Unitary Human-Environment Field Mutual Process: Knowing Participation in Patterning the Environment

Patterning the Environmental Field: Nature

For many, experiencing nature is achieved through activities such as gardening and walking or hiking/cycling in parks or wilderness areas, or perhaps simply looking out a window. Many find peace and pleasure being among trees and plants, one of the reasons gardening is such a popular pastime. In this time of COVID-19, many have turned to nature to find release and healing.

Gardens are a perfect metaphor for life and thus can teach valuable lessons about patience, faith, and healing; about the rhythms of living, dying, beyond dying; about participating with versus attempting to control; and about potentials and creative diversity. The wise gardener learns to go with the flow of the garden’s life and may well realize that one person’s weed is another person’s wildflower. The garden cycles through life offering a diversity of manifestations, none more evolved than another, for “who could argue that a garden of daisies and hollyhocks was more developed than a garden of artichokes and asparagus” (Anderson & Hopkins, 1991, p. 16), an old but timeless quote, and one that reflects lack of valuing higher frequency over lower frequency experiencing in Rogerian science. Rather, it’s valuing diversity in energy field patterning.

Gardening is not only a pastime of rural or suburban life, as the urban community gardening movement has shown. Green Thumb, part of the New York City Parks Department, is the largest community gardening project in the country. There are at least 550 community gardens across the five boroughs of New York City, and they have become gathering places for workshops, live performances, and celebrations of the seasons and residents’ rites of passage (Angelidakis, 2020). Angelidakis (2020) roamed the city finding and photographing these gardens and interviewing residents to learn their history and what the gardens mean to various communities. She learned about an artist and resident of the Lower East Side, Liz Christy, who formed the Green Guerrillas, a group that went around seed bombing vacant lots. In one such lot on the Lower East Side, they learned that four homeless men had frozen to death one winter night, and Christy saw children playing in an old refrigerator abandoned in the same lot. She and her group chose to do something about it. In 1973 that lot became the Liz Christy Community Garden, believed to be the first in New York City. “Walking the grounds today, amidst the flowers and the indigenous plants, you can hardly imagine the many difficult conditions those young green pioneers and gardeners had to face” (Angelidakis, 2020, p. 17).

Richard Louv, nature journalist and co-founder of the Children and Nature Network, has written extensively about Vitamin N, N for nature of course, and the growing importance of nature prescriptions to combat nature-deficit disorder, “a diminished ability to find meaning in the life that surrounds us” (Louv, 2012, p. 11), occurring in people young and old. He coined the term “nature deficit disorder,” especially applicable to children who spend so much of their time absorbed by television, the Internet, and their cell phones, becoming distanced from nature in the process, with a deficit of Vitamin N. The Research Digest for September-October 2020 of the Children and Nature Network (n.d.-a) highlights newly published research about nature, mental health, and emotional well-being, noting the special importance of nature given the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions of 2020. Fourteen studies are presented, with wide-ranging topics such as improved health-related quality of life in minority youth who participated in an environmental education and nature contact program, a systematic review of the relationship of green space and prosocial behavior among children and adolescents, and a review of pediatric healthcare building design, such as healing gardens, that helped to reduce stress and pain and improve a sense of overall well-being in children (Children and Nature Network, n.d.-b).

Scotland is just one example of a country that has created a Natural Health Service as a companion for the National Health Service (part of Public Health Scotland) in order to promote health and well-being through greater use of nature and green environments (NatureScot, 2020). For the general population there are programs such as community gardens, health walks, and green gyms. For those with specific needs there are therapeutics and exercise programs. These include physical activity sessions for those with cancer or Type 2 diabetes and wilderness therapy programs for those with mental health or addiction issues. Research is an important component of the program in order collect data and to document the benefits of spending time in nature.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has One Health, a transdisciplinary approach in recognition of the interconnectedness among people, animals, plants, and the environment they all share (CDC, 2021). With this initiative, the CDC aims to achieve the best health possible for all three groups within a shared environment, with local to global initiatives.

