What is Land Portal?
Land Portals is an online platform facilitating connections with nature in Canada. 100 nature spaces across Canada have been identified, photographed, geotagged, and published as Land Portals.
You are invited to visit these special nature spaces, and perform an intentional art-action that can be documented and shared with an open online community.
We have developed a method of using performance art to interface with the land. Intentional actions can be performed to create real live artwork in nature. You can design your intentional action(s) to address your exact context and goals at a Land Portal or another site of your choice. You can then reflect upon these performances to generate meaning and knowledge in your life. The performances and art created through the process can be shared in a variety of mediums, to weave our human experience with our community and The Land.
“The Land” is an encompassing term to describe the living earth, water, air, plants and animals.
Why Land Portals?
A National Council of Indigenous Elders gathered to establish guidance on the greatest issues of our time at The Turtle Lodge Centre for Indigenous Education and Wellness.
The Elders concluded that the most concerning issue is the human disconnect with The Land.
We invite you to connect with The Land through the Land Portals Platform.
We honour and acknowledge that Turtle Island is the traditional territory of Indigenous people. This project works to revitalize relationships to The Land and to Indigenous People including their inherent rights as the First People of Turtle Island.
As honourable guests on this land, you are invited to walk lightly, and delve into deep relationship with The Great Spirit – Mother Earth.
How to engage with Land Portals?
Land Portals performances can be simple actions.
Intention is key. Acting with deliberate intention to connect with The Land is useful in nurturing your relationship with nature. A focused mind and awareness of sensations can be helpful.
Here are some methods you can try at a Land Portal:
Shinrin Yoku (forest bathing) – immersing yourself in the forest for a period of time (try 20 minutes to start). Being calm and quiet amongst the trees, observing nature around you whilst breathing deeply. There are several studies that show the health benefits from this practice including reduced cortisol (stress hormone), blood pressure reduction, increased brain oxygen and improved mood. (Furuyashiki et al., 2019)
Creating sculptures from the materials at the site (i.e. snow sculptures, rock balancing, sand drawing, arranging leaves into forms, etc.)
Dance in relation the site and interacting with the features of The Land.
Adaptation: Interpretive dancing – interpret your surrounding or aspects of it through your movements, gestures or forms.
Earth writing (i.e. writing in the snow, writing in the water, writing in the sand) Try writing to The Land.
Asana (body posture) – choose a form that is appropriate to your intention(s) and relates to The Land at the site where you are working.
- (i.e. arms spread wide with heart opening intention,
- lying facing the Earth with or without a blanket depending on conditions,
- holding or hugging a tree,
- lotus pose sitting cross legged with eyes closed, etc.) There are many yoga poses which can be used.
Tai Chi Wave Hands – plant feet should distance apart, and circulate hands in a figure eight (infinity) form, transferring weight, moving slowly, smoothly, and grounding lower body – very useful for integrating the energy of place into your body.
Walking Mindfulness Mediation – walking very slowly with your attention focused on the sensations of your feet on the earth (barefoot is ideal if conditions permit)
Thoughtful observation – just be with The Land, and see what unfolds.
Forest gazing – find a comfortable place to sit in the forest and gaze softly for a specified period of time (try 20 minutes to start)
Cloud gazing – lie on your back, facing the sky and gaze softly for a specified period of time (try 20 minutes to start)
Starlight bathing – lie on your back under the night sky (light energy is absorbed well by the belly, heart-centre, thighs and eyes)
Singing with the land – listen and sing in relation to what you hear (find harmonies, rhythms and experiment with call and response relationships to animals calls and nature sounds) please respect those around you when creating sound.
Gathering – you can gather berries, fruits, herbs, medicine, stones, etc. as way to engage with The Land. This traditional practice is particularly effective, because eating what you have gathered is a wonderfully embodied connection with The Land. Please gather with respect, and do not take more than you need. It is good practice not to gather it all – leave some for others and for regrowth.
Fishing – like gathering, fishing and eating the fish you caught is directly integrating with The Land. Please respect fishing regulations in your area.
Playing acoustic music for the land – the land is listening to you, you are invited to honour the land as a living being and recipient of your song. (feel free to use your voice as your instrument)
The journey to a special place is a form of performance in itself – a pilgrimage.
Deep Listening – with eyes closed sink deeply into listening to the nuance and details in the multi-layered texture of vibrations immersing you. (try 20 minutes to start)
Adaptation – Listening to the environment amplified, using a sensitive microphone and headphones can be a very immersive experience of The Land.
Immersion in Wild Water – when conditions permit, you can immerse yourself in the water. Try 20 dunks, or swim under the water for a period of time. Wild water holds information in its crystalline structure – a history of the water. By immersing yourself in water, you expose you body, mind and spirit to this rich source of information.
Reflection:
- What did you feel?
- What information did you receive, sense or observe from The Land?
- Describe your relationship to The Land
Your Story:
You are creating a story – the story of your journey to the land, and the events that you co-created with the land.
You can transform this story into another medium to share with others, like an oral retelling, a photograph with text description, a song, a poem, a written account, a fictional story based on your real events, video based on the documentation of your performance (you can video record your performance – pro tip: use a tripod if available,
The Practice:
Integrating with nature space works well if practised regularly, and the benefits will be increased. Once every week for a few hours is an effective rhythm.
You are invited to perform!
You are invited to care for The Land with Love.
You are invited to generate knowledge!
You and invited to create stories with The Land!
References:
Indigenous Territory information is based on native-land.ca
Native Land is a great resource for Indigenous territories, but it is not perfect, nor is it intended to represent official or legal boundaries. If you see an error in our map or territorial information, please contact us at skymakerfilms.com
t Furuyashiki A, Tabuchi K, Norikoshi K, Kobayashi T, Oriyama S. A comparative study of the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) on working age people with and without depressive tendencies. Environ Health Prev Med. 2019 Jun 22;24(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12199-019-0800-1. PMID: 31228960; PMCID: PMC6589172.