romy aardse

Spiritual restoration
 
It was in Portugal that I found a deeper connection to nature and the ocean. After almost a year of deep Ashtanga Yoga practice and hours on the water (surfing), I started to feel a heart connection to my land and the water. I learned an important, life changing lesson: 
 
Spirituality and nature conservation go hand in hand. 
 
In order to restore nature we have to reconnect to our higher selves, in other words, do our practice. It’s not important what that practice is. For some this is surfing, others love to walk or meditate. We just have to devote some of our time to a practice that connects us to the spirit of our world. A quote from a 1994 statement of the Indigenous Environmental Network puts it best:

“Western science and technology, while appropriate to the present scale of degradation, is a limited conceptual and methodological tool – it is the "head and hands" of restoration implementation. Native spirituality is the 'heart' that guides the head and hands... Cultural survival depends on healthy land and a healthy, responsible relationship between humans and the land. Ecological restoration is inseparable from cultural and spiritual restoration, and is inseparable from the spiritual responsibilities of care-giving and world-renewal.”
 
So let’s practice, let’s connect to the spirit of the land, the ocean and ourselves. When we do this, our hearts will help the world restore. 
 
Romy