Ivy Sea Online: Valuing our Inner Nature

I was exposed to the term "mind ecology" in a manual written by New Zealander physician Guy Pettitt called The Heart of Healing, in which he observes that "we are learning to become ‘environmentally aware’ of the contents of our own minds… and are being helped to become more responsible stewards of the emotional ‘atmosphere’ in which we live, and the emotional energies that pass through us. Patterns of thoughts form an ‘environment,’ and certain core beliefs [emotional toxins] can be even more important in producing harm – to ourselves and those around us."

Additional research on mind ecology or mental ecology, led me to Felix Guattari, a French psychiatrist and philosopher, who coined the term in the late 80s to expand the definition and orientation of his psychiatric practice. Many others have since embraced the concept, including Kalle Lasn, a media activist, editor of Adbusters magazine, and the author of Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge and Why We Must; and Global Vision, a non profit organization accredited to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development.

The concept of mental ecology is an interesting one. I personally believe that groups of any kind (e.g. families, organizations, our global human family) share a group or soul consciousness. Each group is comprised of individual spirits who share similar values. Negative and often toxic states, such as competition, judgment, criticism, manifest when there is an energy imbalance within the group, when the talents or innate abilities of each individual is not actualized. This in turns affects not only the well-being and health of the individual and the group, but also our collective experience, hence the importance of creating healthy individuals and groups from within by realigning our deepest values.

What are values? Some common values are freedom, meaningful work, happiness, money, fun, travel, integrity, innovation, family. Something highly desirable and "value-able," that brings worth to your life. Why are values so important? Values are the energetic push behind our actions. Either we are willing to expand energy for something we value, or to increase energy to have what we value.

Values can also help us set goals, give direction to our lives, clarify what is meaningful to us, and give us an understanding of who we are. They also assist us in cultivating our spiritual aspiration or soul work – "Spirit" can be thought of as a higher principle that stands between polarities such as creativity and intellect, heart and logic, spirit and matter. (Note: no value judgment is implied by the word higher.)

Dr. Pettitt’s "Will and Mind" model highlights the importance of clarifying values so we can use our will wisely. According to Dr. Pettitt, the mind sets our intentions and goals, and create our mental images or thoughts - which turn into beliefs and sometimes facts, based on our sensory perceptions, and/or on our preferences - sometimes they may involve someone else’s expectations, too (e.g. authority figure). The will sets in place our mindset, comprised of our ideas, feelings, selected memories, thoughts, prejudices, images/symbols, attidues, based on the information it receives from the mind. Values then mobilize our will and affect our mindset. Last it is our perceptions that determine our behaviors.

Values Identification & Clarification

• List your values.

• Rank them in order of importance.

• Distinguish between values and your deepest or core values.

Answer these four questions to identify your core values:

1. Does it hold up under stress or pressure?

2. Does it connect to the wisdom of my heart?

3. Does it mobilize my attention and intention?

4. Does it engage me energetically?

Conflicting Values Clarification

• Check to see if some values conflict with each other. If they do, pick the first conflicting value and ask "for what purpose do I want this?" Write down your answer. Based on what came up, ask yourself again "and for what purpose do I want this?" Write down your new answer.

• Continue the process, as long as necessary.

• Now compare the answers. What common positive intention do the conflicting values share?

Additional inner work may be necessary to integrate conflicting values together.

Tools and resources to define values and learn more about mind ecology:

• Corporate Transformation Tools® PDF Value Assessment helpful for deepening this exercise. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to access and read the PDF document.

• Kalle Lasn's "Clarity of Mind" article at AdBusters Journal

• Kalle Lasn Interview - It's All in the Mind: Reclaiming Our Cerebral Commons (ABC Australian radio transcript - print version)

• Global-Vision

• Ecology of Mind

For more information about this article and the resources mentioned, contact Anne Dumauthioz at Inner Gateway (link below).

© 2005 Anne Dumauthioz. Anne is a student of the soul, a healer, educator, and existential detective who blends the rational, the intuitive, the spiritual, and the philosophical to awaken people’s life purpose. In private practice, she helps individuals remember the essence of who they truly are, and live more closely to their authentic selves so that they can best add value to the organizations in which they work. More information about her services is available at Inner Gateway.