Forest Bathing is a popular program offered at nature preserves in diverse locales across the world. The name is the English translation of the Japanese art of “Shinrin-yoku” and involves total immersion in a forest using all the senses, perhaps with mindful meditation walks or Nordic walking, aromatherapy, and/or yogic breathing, just to name a few possibilities. Forest therapy certification began in Japan in 2006, and there are now at least 65 certified sites across that country. Research is being conducted on health benefits of Forest Bathing, and protocols have been developed for implementation. To date, research-based health benefits include reducing stress hormone levels, increasing Natural Killer cells and boosting the immune system, helping with pain and blood pressure, enhancing vigor and vitality, and alleviating such stressful conditions as anger, depression, and confusion (Forest Therapy Society, n.d.).

Edwards (2019) emphasized the importance of “embracing a compassionate way of living and developing restorative initiatives that help people, other species and the environment to thrive . . . a reciprocal relationship rooted in embracing our interdependence with nature and taking actions that enrich our connection with it” (p. 3). However, as children and adults spend more time with technology and less time actually experiencing nature firsthand, that awareness of interconnectedness or of our mutual process with nature diminishes. Edwards called for development of an ecocentric ethic based in awareness, belonging, and caring to foster the sense of interconnectedness and reciprocity with the natural world.

Interestingly Edwards pointed to evidence showing that fewer nature-related words appear in literature, songs, and even children’s dictionaries today. He cited the work of social scientists Selin and Pelin Kesebir, who noted, among other points, that “for every three nature-related words in popular songs of the 1950s, for example, there is slightly more than one 50 years later” (cited in Edwards, 2019, p. 125).

In this same vein, realizing that the Oxford Junior Dictionary removed some 100 nature-related words, author Brook Smith (2020) and illustrator Madeline Kloepper designed a story and picture book for children ages 5 through 8 to reintroduce them to many of these words. Words such as blackberry, buttercup, drake, minnow, and monarch (butterfly) had been replaced with words such as analog, chatroom, database, MP3 player, and voicemail (Smith, 2020).

Earlier Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris (2017) had written the beautiful, award-winning book, The Lost Words: A Spell Book, highlighting this same theme, “for conjuring back these lost words” (p. 2). The Spell Songs Ensemble put together a musical compilation called Spell Songs as a musical companion to The Lost Words, featuring songs written and sung by various artists highlighting aspects of the natural world that are slowly being forgotten, such as willow, acorn, drake, and even goldfinch.

It is almost astonishing to note that when everything closed down globally starting in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, news reports started popping up showcasing how clean the air was becoming. In March 2020, CNN reporter Rebecca Wright announced an unlikely beneficiary of the virus, namely the planet. In November 2020, The Washington Post reporter Steven Mufson cited a BloombergNEF study noting that greenhouse gas emission in this country was set to fall to the lowest level in the past 30 years. Such changes have been especially evident in such high polluters as India and China. In the Punjab region of India, people were quoted as saying that for the first time in nearly three decades they could once again see the majestic peaks of the Himalayas. Of course, all of this may change as the world begins to return to “normal.”

The situation is viewed as dire by many, including Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, who in his address at Columbia University “The State of the Planet,” delivered on December 2, 2020, said “Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Nature always strikes back. . . . Biodiversity is collapsing. . . . Ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes” (United Nations, 2020).

McKinsey & Company (n.d.) released a report on December 15, 2020 warning that the world faces even more frequent and drastic physical changes if dramatic reductions in emissions are not undertaken this decade. The report warned of five specific outcomes: extreme, even lethal, heat; hurricanes and coastal flooding; drought; extreme precipitation such as heavy rainstorms; and wildfires.

It is clear that knowledgeable patterning of the natural environment has become increasingly critical. Patterning the environment is simultaneously patterning the human field. As Rogers’ (1992) principle of integrality specifies, “continuous mutual human field and environmental field process” is the reality (p. 31). We cannot separate what is an essential unity, so we need to be clear that actions involving the environment are simultaneously actions involving the human being.

