The Flip Side

The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970. It was a demonstration, not a celebration. 20 million Americans came together to protest our lack of care and concern for the Earth. From these origins, we’ve experienced a wholesale turnaround in awareness and action concerning environmental issues. Earthday.org reports that this year over 100 countries are sponsoring or participating in over 6,000 individual events including community roundtable discussions, trash cleanups and climate teach-ins, and much more. Today I’m thinking about what caring for the Earth and having a strong, positive relationship with nature really means to me, especially how it positively improves my health and wellbeing every day.

Spending time in nature is a major stress reducer

Research has well demonstrated that time spent in nature reduces stress and can dramatically improve our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. When out in nature, what you are seeing, hearing, and experiencing at any moment is changing not only your mood, but how your nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are working, says Louise Delagran, writing for the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. She goes on to say that being in nature restores our moods, our psychological wellbeing, and even our vitality, by providing a respite for our overactive minds, refreshing us for new tasks. It connects us to each other and the larger world.

Nature as the next frontier in employee wellness and engagement

Initial employee wellness efforts mostly focused on physical fitness and nutrition programs. Post-COVID, many have evolved to include mental health, workspace ergonomics and design, and flexible work arrangement programs.

Employee wellness and engagement go together. According to Gallup, employee engagement and well-being are highly reciprocal, with each influencing the future state of the other to a similar degree. I’ve seen how this relationship played out in my professional life as a transformational change and employee engagement leader.

I’ve now taken on a new role as a strategic advisor to a holistic movement called the Earth Caretaker Way. The movement encourages us to forge personal relationships with nature, and in doing so, become better stewards of the earth. I am convinced that the practices of an earth caretaker, i.e. being of service to the Earth, can be applied to the work environment to foster employee wellbeing and engagement.

Purpose-driven to rebalance our own immediate environments

Studies show that purpose-driven companies score better in employee engagement and do better in the market. Today, when employees think about engagement, they’re thinking about how to not just build greater meaning and purpose into their work, but also to connect with their colleagues at a deeper level.

All generations of employees are concerned about some aspect of the changes we’re experiencing in our environment due to global warming. We’ve seen the catastrophic effects of changing weather in the recent fires in Los Angeles, the floods in North Carolina, and the recent tornadoes in the Midwest. The challenges are equally acute across the globe, with so many animal species nearing extinction due to habitats becoming uninhabitable and forests being decimated. The Earth Caretaker Way provides specific practical guidance on how to help the Earth regenerate and repair herself and inspire hope.

I believe that marrying the purpose-driven work of the Earth Caretaker Way with the purpose-driven work of the business at large can be a way to build sustainable employee engagement and help in healing the planet. The Earth Caretaker Way provides a means for employees to individually and collectively make a difference in the world by being more directly connected to a greater cause.

Purposefully integrating earth caretaking and employee engagement.

I’m delving into various tactics that can help Earth Travelers build an ethos of earth caretaking rather than just taking and increase employee engagement. I can help you get started by:

• Speaking to employees at All Hands and other meetings about the essence of Earth caretaking and how to be of service to the Earth.
• Designing and delivering custom workshops on how to build an earth caretaking into employees’ daily work life as part of a mindfulness practice.
• Conducting planning sessions with business leaders on how to integrate earth caretaking practices into employee wellness and engagement programs.

Connect with me to get started

For more information on how to integrate the principles of earth caretaking into your wellbeing or employee engagement programs, please reach out to me via gayeclemson@icloud.com. In the meantime, feel free to check out these additional online resources:

• My Earth Caretaker Story
• Episodes 56-61 from my podcast series, Algonquin Defining Moments, that feature Tim Corcoran, founder of the Earth Caretaker Way, and feature insights into his origin story, nature awareness, mastering wilderness living skills, earth philosophy, spirituality, and being of service to the earth. .:
• The Earth Caretaker Way Introductory Video and Book Promotion