My Philosophy of Practise
Throughout history, archaic versions of Outdoor Adventure education, risky and ecstatic trials, have been a part of the social foundations of many ancient traditions, such as Ancient Greece, Vikings, Australia, Amazonian tribes, etc... These rituals and trials were used to offer "Peak experiences", an ecstatic-cathartic experience which carries a dynamic empirical spontaneous naturalistic knowledge that is able to offer healing, empowerment, historical recreation, philosophical or spiritual understandings.
However, over the years, new cultural paradigms have deemed these practices and perspectives illegal by introducing unregulated technological convenience, responsibility, and a risk-free society. This has led to the limitation of peak experiences in the human experiential and intellectual vocabulary. As a result, I believe that a domino effect of domestication has occurred in human psychology, social bonding, culture, and our perspective of the natural environment.
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Storr (1998) argues that traditional elements of peak experiences such as physical suffering, challenge, taking responsibility, psychological rebirthing, questioning, experiencing intense emotions and having deep interaction with our natural animal instincts, have been stigmatized as paganistic, evil, inconvenient, dangerous, and prohibited or underestimated until today.
Matzner (1993) and Jung (1988) both suggest that modern societies have lost access to their ancient archaic powers and creative spiritual energies, as well as the common mental ground and understanding of themselves, according to their environment, ancestors, and animals due to the restriction of Peak experiences. This is reflected in the scientific research findings of 21st-century physical and mental health, which present a negative decline and the rise of cultural crisis, depression, and lack of meaning passion and purpose for life.
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Ecopsychological Adventure Practice aims to regenerate the educational, philosophical, and spiritual significance of outdoor adventure education in the short term. In the long term, the goal is to redesign our culture in which the elements that comprise the culture start to integrate again under a biophilic and meaningful essence.
By doing so, I seek to bridge the gap between the natural world, archaic imagination, traditions, pedagogy, psychic science, and our ecstatic subjective empirical understanding of the world (peak experience) once again by allowing us a deeper connection, meaning, and purpose with the Cosmos and a greater understanding of our place within it.
The core purpose of the Ecopsychological Advanenture practice (EAP) is to offer education to people through experience, philosophy, and spirituality about peak experiences and how they relate that themselves, the natural world, civilization, tradition, and spirituality.
More specifically, the EAP wants to give people the chance to experience life within themselves, and get to know their own quirks, limitations, and advantages from mature authentic human interactions, risks, responsibility, challenges, educational activities and development of life skills.
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Tradition, Nature, Psychic Science, Peak experience, Archaic imagination and Pedagogy are the five core elements that form EAP.
Each element represents specific theoretical teachings and practical activities which are integrated together through practice.