Patterning the Environmental Field: Animals

Many additional people have come to appreciate the importance of animal companions during this time of living with COVID-19. There are stories of local animal shelters being emptied as people search for animal companions, perhaps for the first time in their lives. I prefer the language of animal companion over pet or pet companion, both of which objectify the animal. Animal companion better describes a mutual process in which empathy and love can flourish.

The health benefits of having animal companions have long been recognized, in nursing again going back to Florence Nightingale. Animals live in the moment, so being with them can enhance mindfulness. Having animal companions teaches children compassion, empathy, responsibility, and altruism. It helps children learn how to play, assists with relationship-building and interpersonal skills, and enhances self-esteem. The human-animal bond is especially helpful with vulnerable people, those with autism or Alzheimer’s, for example. Animal companions can help decrease stress, loneliness, blood pressure, and cortisol levels; increase beta endorphins and dopamine; provide pleasure; stimulate conversation; offer a sense of connectedness; and foster hope (Baun & Johnson, 2010; Fine & Beck, 2010).

There is a rich body of literature on AAT, AAI, and HAI. One of the latest compilations focuses on trauma and fostering resilience and healing through interactions with animals in three major areas: child and family violence, crisis response and intervention, and posttraumatic stress (Tedeschi & Jenkins, 2019). There is also recognition of the mutuality in all human-animal relationships, with the ethical responsibility to focus on the animal’s well-being along with that of the human involved. Animals, too, need adequate care and support, protection from harm, and consideration of their needs and preferences in the relationship (O’Haire, Tedeschi, Jenkins, Braden, & Rodriguez, 2019). Based on decades of work in this area, O’Haire et al. hypothesized that the reason animals, whether domestic or wild, can help with “trauma recovery is because of their capacity to foster resilience in those affected” (p. 7).

Of special note is Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York, which for over 70 years has offered animal-assisted education and therapy to children and adolescents with a range of social, emotional, and behavioral challenges in both residential and day care treatment programs. Animals and nature play an integral role in the therapeutic milieu and regimen. Roaming the grounds one will find vegetable and flower gardens, horses, cows, rabbits, llamas, camels, and a variety of other domestic animals for whose care the residents are responsible. The wildlife center houses injured birds of prey and reptiles that residents in the area find and bring in to receive care. If one can be rehabilitated and returned to the wild, there is a ceremonial release; otherwise it lives its life housed at Green Chimneys. While attending a conference there a few years ago, I participated in one such ceremonial release of a bird of prey and heard the story of a former resident, now an adult, who called to ask if he could return to visit with the cow for which he once cared, which he still remembered by name, even though he no longer remembered the names of the staff members with whom he had worked.

In partnership with a research team from the University of Denver Institute for Human-Animal Connection, Green Chimneys has completed the first phase of a research program designed to document student outcomes of the program while respecting the natural environment, including animals. The first set of qualitative studies documents broad, transformative impacts. For example, the first study using semistructured interviews with teachers and teacher assistants of students ages 6 through 19 with a variety of mental health issues and/or learning disabilities identified observed improvements in general behavior; competence; connection with others; mood; motivation; curiosity, interest, and excitement about subjects studied; and an expanded worldview (Green Chimneys, 2021).

Louv (2019) identified the next frontier in AAT as one in which wild animals will be incorporated into treatment along with animal companions and domestic animals. He cited a 2017 study by British researchers whose findings included reports of greater psychological well-being when visitors to a park noted the presence of a number of species, and when families shared wildlife encounters, they reported a better sense of family well-being. This means providing protected spaces for wildlife, especially as they migrate into urban areas, unwelcome news to many given the potential problems that can arise as people find coyotes and bears in their backyards in addition to raccoons, skunks, and deer. Help in better understanding animal behavior and ways to expand our awareness to include rather than exclude them comes from groups like The Urban Wildlife Information Network (2021), created as a partnership of researchers across the globe who are dedicated to understanding the behavior and ecology of urban species, sharing that information, and helping those interested in making cities part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis facing the world today. Rather than continuing to push out other species, this means incorporating them into urban design, creating nature-friendly cities that offer green spaces. Organizations like the Nature Conservancy (2021) advocate structural changes such as bridges for wildlife crossings over roadways and tunnels built under freeways, as well as green spaces. The Biophilic Cities Project operating out of the University of Virginia facilitates the work of a global network of partner cities to incorporate nature as fully as possible within their unique and diverse cities (BiophillicCities, n.d.). Partners value the importance of daily contact with nature and acknowledge the ethical responsibility to preserve shared habitats in nature for people and nonhuman life alike.

