At Home on Earth Norma G. Canner

n the Native American culture, man's sense of wholeness is based on his continual communion with nature and the supernatural. In the words of the Lakota Medicine Man Black Elk, ¢~peace... comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers." (Heinberg, p. 37) In Western culture, our emphasis instead is on overcoming n a t u r a l forces to serve our own purposes and on relying on technology to solve problems. As dancers and dance therapists, we employ dance as a way of getting back to our relationship with the universe; as a way of healing and empowering the people with whom we work. Dance arises from our need to identify with creative forces in ourselves and in the cosmos. Dancing intensifies our awareness of our being and is composed of our profoundest impulses and emotions. In dance we express our own powers, and the powers t h a t connect us to our world.

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Alienation from Our Planet-Alienation from Ourselves This paper arises from my concern regarding the social, political, and planetary problems we are experiencing, and how our attitudes toward n a t u r e and our planet are causing both individual and collective pain. Hopefully it will provide some insight for dance therapists working in the field of mental health. American Journal of Dance Therapy Vol. 14, No. 2, Fall/Winter 1992

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© 1992 American Dance Therapy Association

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I will first look at some of the cultural factors t h a t influence us. American society is diverse, with values based on m a n y ethnic groups, races, religions, and economic conditions. However, it has primarily been the upper middle class, white male culture t h a t has defined and dominated social values. Unfortunately, this culture encourages division-division based on gender, race, economic status, social institutions, professional hierarchies, power, and aggression. One's worth is judged by one's possessions and achievements. Individualism is prized above all else. We are t a u g h t t h a t we are separate from the earth. Consider the consequences. We are unable to live side by side with the rivers, the sea, the air, the forest, and the animals. We are destroying these life-giving resources of the earth. We need to learn from the Native Americans. We need to be stewards; to care for the earth, protect it, and feel the pain of violation. We are unable to live side by side with each other. We long for a sense of community, but lack the tools to create it. In Living in Two Worlds, M. Vera B u h r m a n n (1984) describes how some white South Africans grew up with the sounds of African singing and d r u m m i n g in their ears at night, and how it stirred feelings of mystery, fear and avoidance. '%eave it alone," they were told, and so for a long time they knew little or nothing about it. They failed to accept a culture different from their own. They failed to understand the purpose of using singing, dancing and d r u m m i n g as a method of h e a l i n g - s o m e t h i n g we as dance therapists are trying to recapture. We have not only separated ourselves from the earth and one another, we have separated ourselves from ourselves. In South Africa, a Zulu medical practitioner said, ~Whites have failed to see t h a t in Africa a h u m a n being is an e n t i t y . . , not divided up into various sections such as the physical body, the soul and the spirit. When a Zulu is sick it is the whole m a n t h a t is s i c k . . . " (Buhrmann, 1984, p. 32). We need to address these forms of cultural blindness if we are to alleviate individual suffering and feelings of alienation. Psychologist Mary Watkins (1991) states: The unconscious that psychotherapy must unearth, if it is not to be irrelevant to much of the suffering we are asked to address, is not simply the personal unconscious, but the cultural unconscious. It is not just the unconscious of the patient over there, apart from us, but our own cultural unconscious that has educated us from birth, and that is at work in the professionalization we have endured. It is the unconscious that is at work in the theories we have learned and contributed to. If psychotherapy cannot work at the level of the cultural unconscious, it is but one more part of the socialization process, a part that offers a more comfortable conformity, rather than the advent of liberation and transformation (p. 32).

