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Nisha Mary Poulose, Executive Director of Regenerative Rising, discusses the deep consciousness of our natural, living planet as well-spring of inspiration for an emerging form of leadership and systems design in a world in need of healing. Although we are all part of nature, we also are affected by our shared cultural and economic histories that have engendered a profound disconnection from Mother Earth. Through Regenerative Rising, Nisha and hundreds of other women leaders are healing this deep wound and are creating new systems and modalities to bring balance into our present reality. This process invites us to experiences that are markedly different from the narrow “logic” of main-stream society… and may well be essential to understanding and healing ourselves, our communities, and our shared global systems of human activity.
Nisha speaks about befriending nature – cultivating a deep, intimate relationship with the non-human living creatures and environments surrounding us all. She talks about the importance of embracing the mysteries and “secrets” of Nature, of cultivating kinship with her, and of carrying the messages and insights from her realm into our human-designed and human-constructed edifices, both literal and metaphorical.
ABOUT REGENERATIVE RISING
Regenerative Rising is a global network of change-makers. From food systems and economic systems to built environments and community settings, Regenerative Rising’s impact crosses ethnic, geographic, socio-economic, and cultural boundaries. By cultivating agility, adaptability, and reintegration, the organization is a vessel for deep systemic change that is restoring the power of the archetypal feminine into our human experience.
ABOUT NISHA MARY POULOSE
Nisha Mary Poulose is the Executive Director of Regenerative Rising- a 100% women-led organization, devoted to elevating and forwarding regenerative principles that expand the capability of people to lead from a living systems worldview. She is an award-winning architect and regional planner, whose career at the confluence of human habitat, planning, and the environment now spans 15 years and 4 countries. Her regenerative focus has been the guiding force behind her work, as is the deep bond she shares with nature.
In 2015 she won an award from the Prime Minister of India for her ideas on how Smart Cities in India can solve critical problems. She founded a multi-disciplinary spatial planning+design firm in India, is a part of the South Asia Bioregionalism Working Group, and co-led a research project that produced a bioregional map of India. She is also a co-convener for the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which she supports with strategic visions and action plans for integrated regional development to preserve human and natural heritage, with regenerative livelihoods and native wisdom at the center.
Nisha studied architecture in India before being selected for the Erasmus Mundus Program in Europe where she gained two advanced degrees: MSc. International Cooperation in Urban Development and MSc. Urbanism, Habitat and International Cooperation.
Nisha grew up in Kottayam, a small town in Kerala, the South-Western coastal State in India known for its matrilineal cultural heritage and abundant tropical biodiversity. Her relationship with nature is one that she cultivated in her childhood and that continues to inform her thoughts and actions. She relaxes by hiking, solving jigsaw puzzles, and sneaking away with her cat Cleo to finish a book.
RESOURCES & RELATED EPISODES
Website: www.regenerativerising.org
Instagram handles: https://www.instagram.com/nishamarypoulose/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regen_rising/?next=%2F
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishamarypoulose/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/regenerative-rising/
Webpage of Regenerative Earth Summit: https://regenerativerising.org/regenerative-earth-summit-2023/
Episode 123 – Marissa Pulaski, Co-Founder, Drylands Agroecology Research & Folk Farm School
Episode 114 – Elizabeth Whitlow, Executive Director, Regenerative Organic Alliance
Episode 110 – Brigitte Mars, Cannabis as (Feminine) the Tree of Life
Episode 64 – Bethany Yarrow, Sacred Sound & Sacred Water
Episode 58 – Sarah Drew, Author, Gaia Codex
Episode 50 – Dr. Anita Sanchez, Women’s Voices, Indigenous Wisdom & the Sacred Hoop of Life
Episode 32 – Lila Sophia Tresemer, Co-Founder, The Star House Temple
Transcript
(Automatically generated transcript for search engine optimization and reference purposes – grammatical and spelling errors may exist.)
Welcome to the YonEarth Community Podcast. I’m your host, Aaron William Perry. And today,
we’re visiting with Nisha Mary Poulose, the Executive Director of Regenerative Rising.
