CLIMATE CHANGE FROM THE INSIDE OUT: CULTIVATING A PERSPECTIVE OF BELONGING By KIMBERLY JEAN WALLACE B.A., University of Alberta, 1995 B.Ed., Queen’s University, 2006 A thesis proposal submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard .......................................................... Dr. Frank R. Kull, Thesis Supervisor .......................................................... Dr. Liza Ireland, Thesis Committee Member School of Environment and Sustainability .......................................................... Ms. Michael-Anne Noble, Director School of Environment and Sustainability ROYAL ROADS UNIVERSITY December 2012 © Kimberly Jean Wallace, 2012 2 Abstract of the Project Environmental issues, such as climate change, may be exacerbated by humans’ habitual reactions to stress and discomfort. This thesis describes how a practice of mindfulness, an illumination of held assumptions and beliefs, and a cultivation of beliefs of belonging, can influence our responses and positively affect relationships with self and others – human and other-than-human. Three areas of study in this research include: (a) the history of several dominant assumptions in Western culture; (b) the practice of mindfulness; and (c) neuroscience. Using an integrated methodology, I drew from hermeneutic phenomenology, and organic and intuitive inquiries to conduct a personal and a co-operative inquiry with a small group of adults in Jasper, Alberta. Several methods of inquiry include a practice of mindfulness; journaling; and other arts-based practices. My findings suggest that mindful meditation is a helpful, often over- looked, tool that can assist us to work toward healthy ecosystems from the inside out. 3 Dedications I dedicate this work to the Athabasca River, who continues to flow, and the trees, who teach me to be present, even with discomfort. 4 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge, My co-participants, for openly sharing their experiences and wisdom with the circle. I am so grateful for your dedication to yourselves and to the community. My thesis supervisor Dr. Frank (Bob) Kull, for his patience, humour, guidance, honesty, and humanness. Thank you for sharing your invaluable time and many gifts with me. My friends and family, for cheering me on, sharing their homes, and participating in meaningful discussions with me. Thank you for joining the adventure. My partner prior to and during this adventure, Dave, for his love and support. I am truly grateful. The MAEEC 2010 cohort, a thriving community of radical beings. Thank you for your radiance, humour, love, and integrity. Dr. Rick Kool, for his commitment to the MAEEC program and to the realization of his dreams. I am in awe of your light and enthusiasm. My students and their parents, past and future. Thank you for offering me such rich opportunities to grow, to heal, and to share. I love you. My teachers, past, present, and future, human and other-than-human. I am deeply grateful for your communications with me. All sentient Beings everywhere. May we be healthy and joyful. May we be free from suffering. May we embrace our wildness. May we be well. 5 There can be only one permanent revolution-a moral one; the regeneration of the inner man. How is this revolution to take place? Nobody knows how it will take place in humanity, but every man feels it clearly in himself. And yet in our world everybody thinks of changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself. (Tolstoy, 1900, p. 29) 6 Table of Contents Abstract of the Project .................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter One: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 8 Background ................................................................................................................................. 8 The Rational .............................................................................................................................. 12 Research Questions: What Am I Looking For? ........................................................................ 14 Framework ................................................................................................................................ 15 Delimitations and Limitations ................................................................................................... 15 Implications and Significance ................................................................................................... 16 Researcher’s Perspective. .......................................................................................................... 17 Thesis Overview ........................................................................................................................ 24 Chapter Two: Literature Review & Scholarly Context ................................................................ 25 The Present: Mindfulness .......................................................................................................... 26 The Past: Exploring the Roots of Personal and Cultural Assumptions ..................................... 31 The Future: Neuroscience ......................................................................................................... 42 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter Three: Methodologies and Research Design ................................................................... 48 Rationale for Chosen Methodologies ........................................................................................ 48 Hermeneutic phenomenology. ............................................................................................... 48 Organic inquiry. ..................................................................................................................... 50 Intuitive inquiry. .................................................................................................................... 51 Cooperative inquiry. .............................................................................................................. 52 Circle council. ........................................................................................................................ 52 Integral theory. ....................................................................................................................... 53 Rationale for Research Design .................................................................................................. 53 Research Procedure ................................................................................................................... 61 Text study. ............................................................................................................................. 61 Personal study. ....................................................................................................................... 62 Community of practice. ......................................................................................................... 66 7 Understanding the Stories: Parts and Whole ............................................................................. 72 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................................... 77 Chapter Four: Research Findings.................................................................................................. 78 Relationships: As Within, As Without ...................................................................................... 80 Communication is community in action ................................................................................... 92 Underlying Assumptions and Beliefs about Sensation and Identity ....................................... 102 Time and space ........................................................................................................................ 125 Let Go, Let it Flow .................................................................................................................. 126 Coyote ..................................................................................................................................... 131 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................................... 134 Chapter Five: Discussion and Reflection .................................................................................... 135 Overall Summary of the Research and Connections to the Literature .................................... 135 Reflections and Research in Action ........................................................................................ 144 Implications and Potential Applications ................................................................................. 149 Future Research ......................................................................................................................