Why should you engage your imagination to learn more about yourself? How is the imagination a powerful and revealing tool, and not plain “fantasy”? Why does being in nature and hiking a mountain make you feel so good about yourself and life in general – beyond just the beauty of nature?
In this podcast episode, Lisa Lewis speaks about terra psychology, enchantivism, and exploring the psyche’s connection to nature with Craig Chalquist.
Meet Craig Chalquist, PhD
Craig Chalquist is a professor, academic program director, and consultant who writes and teaches at the intersection of psyche, story, and imagination, with one foot in the academy and the other in the world. As a loreologist, Craig explores the limits and possibilities of the personal and collective stores we navigate by in order to deepen, expand, or replace them so we move from being confined by them to authoring them. Craig coined the term “terrapsychology” to describe the study of how our natural surroundings can manifest intimately in human psychology. He also coined “enchantivism”, a form of storytelling that moves from human injustice to a vision of how we most desire to live as a global community. His work in the world is in service to creating and supporting the sustainable, just, and delightful communities of belonging we are capable of dreaming together and scaling up.
Visit Craig’s website and connect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
IN THIS PODCAST:
- Terra psychology and enchantivism
- Surpassing the talk
- Create a space for the vision
- The power of storytelling
Terra psychology and enchantivism
Terra psychology is the study of how the presence of a place, including everything in it, gets into us. How … the peaks of mountains and peak experiences go together, or congested freeways and congested conversations … How the features of the land show up psychologically in us.
Craig Chalquist
In many ways, psychology has been useful for helping people understand their internal conflicts and relationships, but it has ignored the impact of the environment on a person until fairly recently.
Enchantivism – a term Craig coined in 2017 – is about the change that some people make in the world through inspiration and enthusiasm, or storytelling, through different modalities that invite them into their desired realities.
[Enchantivism] invites people into futures of the kinds that they want to dwell in. It gives us a glimpse of how things could be, rather than just staying with how things are, and that seems powerfully motivating for change.
Craig Chalquist
Surpassing the talk
Even though talking is a vital part of therapy and moving through the therapeutic process, it can be bolstered with other techniques – like using your imagination through enchantivism, and putting yourself in uplifting environments.
It seems [like] that’s where we all get stuck, is by talking, because when we talk, that means we either have to listen or not listen, and that can create conflict and divison … [Even] talking informally can take the pressure and the edge off.
Lisa Lewis
Terra psychology and enchantivism both allow a person to enter into “new” mental and physical spaces, which in turn allows them to feel and imagine new realities for themselves, which is something that can be difficult to do with talking only.
Create a space for the vision
It is imperative to create a safe space where people feel supported and comfortable to share their dreams and visions, because it may already be challenging for them to allow themselves to dream that big, without the judgment of others.
- Craig recommends keeping the groups small, and with like-minded people
- Set up some ground rules so that everyone knows what’s allowed and what isn’t
- Make it clear that cynicism, narcissism, or attacking other people’s ideas are not allowed at all
Therefore, you need to make sure to appropriately screen the people beforehand.
The power of storytelling
With storytelling and “re-storying”, as Craig describes, it could almost be read like “restoring”, which can happen in an emotional and hopeful sense when people allow themselves to imagine a new reality for themselves, like a new story.
I think it’s like that with a lot of stories that guide us; we interpret them very literally, and we become rescuers or codependents … And what we need to do is to be able to look at them on a more symbolic or metaphoric level to free us up a little bit.
Craig Chalquist
Storytelling our dreams and visions, without limits, can help us to discover where the limits are that we may have placed on ourselves.
Go where your imagination directs you, whether it shows up in your story about yourself or in a dream or in a fantasy or whatever, there’s always more to it than just stuff we make up … The world speaks to us through imagination all the time, if we know how to listen.
Craig Chalquist
Engage with your imagination, and see how the world speaks to you!
RESOURCES MENTIONED AND USEFUL LINKS
BOOKS | Craig Chalquist – Terrapsychology: Reengaging the Soul of Place
BOOKS | Craig Chalquist – Terrapsychological Inquiry: Restorying Our Relationship with Nature, Place, and Planet
Visit Craig’s website and connect on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
Email Craig at: craig@chalquist.com
Find Out More About Sensitive in Nature
Practice of the Practice Network
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CONNECT WITH ME
Email me: lisa@amiokpodcast.com
ABOUT THE SENSITIVE IN NATURE PODCAST
So you’ve been told that you’re “too sensitive” and perhaps you replay situations in your head. Wondering if you said something wrong? You’re like a sponge, taking in every word, reading all situations. Internalizing different energies, but you’re not sure what to do with all of this information. You’re also not the only one asking yourself, “am I ok?” Lisa Lewis is here to tell you, “It’s totally ok to feel this way.”
Join Lisa, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, as she hosts her, Am I Ok? Podcast. With over 20 years of education, training, and life experience, she specializes in helping individuals with issues related to being an empath and a highly sensitive person.
Society, and possibly your own experiences, may have turned your thinking of yourself as being a highly sensitive person into something negative. Yet, in reality, it is something that you can – and should – take ownership of. It’s the sixth sense to fully embrace, which you can harness to make positive changes in your life and in the lives of others.
This may all sound somewhat abstract, but on the Am I Ok? Podcast, Lisa shares practical tips and advice you can easily apply to your own life. Lisa has worked with adults from various backgrounds and different kinds of empaths, and she’s excited to help you better connect with yourself. Are you ready to start your journey?