Hey Nisha. Hey Aaron, so let’s be here. Yeah, it’s great to visit with you and I’m so glad
we could catch you in person while you’re visiting here in Colorado instead of being over in India,
in which case we would have had to zoom together. Yes, absolutely. I’m just so grateful and odd at the
way we met and that this whole thing materialized. I’m so grateful and it’s so exciting to do this
in person. Yeah, absolutely. And a huge thanks and shout out to Ardom and Ignacio and Jordan and
all our friends at Earth Coast Productions who essentially facilitated us meeting. We’ll mention
Earth Coast again a little later on. Nisha Mary Poulose is the Executive Director of Regenerative
Rising, a 100% women led organization devoted to elevating and forwarding regenerative principles
that expand the capability of people to lead from a living systems worldview. She is an award-winning
architect and regional planner whose career at the confluence of human habitat planning and the
environment now spans 15 years and four countries. Her regenerative focus has been the guiding force
behind her work as is the deep bond she shares with nature. She’s also the founder of woven design
collaborative, a spatial design and planning firm which we’ll talk about. And in 2015 she won
an award from the Prime Minister of India for her ideas on how smart cities in that country
can solve critical problems. She founded a multidisciplinary spatial planning and design firm in India which
we mentioned and is part of the South Asia Bio-regionalism Working Group and co-led a research project
that produced a bio-regional map of India. She is also a co-convener for the Indian National Trust
for Art and Cultural Heritage, whom she supports with strategic visions and action plans for
integrated regional development to preserve human and natural heritage with regenerative
livelihoods and native wisdom at the center. She did her architecture in India before being selected
for Arasmus Mundus Program in Europe where she gained two advanced degrees, a master in science,
international cooperation in urban development and a master of science, urbanism, habitat,
and international cooperation. She grew up in Cauchyam, a small town in Kerala, the
southwestern coastal state in India known for its natural and cultural heritage and abundant
tropical biodiversity which we’re going to talk about as well. And Nisham, just I’m so thrilled
that we have this opportunity to visit in person and it’s amazing to me that you’re now in a new
position of leadership for regenerative rising which has already been doing so much wonderful work
here in Colorado and more broadly. And maybe to kick things off you could just share with us a bit
about what regenerative rising is up to and what you’re in your new role of executive director
what you’re doing and planning for the organization. Yeah absolutely thank you. Yeah it’s been such an
exciting journey for me especially this last year or exploring this new sort of culture escape
and landscape and conversations and perspectives about regeneration. And as a new executive director
of regenerative rising I have had I’ve been now here in the US for a month and a half. It started
with the Expo West which was an experience and incredible because I met so many people who I’ve
just been seeing on Zoom all this while and make so many connections. Yeah what we we have a lot
of things planned for the year it’s all exciting. I’m really embracing this this bridging of the
world in a you know in a way for me because from where I’m coming from and what’s going on in the US
and to be part of this movement and have all these allies and I must say that the regenerative
community and all the allies are so kind and warm and open and that’s just it’s so great to be
part of it. That’s so wonderful yeah I love focusing on the theme of kindness and coming from the
heart with all that we’re doing and you and I were chatting before the recording about the
importance of that perhaps non-linear and not necessarily like pure logical orientation when we’re
moving from the heart when we’re collaborating from the heart and and perhaps even opening
ourselves for inspiration from nature regarding the regenerative work we’re being called to do and
of course the the logic the rational the plans the tools the nuts and bolts these are all very
important but it’s it’s not all about that only right yeah yeah I mean so we mentioned living
systems worldview right and that I think is where where I meet the organizations in in the way we
embody this movement for ourselves so it’s what I’m speaking of a living systems worldview it’s
basically living systems are so deeply interlinked it’s such a such a big part of the consciousness of
the planet that and it’s a link to the consciousness of every being within it and I really choose to
use the word being instead of like living things because you know what living has also been sort of
specifically defined but everything has life all our beings like the mountains and so that is a
big part of how when we’re talking about complexity as as a species that is part of this planet
we also have access to the consciousness of the planet and that’s something I really believe in
and over the last few hundreds of years I think the systems we set up across the world have broken
a lot of these connections and it’s really interesting to me to observe how sometimes we’re trying
to solve these very heart and consciousness related problems in a very logical way and like you’re
saying yeah absolutely we need all these tools and it’s a big part of it but we also need this because
otherwise the logic and the intellectual aspect of it is not really meeting the heart of the matter
and when we’re saying living systems worldview and regeneration these are the two things that
suddenly deal with the mindset in a way of inhabiting this planet.
