What is permaculture? Good question. I really didn’t understand it much at all until I spent some time at Gaia.

In the last article you learned about Ecoliving and fasting.

In this article you’ll learn about permaculture, what it is and how it’s practiced at Gaia…

What’s your problem?

That is, what are the problems you and others face that permaculture solves?

If you live in our modern world, you probably deal with your fair share of stress. You may been running low on energy frequently…so that your brain and body don’t function as well as they could.

Furthermore, your environment around you is stressed as well. With our modern practices of creation and consumption, it seems we have an endless and growing arsenal of weapons that are being used against the environment

In simple terms, we are polluting our environments and also polluting ourselves at the same time.

So why permaculture? What are the benefits of permaculture?

Practicing permaculture will help you live a calmer, more relaxing, more peaceful life. Your body and brain will function and feel good. You’ll be more connected with your natural environment. You’ll eat healthy foods, breathe clean air and drink clean water. You’ll sleep well at night. You may even improve the relationships with others in your life.

You’ll also be helping the environment around you so that plants, animals and your Mother Earth are also thriving.

What is permaculture?

Okay, it’s not the panacea for all ills of the world. But it is an amazing practice that has many positive benefits for you and your environment.

Permaculture is a way of living with your natural environment – rather than fighting against it.

Think of monocrop agriculture, factory farms, pesticides, and GMOs. In so many ways we are working against and trying to manipulate and control Mother Nature when we could do things – like permaculture – to work with Mother Nature so that we live in harmony with the earth.

Permaculture is sustainable living. It’s sustainable farming. It’s a way to keep much of the natural environment intact.

…

How was permaculture practiced at Gaia?

[Here’s an excerpt from my journal of a few hours of my life at Gaia…]

We went back to the Sala where we created “seed balls” which are seeds of various plants (I think trees) that we wrapped inside a mixture of mud, dung and rice husks. The idea is that the seed balls can be dropped our thrown where they will have an opportunity to sprout and grow when the rain falls. This is seen as less impactful / better for the ecology because it doesn’t require digging and planting.

[…and another raw journal entry…]

Today at Gaia I spread some seeds. In the morning Laura and I spread some seed balls by the main road. And in the afternoon while spreading more seeds, a dog was hit by a truck. I was initially worried because the village dog, Earth, was in that area. However, I saw that he was okay and another dog was laying twitching in the middle of the road. Laura went to tell Tom what happened and I took a look at the dog. He didn’t twitch for long and it seemed he was no longer living. We ended up burying him and having a little ceremony.