The annual Earth Day celebration on April 22 is the perfect day to revisit our commitment to nurture Mother Earth and, by extension, ourselves. It’s a day for re-connecting with our wholeness in mind, body, spirit and environment. By raising your spiritual footprint, you’ll auto-magically lower your eco-footprint.
“Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it,” Chief Seattle said in 1854. “What we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” Any action that disrupts the earth’s balance ultimately affects us, because nature is our extended body. The planet’s circadian, lunar, tidal and seasonal rhythms are within every one of us.
“Green” living begins with our lifestyle choices, starting from a place of fervent intention to travel the green, sustainable, organic pathway. Energy follows intention, and the phrase “think globally, act locally” has never rung more true. When you mindfully and authentically re-think, reduce, recycle, reuse and repurpose in your own microcosm, you affect the macrocosm, or the greater good. Leaving Mother Earth healthier, richly diverse and more vibrant becomes your legacy.
Let us focus on exquisitely raising our consciousness toward ecologically sound living though meditation and ritual. Embracing mindfulness every day allows deep transformation to take place. Yoga, which means “weaving” or “yoking” together mind, body, spirit and environment, can help nurture and support your inner self. As yogis learn to be cool, compassionate and connected, the world reflects this collective divinity. (Check out greenyoga.org for more inspiration about spiritual activism for the planet.)
Green is the color of the heart chakra–our energetic center of love and compassion. “Green” love to all on Earth Day and every day. Please go to organicspamagazine.com to continue this conversation.
MARY BETH JANSSEN is a certified mind-body health educator for the Chopra Center for Well Being and author of five books.
Earth Day Inquiries
Ask yourself these questions, based on yogic principles.
1. Did you hurt anyone today? Yourself? The Earth? Are you wasting water, fuel, food or other resources? Do you buy local? Focusing on what you really need can help counteract messages to hyper-consume.
2. Do your actions benefit others? This question reminds us to respect everyone’s right to a clean environment.