I absolutely love this wisdom and actually it’s one of the core themes woven into my new novel
Verita switch I was sharing about with you recently and that deep connection of the
I like to call it AI the authentic intelligence of nature and as leaders as executives as
organizational leaders for me personally it feels increasingly imperative that we’re personally
connecting with nature on a on a deep and regular basis and I’m curious what that looks like for
you knowing that that’s that’s been a really important part of your experience since you were a
kid what does that look like and how do you weave that in with all the busy goings on responsibilities
you have as an executive director. Yeah well then thank you for that question it’s a very interesting
thing for me to talk about so you know I grew up in the southwestern coast of India in a small
town but which was rich in biodiversity it’s it’s tropical and it’s abundant and I spent a lot
of time in my childhood really connecting with nature like I spent my time sitting on a drop of
trees and you know like doing really strange things like running through the rocks and that was
really a big part of playtime and entertainment and also things like processing things that you
process with a teenager or a young person I was really closely had a relationship with nature and
I always I always feel I’m protected by nature and that’s what gives me a lot of courage to do a
lot of things that I know that I’m protected and what that protection means is not the same as what
protection probably means in mainstream the way we think of it but I just feel like nature is on my
side it’s a it’s a way I really connect with the earth and a lot of my work is really very technical
and scientific so to speak you know we’re like we’re doing strategic plans or we’re thinking of
the vision we’re finding a conference and all of this has a lot of you know we’re really fitting
into the the system and trying to do certain things like but then I keep connecting back in these
ways in small ways where when I when I get stuck where you know like we were saying the logic is
not meeting the needs of the heart and then there’s that disconnect these are the ways I really kind
of bring myself to go to to embrace things I don’t understand and I think that’s been my biggest
learning from nature that we don’t need to understand everything we don’t need to know every secret
some secrets are not meant for us and there’s so much power in just being able to be comfortable
with not knowing what’s going to happen or not knowing how something works and I think
for me when I go into that space in my mind I’m able to intuitively
react to certain things in other parts of my life and that’s and that’s I think that’s something
that I’ve learned over the years of grounding myself and I’m sure everybody has their own way
but that’s my way of using my this I think at the end of the day boils down to this that I have
this faith that nature is my friend and I’m protected and that really helps me do things
more bravely show up in different ways explore new things take different risks and also keep grounded
obviously I have to love this and I’m just jotting a few quick notes down and I want to go
out on a bit of a limb here because what you’re speaking to resonates with me in such a
profound way going back you know to my early childhood and experiences I had in the woods
in the Pacific Northwest and I’ve since I can remember have felt being in nature is a place of
comfort and security and almost instantly even if I’m dealing with something extremely stressful
when I step out to the woods or go somewhere where it’s not buildings but natural vista that I can
look at I notice that stress dissolves and a certain set of intuitive insights and quiet
quieting of the mind and other things just happen and I’m really struck it seems to me that a lot
of the folks who have gravitated thus far to the regeneration movement as it’s emerging world-wide
one way or another have this intimate connection with nature and I have plenty of other friends
and colleagues who would not necessarily describe nature as a place of comfort and safety and protection
in fact some of my friends would say that they don’t feel safe in nature and so I’m wondering like
at a deeper sort of psychological or maybe even psychospiritual level in a lot of scholars have
spoken about nature deficit disorder and the eco psychology movement has been really important these
last 20 years and I’m curious if there’s something that can be cultivated and for many of us the
blessing of this in childhood is a beautiful thing to be grateful for but maybe for others there’s
a way we can help cultivate this sense of connectivity that I think opens us up to something in the way
of solutions and what’s possible and what’s real here on planet earth that isn’t necessarily
otherwise that apparent to people thank you for sharing that story from your life and your
childhood to me it’s just so beautiful you know as you were saying this I was thinking I think
I think there is a kinship that we’re developing with nature and if we have to do this work that we’re
doing at whichever capacity it’s a big burden in some ways it’s a heavy load to carry and I think
that kinship isn’t sharing that burden with nature and I think maybe that’s where you’re saying
your stress is dissolving and I feel that too it’s like okay you’re not alone in this it’s not a small
community there is this planet supporting it and that’s really I think I think and I’m sure you
relate to this when we’re talking about when I’m talking about like being close to nature I have a
help I’m scared of it as far as healthy respect for it right like you know there are insects