As can be seen from this discussion, there is increasing concern for the welfare of animals, both domestic and wild, probably due at least in part to growing awareness of the interconnectedness, or rhythmic mutual process, of all life, yet occurring at a time of increasing loss of biodiversity. Simultaneously new research on animal cognition points to intelligence within the animal world, again, both domestic and wild (Louv, 2019). Yet some still maintain that animals are not fully conscious because they lack the ability to communicate via language in the form of words. A strong counterargument comes from Temple Grandin, PhD, professor at Colorado State University and a leading authority on both autism, with which she lives, and animal behavior. Noting that some philosophers and scientists do not consider animals fully conscious because they lack language, she commented that, if this were the case, she would have to conclude “that as an autistic person who does not think in language that I am not fully conscious . . . I have to form a visual image in my imagination” (Grandin, 2002, p. 241). Hard to imagine not being fully conscious is possible for someone inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It just requires expanding our awareness of what consciousness means.

Marc Bekoff (2010), professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Fellow of the Animal Behavior Society, has called for development of a compassion footprint writing, “When we learn to be compassionate to all animals, that includes humanity. Compassion easily crosses species lines” (p. 21). His Animal Manifesto (2010), calling for expanding our compassion footprint, is built around six major themes: (1) “all animals share the earth and we must coexist” (p. 23); (2) “animals think and feel” (p. 53); (3) “animals have and deserve compassion” (p. 79); (4) “connections breed caring, alienation breeds disrespect “(p. 103); (5) “our world is not compassionate to animals” (p.127); (6) “acting compassionately helps all beings and our world” (p. 177).

In a similar vein, a special, multifaith gathering took place in the Cannon Caucus Room on Capitol Hill on November 7, 2007, to issue a religious proclamation for animal compassion in the belief that religious communities bear special responsibility for animal welfare and thus should extend them compassion along with humankind and indeed all of creation.

Louv (2019) cited a conversation he had with Carolyn Toben, friend of Thomas Berry, who founded the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World in North Carolina. She currently lives on family land, Timberlake Earth Sanctuary in North Carolina, and hosts family visits to her land, inviting them to touch and be touched by nature. She suggested that when they first come upon an animal, they think the following: “The same spirit that abides in you abides in me” (Louv, 2019, p. 173).

Such positive, forward-thinking projects as Urban Wildlife Information Network and the Biophilic Cities Project coexist alongside such sobering reports as that from the World Wildlife Fund that, as of 2018, there was a 60% decline in the global wildlife population. A few years later it can, unfortunately, be anticipated that the numbers have risen. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, nearly 2.9 billion birds are gone. Anyone alive in 1970 has seen one in four birds disappear over the ensuing years, according to an article published in their Living Bird magazine (All About Birds, 2021). Acknowledging such statistics, Louv (2019) has called for us to “act in mindful reciprocity—giving back to animals as they give to us.” (p. 10).

The Animal Legal Defense Fund exists because of rampant human cruelty toward animals, wild and domestic. It starts with their right to be free of neglect, abuse, cruelty, and exploitation and ends with their right to be legally safeguarded and to be represented in court, paralleling the rights of humankind.

Preventing abuse is a critical issue, as the link between animal abuse and human abuse is well known. In domestic abuse situations, women are often reluctant to go to shelters that do not accept animals, because abusers of women and children often abuse family animal companions either as an act of revenge or in an attempt to gain control over family members. When children are present in situations of abuse, their ability to empathize becomes stunted, because they experience so much pain when a beloved animal companion is abused. Arkow (2019) called animal abuse and neglect the dark side of the human-animal bond, noting that it is a predictor of all forms of domestic abuse, including elder abuse. It is under study as an important indicator of aggressive and antisocial behaviors and indeed may serve as a marker for conduct disorders in children.

