Windows of Earth
Joseph Bharat Cornell
Nevada City, California
Actividad usada con permiso de parte de Sharing Nature Worldwide.®
- Approximate Duration:
20 – 30 minutes - Ecological Theme:
Independent Activities
Participants will lie on the ground, with their eyes on the sky, feet covered up to the sides of their heads with pine needles. They will feel as if they were inside the earth. They will stand still and still to experience the forest through the eyes of the forest itself.
None.
- Today if you are going to face a great challenge! Find a comfortable place where you are going to lie down for a while, use your hands to prepare the soil. Remember that the earth is not dirty, it is only earth. If you find any insects, let them run over your hands while you gently remove them. They are in their house and it is not worth killing them, gently move them aside. Ready?
- Lie down with your eyes on the sky.
- Get comfortable imagining being part of the earth and you will see everything from another perspective.
- Do not move while pine needles are covered from the feet to the sides of the head. Only the face will be exposed –for now .
- Concentrate on your thoughts until you feel they form a single entity with the earth.
- Close your eyes while some leaves are placed on your face.
- Open your eyes. Stay still. Get rid of your acquired prejudices against insects and start to become fond of these fascinating creatures. Let them walk over you. Try to feel what the insect does, in order to later count the route these insects took on their bodies.
- At the signal, begin the return, but not until you hear the signal.
- Choose a spot where pine needles or other leaves are abundant, ideally enough to cover up the entire group at once
- Organize, with the help of assistants, so that at the right moment, when everyone is still and ready, they can cover the participants from head to foot (over the face until after they have got used to this position)
- Do not skimp on the leaves so that the participant has the feeling of being inside the earth
- Make sure that the leaves are free of dust while this last operation is carried out, and tell the participants to close their eyes while you arrange what will cover them on their faces.
- Twenty minutes is a good time to leave them undercover
If there are some participants who won’t sit still and won’t stop talking and disturbing those who are close to them, position them, always undercover and participating in the activity, but away from the main group - There are always previously acquired prejudices against insects, which are important, by preparing them beforehand, by not making a fuss when someone comments that there are insects walking on their body. As long as they are not harmful or poisonous insects, invite them to remain calm and feel the route they take over their body or to feel what the insect does
- At the end, add time for them to share their experiences.
Pedagogical Stage 3: Offer Direct Experience
The activities of this stage offer a full body immersive experience with God’s creation. Engage as many of the human senses as possible— sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste . It is the climax of the entire Fluid Learning sequence.
