Towards a Planetary Ecotherapeutic Approach: Embodied Art-Based Ethnography and Ecosomatics in a Biodiverse Forest with Ancient Trees in Helsinki

This article applies embodied art-based ethnography to explore how a planetary ecotherapeutic approach is present within material produced via ecosomatics in collaboration with ancient trees. It also asks what kinds of methods this approach offers in response to the ongoing ecological polycrisis. The theoretical framework of the utilised planetary ecotherapeutic approach includes (i) ecotherapeutic self-cultivation and art of loving, (ii) the revitalisation of land and forest relations alongside (micro-level) decolonial practices conceptualised in Indigenous studies, and (iii) research on both planetary health and (iv) ecosomatics. The related research was conducted in a context where the threat of forest destruction is tangible, evoking an atmosphere of ecological grief while also revealing nature’s healing and health-enhancing potential. More specifically, the research took place in the biodiverse Stansvik forest in Helsinki. The fate of Stansvik forest, which includes 400-year-old pines and old oaks, has been disputed for 20 years. The research material was generated by applying ecosomatic practices developed within the field of contemporary dance and by creating small dances together with the ancient trees. Moreover, ethnographic field notes were written, photographs were taken and transformed into photo-paintings, and a tree dress was crafted for the research. In collaboration with the ancient trees, embodied and art-based means of deepening the ecotherapeutic art of loving and multi-species empathy were articulated. A mode of Indigenous-like connection and unity with the forest emerged. This article also analyses the forms of creative imagination and the potential for developing (multi-species) perceptual sensitivity as aspects of ecosomatic practices and dance that are significant in the context of the ecological polycrisis.