Earth Festival: Plant Medicine, Shamanism, Connecting With Nature

These day-long events incorporate practices to heal our inner worlds so we may be better equipped to create positive change in our external environments. Environmental degradation is a reflection of an inner malaise so our teachers, speakers, healers and activist address both these planes of existence.

Hosted at the chic and spacious Hoxton Hotel, Shoreditch, the day began with a choice of 3 workshops: dynamic yogasana with legendary Stewart Gilchrist, meditation and pranayama with Colin Dunsmuir and Miranda Taylor, or a sound healing with Archie Brun. Before we all separated off to our different workshops the wonderful Miranda Taylor conducted an opening ceremony of a short meditation and class in chanting. A delicious vegan lunch followed the workshops, provided by Piccalilli Caff and served in a beautiful garden space whilst Will Heard and Ollie Clark performed. The afternoon was then packed with exciting talks from some amazing individuals.

Bonny Casel kicked off the talks on the topic of Quantum Botanicals: Evolution of Consciousness in Harmony with Nature. Sharing her knowledge of plant senses and communication, Bonny discussed how quantum physics reveals that both plant and human senses decode out vibrational world through quantum processes that arise from consciousness. Quantum theory provides a meaningful understanding of how the plethora of perfected qualities of consciousness, represented vibrationally in the plant world, provide healing on physical, emotional, mental and intuitive levels through vibrational entrainment and emergent behaviours. Bonny presented us with a mind expanding exploration of the bridge between consciousness and matter; an understanding essential to our evolutionary reconnection with the natural world.

Kurikindi then spoke on Shamanic Wisdom and the Plight of the Rainforest, discussing the current situation in the Ecuadorian Rainforest and the dangers that it faces. On one had his talk was extremely emotional on the other very inspiring and informative as he outlined the medicinal plants that he works with, their shamanic connections and uses. We walked away from this talk for a short break feeling inspired to keep fighting for the protection of mother earth.

In the break we had delicious drinks from Purelosophy, snacks from Propercorn and incredible vegan brownies from Piccalilli Caff.

After stretching our legs and discussing what we had learnt we went back to hear a short talk from Emma Kemp, a climage change campaigner and activist, currently working on excuting and innovative projects at 10:10. Emmas talk was titled: Step away from the polar bear: how to communicate climate change like a boss. In this talk Emma outlined the problems we face and the science behind them. She then showed the solutions and examples of people taking action, exploring how we can effectively communicate climate change in order to inspire action. All too often the polar bear is invoked as the ultimate symbol of climate change, Emma addressed how alien rhetoric such as this stunts people’s ability to act and respond. Climate change is an immanent threat, that if uncurbed will affect each and every one of us in the most direct and prominent ways.

Dr Guy Hayward & William Parsons, founders of The British Pilgrimage Trust then talked on Walking the Walk & Singing the Song: The Enchantment of Pilgrims’ Britain. These are two men on a mission to revive Britain’s pilgrimage tradition. Pilgrimage is the act of making dedicated journeys on foot to holy places. It is open to everyone – with or without religion. With its powerful combination of nature, spirituality and adventure – in one healthy package – Guy and Will believe pilgrimage is set to emerge as one of the great physical/spiritual/social movements of the 21st Century. Guy and Will share their passion for British pilgrimage through story and song. They use music as a simple way to meet and honour holy places, and sang the best of these ‘keys to the landscape’ in their talk, to encourage us all to explore the secrets of the land and ourselves as part of it.

Finally Colin Dunsmuir spoke on Initiating Change: explaining how we can use yoga to initiate deep and wholehearted movement within us, that changes our outlook on life and how we interact with the world around us. Colin is extremely experienced in the ancient wisdom and practices of yoga, and he will guide us how to implement these in our lives.