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J a m e s A. Swan, as a young faculty member at the University of Michigan in 1970, was driven to probe the psychological roots of the ecological crisis. One of the founders of the modern field of environmental psychology, he has devoted more than 15 years to cross-cultural field work with Eskimos, Native Americans, and Polynesian people (Craver, 1991). Swan has observed: The Western European mind denied the psyche. Our white ancestors came over here [to North American] and they found a primal lifestyle and vast wilderness tracts. They were overwhelmed. But remember we are all descended from people who worshipped the earth. There was a time in Western European culture when reverence was shown for the land (Craver, p. 6). It is possible to reconnect with the land, and, in doing so, with ourselves, Swan asserts. He recommends that people ~first trace their ancestry seven g e n e r a t i o n s . . , to see how your ancestors worshipped nature." (Craver, p. 6). Individuals must then cultivate an awareness, as did the Native Americans, that throughout the states are ~places of spiritual power" where the ~'veil between the worlds is thinner," Swan says. ~A creative spark happens between a person and a place. You will be drawn to the places where you need to go. The spark comes out of the blending of your mind with the place where you are." (p. 6). In order to connect with the sacred place, spend some time there, he says. Reflect by writing. Gather and eat food that comes from that place. Make prayers. Attunement with sacred place is possible for all, Swan believes. ~I agree with Carl J u n g that every person has a bush soul. Let that come out," he says (p. 6). ~Go deeply into yourself and find the symbols that structure your life . . . . " Swan recommends. ~There is a counterpart in the psyche for everything in the environment. If you are in touch with your personal unconscious then events in the natural world have a much deeper meaning for you" (p. 6). Writer Jerry Howard (1991) describes how he came to connect with the land by transforming a run-down piece of property in Massachusetts into his own garden of Eden. Inspired by Taoist philosophy and the attitude toward nature taken by the Findhorn community in Scotland, Howard went about landscaping according to instinctive feel rather than any plan or set of drawings. He cleared the land of its trees, planted new ones to his taste and placed rocks. He planted an orchard, put up shrubs of all kinds, and cultivated a vegetable garden. He even designed ~peninsulas and small islands of cover" (p. 19) to enable animals to get close to the house. ~My p a r a d i s e . . , is a place to tinker," Howard writes of his relationship to his piece of land. ~It is participatory, interactive, challenging, evolving,

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surprising, imperfect, h e a l i n g and forgiving. It is at once a n object of m y affection and a subject: a p a t i e n t and sage t e a c h e r who has m a d e real m y r e l a t i o n s h i p to n a t u r e , story and m y t h " (p. 19). Yet despite his joy at p a r t i c i p a t i n g w i t h the land, not all the lessons he l e a r n e d from it were pleasant. F o r his desire to achieve a b a l a n c e bet w e e n n a t u r e a n d c u l t u r e got out of control w h e n he t i n k e r e d too much. ~Murphy's F i r s t L a n d s c a p e L a w - t h e more one meddles w i t h M o t h e r N a t u r e , the m o r e one needs to m a i n t a i n , " (p. 19) c a u g h t up w i t h h i m at times, causing his g a r d e n to succumb to weeds a n d insect d e v a s t a t i o n , a n d the edges of his p r o p e r t y to fall p r e y to mosquitoes and groundhogs, r a t h e r t h a n t h e foxes and p h e a s a n t s he h a d hoped for. Yes, we h a v e meddled too much. We h a v e become so powerful t h a t we can and h a v e s h a p e d t h e world to suit us. We can heal or mend, b u t we can also destroy. It is i m p o r t a n t t h a t we feel powerful, and c e r t a i n l y the w o r k of the dance t h e r a p i s t is to e m p o w e r people. B u t doctor J o h n E. Mack, distinguishes b e t w e e n ¢~primary" and '~secondary" power (Mack, 1990, p. 6). To describe p r i m a r y power, he uses t h e words of Sioux I n d i a n medicine m a n J o h n (Fire) L a m e Deer: The Great Spirit pours a great, unimaginable amount of force into all things-pebbles, ants, leaves, whirlwinds-whatever you will. Still there is so much force left over that's not used up, that is in his gift to bestow, that has to be used wisely and in moderation if we are given some of i t . . . all animals have power, because the Great Spirit dwells in all of them, even a tiny ant, a butterfly, a tree, a flower a rock. The modern white man's way keeps that power from us, dilutes it. To come to nature, feel its power, let it help you, one needs time and patience for that, Time to think, to figure it all out. You have so little time for contemplation; it's always rush, rush, rush with you (Lane Deer and Erdoes, 1979). S e c o n d a r y power is different, Mack asserts. It is the use of force or will to dominate, coerce or control nature or others in the service of particular purposes or desires, sometimes with highly destructive results, whether intended or not . . . . The increasing exploitation of our planet to serve human needs at the expense of other living things and earth's material resources has created a new crisis deriving from the arrogance of secondary power more complicated, and connected more fully to the way human beings live, than is the nuclear threat itself (Mack, 1990, p. 7). We now h a v e the power a n d ability to grow t r e e s 15 feet tall in two years, and medical science has m a d e g r e a t a d v a n c e s a n d has k e p t us living longer, b u t w h a t is t h e q u a l i t y of life for most of us who do?