that can bite you but I think the the big component of that relationship is to be aware to observe
to understand boundaries and that’s the same way you know we cultivate human relationships you have
to have boundaries you have to have healthy boundaries you have to understand where the other person
is coming from and that’s the I look at nature like that as as an as a being I’m connecting with
how do I maintain those boundaries so that we can support each other but also how do we share
this burden and that’s to me a way of thinking that maybe can be a pathway towards building
this connection when you and again I think that’s where a lot of practices like spiritual practices
whatever type of meditative practices grounding practices the entire diversity of those practices
also help because when you’re in that space you you you are able to connect and we’re you know
I mean and you mentioned your book and that’s so exciting I can’t wait to read it um but we’re
talking about you know intelligence intelligence and we’re talking the world is talking about
artificial intelligence and so exciting for most people but then I think when you start if
if something like technology can have that intelligence the odd can have that intelligence and more
in school it’s deeper it has seen beings that we we don’t even know whether we we don’t even know
what beings existed right like we have some records but there’s so much history so much knowledge
so much wisdom so I think that that relationship is exciting and and the idea is like tapping
into that consciousness um which is basically you have to go into your own uh heart or your inner
sort of voice and and then that that connection is there it’s already there we we don’t have to
invent it or discover it it’s there and it’s just about being having the faith I think that it’s
there um and seeing what like people people I feel like everybody has their own way of connecting
with nature like for some people through the seeds through the mountains through insects it can
be through your pets um whichever way that as as you find it that’s the way you just have to have
that faith that even if you don’t understand the sentience of this being it’s still there we’ve
just not figured out a way to understand it yet that’s so beautiful yeah
hmm hey yeah this is uh got my heart singing right now and I love it I really appreciate the
wisdom that you’re that you’re sharing I’m curious um if you’re in in the the facilitation of
design collaborative work or design surets or whatever it might be and you’re sensing that maybe
folks haven’t had that deep connection with nature quite yet and sure I like how you bring it
in pets and some of the other ways we might personally relate to this uh I’m wondering do you have any
you know practices or offerings or or invitations trail heads that you provide folks to kind of
step in that direction the one you know from from my experience in different parts of my life
different things of what yeah so um I actively sort of embrace this idea that there is no
one to the one pathway and that it’s very personal um and for me and as you’re sharing with you it came
from childhood experiences and and I think I’m so grateful that for me that was that was what I had
access to as a child um but depending on where you are in your life right and what is around you um I
think that pathway could be really really personal and really specific but for me what is really
worked is observation and not just going into the wild and sitting there observing because then it
can get overwhelming but like just using just sort of projecting ideas like you know like how
you how people do how you do people watching right like you go to the mall and what other people
and you’re like oh I wonder if they’re having a fight or I think if you use that same energy and
you watch nature like I wonder what those words are doing you know and that’s a way for us to connect
I mean not about projecting our thoughts and emotions onto that like to be aware of that you know
but it’s I really find and that’s something again that I did as a family my dad family were all like
that we really we name everything um and then we talk about it and we have stories around it and
sometimes we don’t even know the same word that’s coming every day but then there’s a whole story
that you’re leaving around it but that really enables you to connect you know and uh and I just
want to say that it’s not about putting human uh tendencies and emotions into that it’s just
about just you I mean when you’re doing people watching and I’m all you know that it’s your story
that you’re projecting on someone else and you’re doing something fun and killing time or whatever
but I think that’s similar practices really help help kind of understand uh the sentience that is
out there when I love that it evokes the sense of playfulness right and and I think so often
especially when we’re deep in the technical side of some of these issues that were engaged in
that that playfulness can depart for a little while and and I think consciously bringing that back
to the fore is brilliant right yeah yeah yeah yeah I mean like I was saying it sometimes the burden
is a lot which I mean you try to solve a planetary level problem and as individuals or even as
communities so you know your locus of control is not that much actually we’re up against a lot of
forces um of power and money and reach which you know actually we’re not even fully aware of right
but I think that’s where the practice of sharing with nature really helps you know
then you suddenly like it’s not just my burden to carry like and it’s not just for me to know
everything right and it’s to be comfortable okay I don’t know how to solve this and and then hand
