In 2023, we invited Thai facilitator Sunisa Jamwiset Deiters — everyone calls her Om — to lead a five-day Deep Ecology workshop for our Hong Kong partners. The goal: nourishment from nature, and reinforcement of the ecocentric (not ego-centric) worldview.
Om was mindful to create a safe, compassionate space and ample time for participants to explore and share at ease. She started off by encouraging partners to experience nature with all their senses, with an open mind, and particularly with wide open hearts. She then guided everyone through the 'Work That Reconnects' stages: opening oneself to gratitude, honouring our pain for the world, seeing with new eyes, and going forth.
For Mayson Fung, founder of the International School of Somatic Education, the process of honouring pain brought a transformation. She had been focusing so much on other people's suffering that she had buried her own. No longer could she pour from an empty cup. Several other participants also came to a deeper awareness of their tendencies, principles and values. Supported by Om's warm presence, they could tap into their inner wisdom, trust it, and freely express it.
Om led our partners to envisage the Great Turning, a civilisation that has transitioned from an industrial growth society to a lifesustaining one. One where there's food, water, and harmony for all. One where all decisions and actions were made for the wellbeing of the following seven generations. When people in the future learn about the Great Turning, what would their textbooks say about how it was achieved? How did people become strong enough to meet challenges and create change? What joys and insights did they experience along the way? Om listened as participants shared and then listed Great Turning actions from around the world — Transition Town, permaculture, ecovillages, and many community economy initiatives by social enterprises and other groups — our partners are not alone.
During the workshop, participants could take a break from the busyness of their day-today. They connected with their own values and with a wider network of practitioners working towards similar goals and facing similar challenges. As our partners realised their shared purpose, a foundation was formed for future mutual support.
Inspired, participants applied what they learned. Staff from Hong Kong Federation of Women's Centres reflected on its team culture and created workspaces to respect people's different paces. A member of Urban Diary, a storytelling NGO that promotes sustainability, created a cross-sectoral workshop with an ecoand ocean-perspective worldview. Mayson Fung incorporated inner transformation into her courses, embracing the whole being, both positive and negative aspects.
With their inner harmony recalibrated, practitioners have been more able to access their creativity and compassion as they work with their communities. From an eco-centric perspective, this represents a collaborative, symbiotic, and sustainable way of living. Every ecological and social role, equal.