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American society in particular, is fraught with social and family violence, incest, child abuse, drug abuse, poverty, loneliness and spiritual emptiness. And planetary life systems are eroding. Every era seems to have its own particular malady that springs up and thrives on it like a mold, seeming to reflect an underlying spiritual malaise. Michael Vincent Miller, writing in the New York Times Book Review, points to the %onversion hysteria" of Freud's Vienna that may well have been based on sexual repressions; or gout, which he calls the ~perfect disease for overfed and otherwise inflated 18th-century gentlemen" (Miller, p. 1). Tom Lutz, in his book American Nervousness, 1903, gives a catalogue of stress-related symptoms such as insomnia, hypochondria, premature baldness, inebriety, hot and cold flashes, asthma, headaches, rashes, nervous exhaustion, that were all lumped under the general diagnosis of'~neurasthenia" during the time of social upheaval at the turn of the century (Lutz, 1991). Our present era has its own share of epidemics such as eating disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS.

Dance Therapists as Healers for Our Times As dance, art, music and expressive therapists, the idea of wholeness and integration is a basic part of our work. Perhaps we can be agents of change for our troubled society and world by helping people move from isolation into connection with all living things. For the practice of healing through love using art, dance, and song is inherent in our very roots as human beings. How can we help create a world that moves toward inclusivity and oneness? The time is ripe for us to begin to focus our efforts away from the medical model in the field of mental health. Prevention is what interests me. Dance therapists need to work in the schools-both public and private-from pre-school through high school, and in headstart programs. Pearl Primus, anthropologist and dancer, writes, ~If our children were exposed to dance-not professional d a n c e - b u t dance, if they could be encouraged to dance their thoughts, to dance just their being, we would have less illnesses" (Primus, 1989). Indeed, their is much wisdom in the Native American Zuni saying, ~We dance for our health and the good of our city." Right now our educational system is in crisis. Children are at risk. Teachers are overwhelmed by the myriad social problems. Dance therapists are eminently qualified to offer diagnostic and therapeutic assistance in the schools.

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Nancy Beardall, a teacher and dance therapist, has worked in the public schools in Newton, Massachusetts for 13 years. Serving as a consultant to parents, teachers, and students, Beardall travels around the schools teaching body awareness and expression, and principles of sensory-motor development. Her techniques help diagnose children's perceptual-motor problems, and also serve as tools to foster physical and emotional development among disabled and non-disabled children alike. Junior high school students, for example, create dances as a part of problem-solving, expressing their ideas and learning to work together. They make video tapes of their work so t h a t they can learn by observing themselves. Sometimes they perform their dances for parents and the school community. Beardall's work has had a powerful, positive and preventive influence on children in the school system. It stimulates them intellectually, fosters interaction with others, reinforces positive self-image, promotes body awareness and relaxation, and provides an outlet for emotional and creative expression. She has built a strong base of support for a dance/ movement program in the schools, and has secured local and national funding. Her model can be used to develop similar programs in schools throughout the country. Children often recognize their connectedness to all things better t h a n the most sophisticated adult. A nine-year-old girl from E1 Paso, Texas expressed her earth-mindedness in a poem t h a t Ann Landers published in her column in 1991: People have cut down the trees, which are my lungs. They have polluted the air, which is my brain. They have polluted the streams, which are my blood vessels. They have polluted the oceans, which are the chambers of my heart. My wrath has gotten gigantic. My wrath is hurricanes and tornadoes. I am the ill Earth. If people trash me, I will die, and so will they (Mayr, 1991). Perhaps if we can begin to feel the earth as an integral part of ourselves we can learn to live with less abuse to one another and to our most sacred and only home, planet earth. The questions are many, and our challenges are great. But hopefully, as the poet Rilke advises us, we will ~%ve the questions and perhaps then we m a y live into the answers."

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References Buhrmann, M. Vera (1984). Living in Two Worlds. Cape Town, South Africa: Human & Rousseau. Craver, Forrest (1991). James Swan on aligning oneself with sacred places. Wingspan, April-June, 1. Howard, Jerry (1991). Paradise. Sanctuary, 30, 17-19. Heinberg, Richard (1988). Rethinking Psychiatry: From Cultural Category to Personal Experience. New York: The Free Press. Lame Deer, John (Fire), & Erdoes, Richard (1979). Lame Deer; Seeker of Visions. New York: Pocket Books. Lutz, Tom (1991). American Nervousness, 1903: An Anecdotal History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Mayr, Misha (1991). Quoted in Ann Landers, The Boston Globe, January 5. Miller, Michael Vincent (1991). Anybody who was anybody was neurasthenic. New York Times Book Review, July 7, 1. Primus, Pearl (1989). Life crises: Dance from birth to death. Early Writings: A Collection of Early Writings Toward a Body of Knowledge, 1. Watkins, Mary (1991). From individualism to the interdependent self: Changing the paradigm of the self in psychotherapy. Paper presented at the conference, ~Toward a New Model of Psychotherapy: Connecting the Personal and the Global," Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 4, 1991.