that over and say help me I do that like when I’m overwhelmed I always say that just help me
like I’m doing this I’m doing the best I can but I need help and it comes it comes in different
way he’s like it comes in kindness from a stranger it comes like seeing a cat like for me that’s
that’s the part of my thing what I like see or seen a squirrel and sometimes it could be just
mean to bring whatever I want to do but it appears and and that sharing of this burden really really
enables me to stay grounded that’s a beautiful and so powerful I uh often tell folks
when they ask who do you work for or whatever I say I work for mother earth actually and I’ve
felt this way a very long time and and yeah she uh I think she’s happy that more and more of us
are responding to this call to work in service to the regeneration the healing the stewardship
the care of the people of all these various creatures and beings and I love your use of the term
being I think that’s one I’m probably going to carry forward and share with others uh down the road
yeah yeah I’m so glad that it resonates and uh yeah yeah listen I want to ask you too you know maybe
for some of our audience um the idea the word the concept of regeneration is a bit newer and I’d
love to hear you know you describe what it what it means for you in the context of the work you’re
doing especially with regenerative rising and also if you would share a bit with us about what
the organization is doing you know in the next nine months and how you guys are uh helping to
facilitate and activate this thing that’s emerging yeah yes absolutely I’m excited to do say that
well you know regeneration it’s you’re right it’s the word is getting a lot of attention and
prominence um today and um I like to keep it for myself as well to keep going back to what is the
real intent behind the word because it’s a word and uh it’s an English word uh so it’s it’s
meaningless actually the word itself to the majority of people in the world actually but
but there is a lot of importance attached to the word so I like to go beyond the word
and I am and for myself I keep reminding myself that the intention is what we really need to hold on
to um and regenerate like in in the in the definition of it like regeneration is basically
the it’s a natural process it does all of the other self and ourselves regenerate you know um and
and if you if you just like type in regeneration it actually leads you to the medical world
which talks about like how to regenerate organs and stuff right so basically I mean
regeneration is in a way in a house how a being or part of it uh comes back to its full functional
capacity right and it’s true purpose but it need not look the exact same as it did before
equal systems regenerate um rivers forest uh you know regeneration is really a part of nature
and indigenous communities and ancient communities across the world really really understand
that this is a part of of life and we have a role to play in that right uh so so that
when we’re talking about regeneration in this context um it’s about looking at the system as a whole
and it’s today that system is removed from the natural system there is a human system
which is built at the attempt to dominate and then there’s thrust upon it right so when we’re talking
about regeneration we’re talking about how can there be reconciliation healing and I know that
healing is a word that is close to you as well um it’s about reintegration right and so when
we’re looking at the larger system and thinking what is the true purpose of it and how does it all
come back together to embody and fulfill that entire function purpose so you know and and we can
talk about it in different ways like this economic regeneration and we’re talking about regenerative
work environments uh regenerative food systems uh and all of this really means uh what is
the entire what is the full capacity and capability of the system and how do we as humans
still adapt back into its full glory to service fees right and and um they could
depending on the region depending on the people depending on the uh context the climate the
the history regeneration could mean different things um in in terms of what the actual steps are
and that is something that i have i am observing that is emerging that there are camps right
we are like what we’re doing we’re doing sustainable we’re doing organic and um and i get that
because there is an entire system of certifications and processes and frameworks and definitions
that are coming into the picture and there is a um if a practical need because again we’re working
with the same system for organizations or people to embrace one particular concept um but i think as
regenerative rising what we want to encourage is that we come together and hold the intentionality
what we’re calling it you know what you want to call it regenerative you want to call it something
else is the purpose of the work to to be more eccentric is to support life is it to support
health of systems including human communities um so whichever whichever level you are in that
process whichever step you are at whichever angle which is your point of entry all of that only
means we need to come together and work together because that’s on each of us there are different
ways there are different ways that things fit together and then it just and that’s complexity right
so um and what we’re you know and this is something that we want to integrate into our conference
which is coming up in uh in november so on eighth and ninth of november we have the regenerative
summit and this is something that the organization is really known for and is and the RES uh is
