Abstract
Our relationship with the environment is primarily developed through our physical senses; however, this lived experience is made possible by the phenomenon of consciousness. Through a transcendental phenomenological approach to our interactions with nature, we can discover ourselves as consciousness enlivened by the natural world. Ecopsychology, similarly, explores the ways in which we are intimately connected to this living Earth and reaffirms the importance of an ecological awareness. The focus of this writing is on the relationship between the consciousness of the individual and the expressions of consciousness in nature. Through the lens of ecopsychology and phenomenology, I reflect on my experiences while climbing a mountain in the heart of Alaska and the moments where my relationship to nature deepened.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abram, D. (2010). Becoming animal: An earthly cosmology. New York: Vintage Books.
Fisher, A. (2002). Radical ecopsychology: Psychology in the service of life. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Firman, J. & Gila, A. (2002). Psychosynthesis: A Psychology of the Spirit. NY: SUNY
Hutcheon, P. D. (1996). Leaving the cave: Evolutionary naturalism in social-scientific thought. Waterloo: Wilrid Laurier University Press.
James, J. L. (2007). Transcendental phenomenological psychology: Introduction to Husserl’s psychology of human consciousness. Victoria: Trafford Publishing.
Khan, H. I. (1983). The music of life. New Lebanon: Omega Publications.
Kidner, D. W. (2001). Nature and psyche: Radical environmentalism and the politics of subjectivity. Albany: State University of New York Press.
LaChapelle, D. (1993). Deep powder snow: Forty-years of ecstatic skiing, avalanches, and earth wisdom. Durango: Kivaki Press.
Mitchell, E. (2008). The way of the explorer: An Apollo Astronaut’s journey through material and mystical worlds. Franklin Lakes: The Career Press.
Moustakas, C. E. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Plotkin, B. (2003). Soulcraft: Crossing into the mysteries of nature and psyche. California: New World Library.
Plotkin, B. (2008). Nature and the human soul: Cultivating wholeness and community in a fragmented world. California: New World Library.
Roszak, T. (1993). The voice of the earth: An exploration of ecopsychology. New York: Touchstone.
Toadvine, T. (2004). Singing the world into a new key: Merleau-Ponty and the ontology of sense. Janus Head, 7(2), 273–283.
Acknowledgments:
With special thanks to: Franz Mueter, who accompanied me toward adulthood and on Denali; Jennifer Talley; Max Kaufman; Else-Marie Johnson; Fernando Castrillon, for seeing something valuable in me and encouraging me to speak it; and to my mother and father for introducing me to “the Great One!”
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hébert, IM. (2014). Mountain Reflections: Reverence for the Consciousness of Nature. In: Vakoch, D., Castrillón, F. (eds) Ecopsychology, Phenomenology, and the Environment. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9619-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9619-9_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9618-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9619-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral ScienceBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)