering of self to external leaders. "Connecting to collective emergent intelligence".
"Playing in a Jazz band, Call and Response, Listening, a Deep Combination of agency and surrender,"
Submission of Self to Guru
19th Century, to today: "Fracturing of Traditional Religious World" the rise of "Spiritual Leaders who had broken from the lineage". "I am the god self, I am the Guru".
"They weaponized access to peak states and healing... weaponize and use techniques to extract alleigiancem apologies, finances... while people were undone in those susceptible states"
"Playing in a Marching Band"
3. Ethical Cults
2. Culty Cults
The Collapse in Meaning
Meaning 1.0
Meaning 2.0
Meaning 3.0
Organised Religion
Salvation
Fundamentalism
Healing
Inspiration
Connection
Traditional + Culty Cults
Liberalism
Secular Insitutions
Inclusion
Nihilsm
Individualism
Corporations, Academia, News Media
The techniques of healing and peak states used by Meaining 1.0 but with the inclusion of Meaning 2.0.
Agency of the Individual in Dialogue with Community Connection
Ehtical Cult Building
Ecstasis / Inspiration
Using our physiology is accessible and open source. Tapping into our own unique movement through improv, dance, song, and other forms of self-expression we can enter into flow states, enhancing our joy, bliss, creativity.
Catharsis / Healing
Using what Dr Peter Levine calls "Titration" we can release trauma in small steps by tapping into our nervous system, trembling, respiration.
Communitas / Conection
We have connection with others all across our life, from family to spiritual, romantic, friendships, work. These networks can become mycelial, new and stronger bridges can form across the web of human connection.
Amber Billingham
Undergraduate English Language and Sociology, University of Sheffield
Sheffield University Natural Movement Society Founder
This blog post has been inspired by "Recapture theRapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death in a world that's lost it's mind"
By Jamie Wheel. Jamie Wheel is an expert in peak performance and leadership, specialising in neuroanthropology.
Self Sovereign
yet Connected
Written + formatted by
