More Than Human: spiritual health and healing in the age of mental health emergency

I felt soothed by her presence, like a child with a mother. Her long arms did not touch me, yet I felt caringly held. I liked the quiet between us. We did not speak and we did not need to. I found more peace spending time with her than I do with most human beings.

She isn’t human herself. She is a willow tree I met during a retreat in Ericeira, Portugal. Her countless, delicate arms dangled with almond-shaped leaves. Under the kindness of her shade, finding deep peace seemed easy and natural. My breath would slow and deepen – that same breath I was accustomed to holding whenever I felt unsafe as a child.

I am not a petri dish. My wellbeing cannot be cultivated in a sterile clinic. Please weave me into the tapestry of relations – into a kindred space and with gentle beings. Let me sense the Earth underneath my feet and watch the colours of the sky change – not the listless glare of screens. When you say mental health, my body feels forgotten. Please weave me into the tapestry of relations – when I am seen, heard, and supported, in ways that feel nourishing to me, I access my healing capacities and build my sense of belonging.

We are living amidst a global pandemic of mental health deterioration. Recent studies published by the NHS show that 1 in 5 young people in England have a probable mental health “disorder”. According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in every 8 people in the world live with a mental health condition, and suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year-olds. Many people who are struggling with their mental health do not receive help or treatment. Treatment provisions for mental health conditions provided by the medical establishment, mostly centred on talk therapy or medication, are woefully inadequate with low rates of effectiveness.

As we witness the world hurtling towards increasing ecological disasters, and the parallel crisis of failing mental health, we are now faced with a stark realisation: these two emergencies are manifestations of the same dissonance. Humanity’s destruction of nature mirrors the disconnections within our consciousness.

What if the clues to the root blockages within our mental health lie in the very words we use to describe it? What if, by calling the non-physical aspects of our health ‘mental’, we have created a creature which can never go home?

There are people who still live largely in harmony with Earth. Indigenous people steward land areas with the highest biodiversity and have spent thousands of years cultivating ways of living with deep interconnectedness to the entire web of life. If our modern lifestyles are degrading both our home planet and our wellbeing, it is time that we pay attention to the spiritual and cultural frameworks which offer wisdom and practices for individual and collective healing.

I am flying but not as a bird. I am dancing Ka'a Lele 'au, a sacred movement from ancient Hawaii. I feel it is called flying because the dance opens a portal to navigating the past, present, future, and all the dimensions of my existence. When I am practising Ka'a Lele 'au, the change I experience is beyond words – I am being woven into the tapestry of relations with the elements, the sun, moon, stars, and all the beings, many of them invisible, who are my allies. 

In the Iroquois creation myth, Sky Woman falls through a hole and is caught by two birds. Other animals help Sky Woman; the turtle lends her back to Sky Woman for shelter. In this age of mental health emergencies, rampant inequalities, and incessant wars, humanity is toppling from its tower of domination and exceptionalism. We are being called into a rediscovery of what it means to be human. Like in the creation myth, we are – and have always been – more than human.

To repair broken relationships between ourselves and the more-than-human world is not easy. Yet our own very survival, peace, and wellbeing depend on these efforts. We can begin with deep listening and truly reciprocal relationships with more-than-human communities, such as the trees. We can heal by reviving our co-creative expression and body-based wisdom practices. We can experience our world as more than a material reality in which nature is simply a resource to be utilised. 

The indigenous people have long called for us to consider the impact of our decisions seven generations from now and beyond. Now is the time to be courageous enough to say it’s not just mental health we must address – it’s spiritual health.

— Ying Li, Embodying Earth