Nature Gallery

While many of the issues associated with the global environmental crisis are facilitated and worsened by inimical economic, financial, and social systems, at a more fundamental level they arise out of the dominant Western consciousness that lacks empathic connection and identification with “nonhuman” nature. A growing body of research suggests that an individual’s (and a community’s) sense of connectedness with nature significantly influences environmental concern and behavior.

Ecological consciousness is a form of consciousness that is characterized by a psycho-spiritual connectedness with nature; a transformational encounter with the “personhood” of nonhuman life, and through an increased awareness of the embodied and relational presence of the living earth. A heightened state of ecological consciousness requires, and subsequently informs, a developing and connected sense of self. As well as a compassionate and life-affirming view of Other.

The evocation of heightened ecological consciousness has implications for not just the practices of anthropologists, environmental educators, eco-psychologists and psychotherapists, but also for individuals seeking greater connectedness and a nature-based way of coping with a variety of social and psychological difficulties regularly encountered in the modern world.

Peter R. White. Ecopsychology. Mar 2011.41-50.

http://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2010.0054

To that end, we will be hosting a rotating gallery of nature images that highlight various aspects of the natural world and our relationship to it. To suggest ideas or contribute to the gallery, get ahold of us through the “Connect” page.