Causality is not an option in Rogerian nursing science, where change is viewed as inevitable, ongoing, and unpredictable. So what is the view from a Rogerian lens regarding patterning the environment?

The Rogerian Perspective

The first point is grounded in the seminal work of Martha Rogers, that by definition the environment, or environmental field, is integral with the human field, so patterning the environment is simultaneously patterning the unitary human being or human field: “A universe of open systems explains the infinite nature of energy fields, how the human and environmental fields are integral with one another” (Rogers, 1992, p. 30). “Man (sic) experiences his environment as a resonating wave of complex symmetry uniting him with the rest of the world. The life process may be likened to cadences—sometime harmonic, sometimes cacophonous, sometimes dissonant, rising and falling, now fast, now slow—ever changing in a universal orchestration of dynamic wave patterns (Rogers, 1970, p. 101). Although couched in older language, Rogers initially identified that the integral rhythmic mutual process of human-environment may not always be a comfortable one, opening the door to both harmony and dissonance experienced in this flow.

The second point, also grounded in Rogerian nursing science, is that change is ongoing. People can participate knowingly in that change, although we cannot start, stop, or manipulate it, so the future “demands new visions, flexibility, curiosity, imagination, courage, risk taking, compassion, and above all, an excellent sense of humor” (Rogers, 1992, p. 33).

Two theories derived from Rogerian nursing science provide the basis for the following discussion. The first, Barrett’s power as knowing participation in change theory, was synthesized in the early 1980s and finds its latest expression in Barrett’s (2020) most recent publication. The second theory was introduced by Phillips (2016, 2017, 2019), the theory of pandimensional awareness-integral presence, a union of Rogers’ theories of accelerating change (formerly accelerating evolution) and the paranormal.

Power as Knowing Participation in Change

As noted previously, Rogers (1992) maintained that change is ongoing; we cannot start or stop it, and we can only participate in the change process. As Barrett (2010) commented, Rogers often described that participation as knowing participation, which suggests that people can also participate unknowingly. Either way, we are always participating in change. Foundational to the power theory is Barrett’s recognition that “Knowing participation is the key” (italics in the original) (p. 48), and this is power, power as knowing participation in change. Over the years she has consistently explained that “in a nutshell, power is being aware of what one is choosing to do, feeling free to do it, and doing it intentionally” (Barrett, 2020, pp. 481-482). A crucial realization for Barrett was that there are two worldviews regarding power, power-as-freedom, the spiritual, acausal view represented by her theory, and power-as-control, the material, causal view that represents the traditional view of power. Another key insight was her recognition that the four power dimensions reflect both worldviews of causality and acausality, of power-as-control vs. power-as-freedom, the latter again representing the Rogerian worldview and Barrett’s power theory. Everyone has awareness, choices, freedom to act intentionally, and involvement in creating change, but it manifests in various forms. What is key are the nature of a person’s or group’s awareness, the types of choices a person or group makes, the degree to which they feel free to act intentionally, and their manner of involvement in creating the chosen changes that may reflect either dissonance or harmony in the rhythmic human-environment patterning. In keeping with the nature of change in Rogerian science, people experience variations in the nature of their awareness, the types of choices they are making, the degree to which they are feeling free to do so, and the ways in which they are involved in creating changes throughout their lives.

Based on the inseparable dimensions of awareness, choices, freedom to act intentionally, and involvement in creating change, Barrett created a tool to measure power as well as the first methodology for Rogerian nursing practice. It consists of the processes of pattern manifestation knowing and appreciation and voluntary mutual patterning. (Discussion of how the practice methodology has evolved over time can be found in Barrett, 2020.)

