1.1.3 How the course is structured

This course is designed to follow a linear approach though you can access different parts in any order. The course is primarily text-based and also includes images and sometimes short videos. I invite you into a process, in whichever form suits you. This involves more than reading, but also including yourself in dialogue with the course material. And ideally including others, whether this be in the lunch room at work, with friends and family, or with more-than-human companions on a forest walk.

References and Terminology

At the end of each section you will find any references related to that section, as well as terminology. Here, I have included terms that may be new, in alphabetical order. The first time these appear in the course, they are marked in bold, allowing you to easily locate them in that particular section. These terms are not exhaustive, and if there are words that you feel should be added to these lists or you find yourself searching for definitions elsewhere, please get in touch. In addition, you will find some live links scattered in the texts. These mainly pertain to particular websites or link to blog posts that explore a topic further. These are not included to make you feel stressed! Only follow what you feel is useful to you at any given time. The world wide web can feel overwhelming and not always conducive to giving us time to reflect. You should not need to delve into anything in addition to the course content to be able to follow the course itself. 

Introduction to practices

This course offers what you might deem practical ideas for engaging with and supporting soil health. However, what I want to introduce you to here is a different form of practice, namely practices in relationality. These are about ways of knowing that go beyond cognitive understanding. Rather, these practices are about re-building or remembering relationships with others, not just humans. You may already view the World relationally, or you may have done so as a child, or this might seem quite new to you. This is about nurturing, remembering and building those relationships.

Why focus on relationality in a course about Soil?

This course centres Soil, but what does soil health really mean? How are we individually and collectively entangled with Soil? How does our relationship with Soil influence how we act? Is a shift towards more relational ways of being, thinking and doing with the World an important part in engaging with soil health? I feel these questions matter. And so, I bring this perspective into this course as a backbone. In the next module, I share some key aspects of more relational approaches along with different narratives of Soil.

All the below practices are interrelated, but I’ve separated them out to give them emphasis and focus, as these are all different ways of knowing that in Euro-Western traditions have become repressed or seen as less credible, and so require a degree of intention and attention.

Practices

Please note there are no right ways of doing these practices, there are no goals or particular ways to become, and it is not about getting a task done, but to curiously culture ways of exploring and relating differently. You don’t need any special equipment, but particularly when beginning to practice, time and space can be important. A small notebook and pen is also recommended, to enable you to document reflections of your practices. Documenting can allow you to come back to it and to become aware of different versions of yourself over time. But perhaps most importantly, it can help you to dwell on your reflections, allow yourself to reflect a bit deeper and to follow trains of thought. Documenting can take the form of writing, but it can also be through drawing, taking a photo, or other means that help you to both dwell on and come back to your reflections.

• Embodied practice: this is about culturing awareness and attention to feelings, sensations and other bodily and lived experiences.
• Noticing and attentive listening: Again, this involves using the senses and it may involve focusing on a particular other and attending to that other in a deep way.
• Expanding inclusivity: this practice involves intentionally widening ideas of collective, society and ‘others’ including for example other species, weather phenomena, materials and future or past beings.
• Reflective practice: this may involve the use of guiding questions or taking prompts from readings or other encounters to go on a deeper inquiry alone or with others.
• Question-asking: asking questions, rather than giving answers, can help to keep exploration open and curious.
• Imagination/visualisation: this is a practice that many relate to early life or childhood, and it is considered a powerful tool in navigating and in futures thinking.