The word health comes from the word whole. Our health, and the health of the Earth are intertwined in this wholeness. The demise of the health of our earthly kin includes our own.
“Like us, each species large and small—feathered, furred, or finned—carries the larger story of planetary health in their cells.” ~ Terry Tempest Williams
The word health comes from the word whole. Our health, and the health of the Earth are intertwined in this wholeness. The demise of the health of our earthly kin includes our own.
The same pollutants and toxins that extinguish fellow species, feed cancer in the human population. The same sense of disconnection from life that fuels destructive extraction from ecologies, also fuels depression in human communities. The rupture in our relationship with the Earth has constellated a crisis in health. This crisis exists on the physical, psychological, and spiritual levels. In this webinar, with courage we will look at the depth of this collective ill health, and identify pathways of healing together with the Earth.
We will undertake this exploration with Toko-pa Turner and Daniel Maté. Please find below their biographical summaries and some reflections from their respective books:
“Reflecting on our present-day relationship with nature, you could say that we are collectively and chronically disoriented. I believe a great deal of the lostness we feel as a culture is a result of how alienated from the natural world we have become. Not only are we disconnected from nature but anaesthetised to the enormity of that loss. Many people don’t even realise what is missing because they’ve never known it, but underneath our preoccupations with getting ahead and being accepted, there is a deep well of pain: our unbelonging to the Earth herself.” ~ Toko-pa Turner, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home.
“We are blessed with a momentous opportunity. Shedding toxic myths of disconnection from ourselves, from one another, and from the planet, we can bring what is normal and what is natural, bit by bit, closer together. It is a task for the ages: one that can redeem the past, inspire the present, and point to a brighter, healthier future. It is our most daunting challenge and greatest possibility.” ~ Daniel Maté and Gabor Maté, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture.
Toko-pa Turner was born in Devon and grew up in the Sufi community in Montreal. Her work blends the mystical tradition of Sufism with a Jungian approach to dreamwork and her dream school network is over 100,000 and spans countries across the globe. In addition to tending dreams, her work focuses on restoring the feminine, reconciling paradox, elevating grief, and facilitating ritual. In 2018, Toko-pa released her first book, Belonging, which explores exile and the search for belonging through the lens of dreams, mythology, and nature. It went on to win several awards, including the 2018 Gold Nautilus Award, the 2018 Gold Readers’ Favorite Award, and the 2018 Silver IPPY. Along with speaking and teaching, Toko-pa is currently working on her second book on the relationship between psyche and nature, and how to follow our inner wisdom to meet the social, psychological, and ecological challenges of our time.
Daniel Maté is an award-winning composer, lyricist, and playwright for musical theatre based in BC and New York. He has been active since 2007, when he graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing. He also holds a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from McGill. Outside of music and theatre, Daniel runs the world’s only “mental chiropractic” service, Take A Walk With Daniel. He co-authored the book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture, with his father Dr. Gabor Maté, and next they’ll be publishing Hello Again: A Fresh Start for Parents and Their Adult Children. The two Matés lead a popular workshop of the same title.
This event forms part of a longer event series exploring what faith and moral courage look like in an age of polycrisis. Where does extraordinary courage come from? What can we learn from people who’ve risked everything to live up to their values? What forms of courage are especially needed in our age of unravelling, uncertainty and risk? How can we inspire ourselves and each other to grow our capacity to brave our limits? Are there insights from the world’s spiritual and faith traditions that can help us grow our courage?
Mishal is the Communications and Research Co-ordinator at St Ethelburga’s. She helps with visioning and designing conferences and events coalescing from the themes of spiritual ecology, faith and moral courage, viewpoint diversity and bridging divides. She also helps with designing language and imagery for communications put out by the Centre. Her interest is especially attuned to Spiritual Ecology research and uses it as a guide and reference for her creative approach in work. She been at the Centre since 2018, first as an intern for a year and a bit, and then as a staff member since 2020.
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