Healing the Self, Healing the Earth: An Earth-Centered Approach to Health Education

Abstract

Nature provides many opportunities to support, balance, soothe, and mend human well-being on individual levels of mind, body, and spirit as well as collective levels. This capstone project introduces the Earth-Centered Approach to Health Education, which offers nature-focused adaptations to the content and pedagogy of existing university-level health education degree programs. In refocusing health education to highlight the Earth, students become (more) aware of simple, accessible, and often free methods for supporting wellness through nature. With this understanding, a reverence for the Earth is supported, which can, in turn, support collective actions to reciprocate and support the health of the planet as well.