really embraced by a lot of organizations who have been part of this movement in different ways
it’s always been a space for collaborations to emerge new imaginations um you know like new
connections and uh this year we are bringing the food and the fashion sectors together
to my favorites yeah yeah and you know both of it is relying on on the earth in different ways
you know and and the idea is to have pre-competitive conversations to de-risk the supply web so to speak
and just to you know take the jargon out of it and speak a little bit more about it
what are we’re dealing with a lot we’re dealing with a system that is degenerative with which is
also is quite powerful and and it is it’s very pervasive um and it’s a it a lot of farming communities
most farming communities i would say are really important today so that’s one big aspect of it
like human well-being then there’s also the well-being of the earth that we have to consider
and there it’s significant amount of work by so many different organizations at doing it
working tirelessly working towards holding this in their own supply chains for the world and
to whatever the focus it all this work is happening but if so the intent intent is there but how do
we bring these same intent but two different processes to come together so we support each other
and we also have to like keep in mind that um this is a time when there is climate change
there is there are weather patterns are changing soil patterns are changing um and even if
we want to be regenerative we have to still accept that there are changes the earth is it
is going through a period of rebalancing so if we are beings we are with adapt and remain a
child so certain the seasons of land which supported a particular type of crop or a particular
fruit or does not support that anymore maybe so how do we stay a child how do we
support everybody across the supply web and that’s something we want to collaborate on at a leadership
level at the summit we also want to speak about you know when going past you know certification
specifications frameworks if I don’t I’m very important very important and coming from very
great places of what it wants to achieve but how do we all talk together about it right depending
on whichever uh whichever corner you’ve chosen and how do you empower your story that’s the
other part that you want to speak about we want to really see how do we look at this true story
of the product and give access to the customer to that story um and that being the way somebody
can make a choice in a supermarket or wherever um so we want to engage with organizations and who
have developed tools or platforms or data sets um everything from AI to um you know like
whatever else is out there And to bring that into the experience of the conference as well, we want to have, so the venue itself we chose is like that where we have spaces where we can maybe set these things up with different, different kind of tools, and we generally have leaders from various organizations, global organizations attending this, and that’s a great time for people to engage with it.
And one of the deeper reasons is also because the regenerative community, just like, you know, 15, 20 years ago, sustainability was the best word.
And this was the same problem at that. There’s a divide, people who are engaging deeply with the earth are not engaging with technology, and that’s a bridging that we also want to do, because AI also needs to have these thoughts into it.
So this is also a way to inform the development of technology. This need is there, and technology will align.
So we’re having these sort of three things we seem kind of diverse, but actually it’s also really, really aligned to come together, and really talk about what does this collaboration look like?
And how do we at this level look at all of these things, access all the tools and information we have to support the well-being of all well-being, human communities, natural, I mean ecosystems, wildlife, all of that, across the supply web.
And it’s not something that one organization can do alone, however much the intention is there, it can only be powerful when we band together and support each other.
I absolutely love this, and I’m so excited, and it’s very much the way the ecosystems function, and it’s as if what I’m gathering, regenerative rising is functioning at least on one level, similarly to how the mycelial networks function in the forest and soil ecology, which is something that why on earth community is also doing it a few others that are in our network and cohort that are sort of organizations of organizations.
And I absolutely love it, and I love the way you’re speaking the wisdom into the space with the technical tools and processes that you’re also offering the community, and I wanted to just mention that, so the conferences in Colorado, right, in November?
Yes, yes, in September, on the 8th and 9th of November, 20th, 23th.
Excellent, yeah, that’s really exciting, and I hope many of our audience will be able to participate and or enjoy some of the outcomes of that gathering.
And I’m really curious, let me just mention this, that folks, if you’d like to get tickets, by the way, you can go to regenerativerising.org, right, you’ll have tickets there.
And while I’m at it, let me also mention that you can find both Nisha and regenerative rising on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Nisha Mary Poulose and regen underscore rising on Instagram and then on LinkedIn, it’s the same for Nisha, Nisha Mary Poulose, and then it’s regenerative dash rising for the handles there.
And yeah, there’s a specific webpage for the regenerative earth summit that will include in the show notes that you can find at regenerativerising.org.
