Mother Earth Teaches Us How to Care for Ourselves

I often imagine that when I practice care for myself, a circle of light emanates from the center of my being, connecting me to somebody else. The light is constantly flowing, constantly connecting us to one another, so that when I care for myself, those around me receive something, and when those around me care for themselves, I receive something too.

Somehow, self-love and self-care become reciprocal with those around us.

Another way to imagine it is that every time you care for and heal yourself, a ripple emerges out of your being and reaches somebody else and encourages them to heal and care for themselves. Mother Earth, or Segmekwe, is always doing this for us. She is our teacher, emanating light and teaching us how to do the same.

Our care for Mother Earth is directly tied to how we care for ourselves.

I write in my book, Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day, that one of the greatest tools of colonialism is to disconnect us from the land and, in doing so, to disconnect us from our bodies and communities. So the work of protecting the land is for everyone, is reciprocal, and is exactly what we are made for.

We must resist the status quo of hate in our world by learning to better care for ourselves, one another, future generations, and Mother Earth.

Content taken from Living Resistance by Kaitlin B. Curtice, ©2023. Used by permission of Brazos Press.