There is a general misconception that permaculture is all about gardening, growing salads and setting up herb spirals. It is not. Permaculture is an ethics based philosophy of life with practical applications to all domains including mental health and self-care.
Permaculture is the centering of the three ethics, earth care, people care and fair share.
Zone 00 in permaculture indeed refers to the self and whilst it may not have been included in the early permaculture texts it certainly is recognized today as an important area of study and design. The body in it’s entirety in effect is a starting point for many permaculture designers and practitioners as we recognize that one’s well being is integrated within everything else we do including where we live, the work we do, what we eat, how we experience life. By recognizing that we are interconnected with everything else we are also more aware and present in the way we care for ourselves.
You Decide
As social media is flooded with feel good solutions here I want to make it clear that not everyone has the financial privilege to be able to up their lives and move to some idyllic location to live the homesteading life this is not what this article is about.
You can absolutely live more ethically in the city or suburbs, you can do what you can at your own pace and anything that you do should be driven by you and your needs and not other people’s expectations of you.
How do I know what I need?
I often meet people who are not clear in themselves why they feel a general dissatisfaction with themselves, they feel unhappy but at face value everything in their life is picture perfect. They have a family, a job, a place to call home, go on holiday and yet something is missing. Sometimes this shadow becomes depression. So the…