An example of knowing participation in change is the work of the Green Guerrillas, who developed the Liz Christy Community Garden, discussed earlier. They used their awareness to formulate a choice for action, feeling free to become involved in creating pioneering change and showing the way for others to follow, participating in patterning the environment with beauty, and facilitating the experience of pandimensional awareness-integral presence for wellbecoming. Others could have used their awareness to formulate different choices, feeling free to become involved in creating change that would have resulted, for example, in turning the space into a parking lot. Others could have chosen to simply ignore what was happening in the empty lot as they lived their lives. For many, being in nature enhances feelings of awe and joy and heightens the awareness of integrality; conversely, for others, it is a source of exploitation and profit. Again this represents the worldview of power as knowing participation in change as freedom vs. control.

Because these two worldviews coexist in the world, it is important to understand and articulate one’s own view of power and recognize what power means to others. It is important to recognize that we all have power; we all participate in the continuous process of change, even when we feel helpless to do so. This in itself is a form of participation. As Barrett (2010) noted, we live the power theory every day of our lives. The power tool can be used to highlight personal power profiles and, if done over time with journaling, can teach us quite a bit about ourselves. No need to score, just examine answers on the semantic differential items under each power dimension. This is how Barrett (2010, 2020) uses the tool in practice. Through the findings on the power tool, which give the power profiles of ourselves and others, we can either continue to live power-as-freedom vs. power-as-control or learn how to do so, if we so choose.

Barrett provided what she calls power prescriptions in her work with clients. One such power prescription consists of eight questions in two sets of four, again extremely helpful in expanding our understanding of power in relation to our choices and actions. The first set starts with questions such as, “What am I aware of?” and “What choices am I making?” (Barrett, 2010, p. 52). The second set consists of questions such as “Do the changes I intend to create interfere with anyone else’s freedom?” and “Do the changes I intend to create attempt to control, dominate, manipulate or bring harm to anyone?” (Barrett, 2010, p. 52). Again, this can be used to inform each of us about how we are participating in creating changes we want in our lives, especially in terms of this discussion when the changes involve nature and/or animals, domestic or wild. We need to remember that actions involving wellbecoming for the environment are actions involving wellbecoming for the human being, and vice versa.

Theory of Pandimensional Awareness-Integral Presence

Rogers (1992) noted that “each human field pattern is unique and is integral with its own environmental field pattern” (p. 30) and “not only is field pattern diversity relative for any given individual, but there is also a marked increase in diversity between individuals” (p. 31).

As each human-environment field process is unique, so too is its wave frequency patterning, which also changes continuously.

Rogers’ theory of the emergence of paranormal phenomena suggested that experiences commonly labelled paranormal are actually experiences of pandimensional awareness, manifesting innovative, increasingly diverse, and even visionary beyond waking potentials in field patterning. They include meditation, Therapeutic Touch, what are commonly called psychic phenomena, and nonlocal communication. Phillips (2019) specifically tied nonlocal communication to awareness in Barrett’s theory, which also holds true for other forms of pandimensional awareness.

Phillips (2016) introduced a new theory to further understanding of pandimensional awareness and what he has called integral presence, a pandimensional experiencing and perceiving of the integrality of human and environment. “The theory of pandimensional awareness-integral presence opens perception-experience of visible-invisible phenomena of the universe energyspirit for living and transcending” (italics in the original) (Phillips, 2016, p. 44). Earlier he had proposed the idea of energyspirit as the unifying force with which the universe began, one that is manifesting in all living beings (Phillips, 2015). He noted that Rogers’ principles of homeodynamics and theory of the manifestations of patterning can be used to assist people in both understanding and participating in ways to change their awareness and presence using unitary patterning processes (Phillips, 2016). This also means participating in wellbecoming through all manifestations of changing patterning, gaining insights into “new dimensions of awareness of the integrality of people and environment” (Phillips, 2015, p. 45).

Pandimensional awareness-integral presence involves changes in wave frequency diversity that varies for each human-environment field process. Overall, however, Rogers’ principles of homeodynamics and manifestations of change suggest a process of increasingly higher wave frequency diversity, which Phillips (2017) viewed as related “to how one perceives experiences visible-invisible phenomena” (p. 224). These changes also expand pandimensional awareness-integral presence for wellbecoming (Phillips, 2019).

