This is the wrap-up of the Regen Mind series, where Emma shares more about her motivation for this series, her lessons learned, the themes that emerged, and of course, her surprises like like how quickly the conversations evolved from mind/mindset to consciousness. Find out why the mind is like soil and how we can adopt a systems-thinking lens, which is imperative for system change.
LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION ON:
MOTIVATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Acknowledging the role of the mind and mindset in a regenerative transition is crucial also to understand the qualities of what we can characterise as a ‘regenerative’ mind and bring this to the audience of influential individuals and decision makers in food and agriculture to embody the regenerative mind themselves.
”A: Can we get a critical mass within the food system, especially decision-makers and those who are highly influential, to even acknowledge that the mind and the mindset play a significant role? And then B: If it does, what are the qualities of those that we can say have a regen mind, are already embodying that, and are practitioners in the food system and regenerative movements? And see what surfaces and see if we can characterize it” – Emma Chow
In the Regen Mind series, it emerged that Regenerative Mind is:
- about being in right relationship with all other elements of living systems
- seeing ourselves as part OF nature, not separate, not above it;
- networks and interconnectivity, like mycelia networks;
- abundance (rather than scarcity and fear);
- movement and dynamism.
THE MIND IS THE SOIL
Emma compares the mind to soil, emphasising the importance of nourishing and replenishing it to allow personal growth and flourishing. The mind is the soil, which everything grows from. The quality of the soil influences the degree to which the garden flourishes out of it.
”When I was reflecting on this myself, this analogy came through, which is, the mind is the soil. And the quality of that soil determines what outputs you’re going to produce and how the plants can flourish. And storytelling came up, and it’s like stories are the compost that come and nourish and replenish the soil and allow those plants to grow, allow your garden to flourish. And in order to do that, we need to, and all of us are part of nature. That was a big piece; it’s we’re not separate from, we’re not above, and we can’t fix nature and control it. A regenerative mindset is knowing that we are part of nature. And this piece of interconnectivity came up in basically every conversation. Another piece was going from scarcity and fear to abundance. That was another one that came up in quite a few conversations.” – Emma Chow
SYSTEMS-THINKING LENS FOR A SYSTEM CHANGE
Emma emphasises the need to expand our capacities to hold and lean into the complexity and adopt a systems-thinking lens, which is imperative for system change; an spirit of hope and realistic optimism; a connection with nature that is ever-deepening and the depth of intelligence we can learn from nature; we don’t focus enough on the mind.
‘’It was offering an invitation to do very simple things like go out into nature; it doesn’t need to be off to forest hours away from a city where many listeners, I’m sure, live, but even connecting with a plant in your house or a tree and watching it over time. […] Can you do that for a year, and you will see the intelligence of nature. You will see how everything’s always changing. And you’ll also start to see the relationships, and you’ll see cycles of death and renewal. And that was a pattern that came up in many people’s stories.’’ – Emma Chow
WHAT SURPRISED EMMA
Emma has been surprised by how quickly the conversations evolved from mind/mindset to consciousness, even with some guests saying we need to be focusing on elevating consciousness rather than the brain and the mindset. Big surprise was also the enthusiasm with which guests received the invitation to come on the show and the engagement with the podcasts released. The number of potential guests was abundant.
”I specifically chose language when we were crafting the description of this and all of it to make it what I thought would be as accessible as possible. And mindset was a language that, at least in my experience, seemed accessible enough, especially for those in corporate or more conventional streams. And I was surprised by how quickly many of the guests challenged the language of mindset and mind, and they jumped to consciousness. And they were saying, It’s not the brain. It’s not like, yes, that plays a role. But actually, what we need to do is elevate our consciousness. And so, I was surprised by their level of consciousness and how quickly we would pivot or jump up in a way and relate to that.” – Emma Chow
OTHER POINTS DISCUSSED
Koen and Emma also talked about:
- The importance of a mindset shift for individuals involved in regenerative agriculture
- The concept of “tipping points”
- The connection between brain, science and farming
LINKS:
LINKED INTERVIEWS:
- Laurence Tremblay – How mindset is everything when turning chocolate into a tool for good
- Giles Hutchins – How we can use the achiever mindset as a tool for crafting a regenerative world
- Lucio Usobiaga – Agriculture as an act of working with the magic of life
- Thomas Legrand and Luis Camargo – Shifting the narrative to capture food’s positive potential
- Calla Rose Ostrander – In our healing is our evolution as a society
- Jessica Hutchings – Connecting soil with the stars
- Emma Chow in conversation with Koen van Seijen – Regenerating ourselves before working on regenerative agriculture and food
- Emma Chow and Eliot Beeby on how circular design for food is crucial for regenerating landscapes, and how large food companies can lead it
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