Focusing1

1. This article includes a word that is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark. Its inclusion does not imply it has acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgement implied concerning its legal status.

on the natural world: An ecosomatic approach to attunement with an ecological facilitating environment

Abstract

Although conventional Western thought upholds that we live according to analytic and linear thought models, in reality, the body and the psyche form according to principles that guide self-balancing processes of the natural world. In furthering an ecosomatic approach to this earth-body split, which synthesises insights from both somatic and ecopsychology, the author uses a systems theory lens to guide the exploration of Gendlin's Focusing techniques as a means for attuning to and learning from an ecological facilitating environment. A grounded theoretical programme for systematically researching qualitative experiences of tuning into felt-sense responses to natural stimuli is suggested for uncovering further research themes.

Keywords:

• body psychotherapy
• Focusing
• ecopsychology
• facilitating environment
• attunement
• systems theory

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Tiffany Ong for her generous support in the writing of this paper, as well as Dr. Christine Caldwell and Zoë Avstreih, whose wisdom serves the foundation of conscious change through awareness of the body. Gratitude is offered to Dr. Tina Fields for inspiration, to Amelia Burns for her innovation in the ecosomatic field, to Eugene Gendlin and the Focusing community for their insights into the body, and to Joanna Macy for her validation of earthly intelligence.

Notes

Note

1. This article includes a word that is or is asserted to be a proprietary term or trade mark. Its inclusion does not imply it has acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgement implied concerning its legal status.