Both nature and animals have much to teach about both human-environment mutual process and pandimensional awareness-integral presence. From personal experience living with cats, I would also suggest that power is not only a human capacity. Cats have their own power as knowing participation in change. They are aware, they make choices, and they feel free to participate in creating change in their lives and simultaneously the lives of their human companions, a mutual process. They have their own energyspirit and often seem to be experiencing their own pandimensional awareness.

Communicating with cats is possible using both visual imagery and words. I find the more I talk to them, the more they seem to understand. In turn, they communicate with distinctive meows and purrs. The latter can be a sign of contentment but also of pain or some other form of distress. Meows vary among cats, seeming to be a form of personal communication. Researchers such as phonetics experts at Lund University in Sweden are currently studying forms of feline communication (Louv, 2019).

One of many personal examples is the following. I was in the backyard with one of my cats when she broke away from me to chase a squirrel up a tree that was actually in the neighbor’s yard leaning against the fence. Up is easier for cats than down because of the curve of their claws, and not many cats seem to know that to come down means going backwards. Willow started crying once she realized her predicament and started walking the wrong way along a lone branch that would soon break under her weight. I stood at the base of the tree on my side of the fence, talking aloud mostly to calm myself but simultaneously forming images in my mind for her of how she needed to proceed. First was getting her back toward the trunk, then coming the other way around the tree where she could jump a short distance to the branch below, make a couple more downward jumps, then hold onto the trunk so I could reach up and grab her. She executed the steps flawlessly as I imaged them and was soon back on the ground, a manifestation of pandimensional awareness and integrality for us and only one of many over the years. It is also a manifestation of Phillips’ (2017) integral presence, “perceiving-experiencing of the integrality of humans and the environment” and of both “visible-invisible phenomena of the universe energyspirit for living and transcending” (p. 224).

Engaging with animals and nature from the perspective of living power-as-freedom provides examples of transcendent, beautiful, awe-inspiring experiences, experiences that fit Rogers’ (1992) manifestations of timelessness, visionary, and beyond waking diversity in field patterning and Phillips’ integral presence. All life forms are energy fields and communicate energetically. As Phillips (2017) noted, “everything communicates through wave frequencies” (p. 225). Pandimensional awareness-integral presence explains nonlocal communication, and this certainly applies to animals and nature. I often know when one of the feral cats I feed is in the backyard, waiting for food. I have multiple cats, and when on an errand outside of home, I will often know there is a particular cat I need to attend to when I return home. On walks in the woods, I often feel called to a particular tree. Just hugging the tree or sitting against it enhances awareness of myself and my surroundings, where I feel a sense of unity with everything around me, a boundaryless and timeless way of experiencing. I will often do a Therapeutic Touch treatment with a tree, as with my cats. As Phillips (2017) said, “wellbecoming involves pandimensional awareness” and is “participating in one’s changing pattern and its manifestations for the betterment of rhythms of living” (p. 224). As human and environment energy fields are integral, one unitary whole, this is wellbecoming for both person and environment, as patterning occurs for both simultaneously.

Conclusion

The purpose of this discussion has been to sharpen focus on the environmental field, distinct but not separate from the human field, to encourage recognition that both the environment and the human being are essential in discussions of wellbecoming. In a world where so many choices and actions globally seem to reflect power-as-control rather than power-as-freedom, one wonders whether the COVID-19 virus could have the global impact it has if people’s awareness and choices reflected equal consideration for both fields, for total human-environment wellbecoming.

The nature of awareness is tied to the types of choices people make, as is the degree to which they feel free to make their choices and the ways they become involved in creating their chosen changes. The hope is that this process reflects equally knowing participation for the environment as well as for the human being. Anything else is an artificial separation.

Nature and animal companions have much to teach about pandimensional awareness and integral presence. They deserve to be valued and tended with loving care, so the integral rhythmic human-environment mutual process can be as harmonious as possible while moving through accelerating change. The new visions Rogers (1992) spoke of, the imagination and courage to take risks with compassion and humor, apply equally in envisioning change for person with environment.