Safe Place
Experience Negative Feelings Without Being Overwhelmed By Them.
Photo by Kindle Media, Pixels.com
Key Assertions: To avoid an emotional meltdown, the experience and expression of negative feelings is best conducted in the kinds of safe environments provided by attentive parents, and later in life by therapists, mentors, teachers, close friends, and loving partners. EartHearts create holding environments; that is, places where people can learn, feel, be physical, be themselves, and plan how to expand their kindness. Learn how to become aware that you are dreaming while you are dreaming and how to set the stage for a predetermined dream before bed.
A challenge for those heading to Gladandgreen Junction is to experience defensive feelings without being overwhelmed by them. To avoid such emotional meltdowns, the experience and expression of such feelings is best conducted in the kinds of safe environments provided by attentive parents, and later in life by therapists, mentors, teachers, close friends, and loving partners. Such so-called “holding environments” (Koger and Winter, 2004, p. 49) are not only created by loving parents or supportive spouses. They can also be provided by attractive natural beings or natural environments. In all cases, holding environments offer any of the four kinds of endowments participants said they hoped for as we worked to develop the Life Adventures Outdoor Center in Belleville Illinois:
A place for doing physical activities of all kinds––fun activities that extend their skills, offer risks and challenges, but have adequate safety measures.
A place for thinking––a place for discovery, study, and learning; a place where the intellect can be stimulated; a place where participants can learn more about themselves and the world.
A place for feeling––a location full of color, beauty, and interest; a place that engenders a sense of pride and ownership; a place where participants can be small, vulnerable, caring, cared for, and appreciated.
A place for being––a location where participants can be themselves, where participants can be recognized for their abilities, be private if they choose, and have their choices accepted.
These are the kinds of opportunities eartHearts seek to provide in their groups (salons), in their temporary retreats, and in the inspired programs they hold at permanent destinations they seek to protect and/or develop. The four attributes of holding environments are the opportunities people can use to recollect their wholeness during the light of day. As we shall see, people can also uncover their wholeness during the day or night.
Photo by Fauxels, Pexels.com
HumaNatureConnect Activity
Observing The Impact Of Doing Random Acts Of Kindness
For this activity, come back from your time in nature and, without delay, do random acts of kindness and record how doing so makes you feel.
