How did the community answer these questions?
We interviewed some expert people working in the fields of human and planetary health in Europe, North America and Australasia. We discovered they are all thinking the same way. That we need to transform our understanding of, and approach to, human and planetary health and put consciousness at the core. What follows is a summary of what they told us.
We need a sesimic shift in conciousness
People told us humans are going through a 'significant transition’ – chaotic, disordered, threatening. In this phase, we are also 'using and exploiting the earth while having an ultra- anthropocentric view of the damage we are causing'. We are currently constrained by ‘separatist thinking’ and need a ‘seismic shift in consciousness’. How can we rediscover 'connection amid the fragmentation we have created? How do we overcome the 'orchestrated assault' that the materialistic world is making on humanity’ and move to a ‘new ecology of health’?
Health as an inner and outer ecology
For our interviewees Deep Health represented ‘the total harmony of the human being’ and included the ‘different levels of our functioning’ (physical, emotional, spiritual) and our complete interconnectedness with nature. It spoke of an ‘inner and outer ecology’ and a complete reframing of what we understand creates health. It also stood for inter-generational exchange and the illumination of indigenous knowledge and wisdom. It signalled an urgent need to transform our current systems and practices.
Deep Health - a unifying concept
People we interviewed expressed hope around ‘collaborating’, healing’,‘ creating’, and ‘energising’. A unifying concept was needed to bring the parts together and embrace an integrated view of human and planetary health. The concept has to represent collaboration and the power of human creativity. Interviewees saw the opportunity for gatherings of like-minded people to share the vision, journey, challenges and inspiration offered by the Deep Health concept.