Is there anything you’d like to add to those resources real quick while we’re on that?
No, I mean, that’s our website has all information about tickets and it’s for only in the conference design, but the agendas and speakers and other information we updated.
You can take a look at the previous events, past events, page to see what it has been like. And we’re really happy to collaborate with the people who have intentionality.
And we want a lot of support. We’re looking for a lot of support from communities out there. We’re a nonprofit.
We are actively looking for sponsorships as well. And yeah, we’re in that phase of the organization as well because there was a big transition between Emceiling DRS, who was a founder and executive director, and now I’m the executive director.
And we’re taking this part of our next phase like regenerative rising has always been inclusive of communities from across the world, voices from across the world and even in the US and different cultures and different perspectives.
But in this next phase, we also want to take regenerative rising to other boxes. So we really want that support to be able to do that.
That’s absolutely wonderful. And let me ask this too. If folks want to support financially, can they go to regenerativerising.org and make a donation? Is that one of the ways to help out?
Yeah, or they can write to me. Nisha, I present a rising.org and we can take it from them. But then yes, it’s available on the website as well.
Excellent. Yeah, that’s wonderful. Yeah, I really encourage all of you to consider supporting regenerative rising at some level. And on that note, that’ll be a segue to thank some of our sponsors who make this podcast series possible.
And that includes, of course, Earth Coast productions. And we’ve got behind the camera, we’ve got Ignacio here in the room with us. Shout out to Ignacio and Jordan and Artim and Rachel and others on the team making so much possible with the Yonors community and also many other organizations in the space.
And of course, this is how we met Nisha. So we know that Earth Coast is also doing a lot of work with regenerative rising and want to give a big shout out to Chelsea Green publishers.
We now have a very special partnership with Chelsea Green and are doing a number of episodes interviewing different authors who are focused on issues of regeneration, stewardship, health and wellness.
And as part of this partnership, you can use the code Y-O-E-3-5 to get a 35% discount on any of the books and audio book offerings that you’ll find at Chelsea Green will include the links and so on in the show notes. And you can always go to the Yonors.org website and go to the partners and supporters page to find Chelsea Green and many of our other supporters and partners and get discounts and special.
And wonderful gifts and offerings for many of them. So Chelsea Green, that’s great. Also, Weylay Waters, the regeneratively and biodynamically grown hemp infused aroma therapy soaking salts.
This is one of the social enterprises we stood up through the Yonors community. All the proceeds go to the nonprofit.
Of course, Dr. Bronners, who are doing so much in the regenerative space globally and now have chocolate and addition to soaps and other offerings.
And if you’re interested, you can join the Weylay Earth communities ambassador network, which is growing in worldwide community impact ambassadors. We call it and so you too can join the CIA if you’re interested.
And yeah, we have many of our ambassadors and other supporting the Weylay Earth community through our monthly giving program.
And if you haven’t yet joined that and you’d like to, you can go to Weylay Earth.org, click on the supporter donate page and set it up at whatever level works well for you.
If you choose to give it the $33 level or greater, we’ll send you one or more jars of the Weylay Waters soaking salts each month.
So not only is that a great way to thank you for your support and to help out with the podcast series and everything else that we’re doing.
It’s also a wonderful way to get into practice of even greater self-care habituation with those folks. They’re amazing for our mind body and spirit.
And so yeah, we’ve got so many other wonderful supporters and collaborators you can check out on the website.
And I wanted to ask too because I noticed that with regenerative rising, one of the things you guys talk about in features that it is a 100% women led organization, which to me is really quite interesting.
And I’m absolutely convinced that archetypal speaking, the emergence and rebalancing with the divine feminine and with women’s roles in our communities, our families, our society and our planet is really important in this emerging movement.
And of course, indigenous traditions are a variety of mechanisms and cultural patterns that have had virtually all of our backgrounds engaged in a balanced format between the male and the female.
And that’s one of the things that’s been substantially disrupted over the last several hundred years and even several thousand years depending on how we’re looking at it.
And I’m just curious if you might share with us a bit about what that means, why that’s important, how that affects your work, your approach to networking and collaborating, what does it mean within the organization that it’s 100% women led?
Yeah, I mean, what are I kind of small organization? And so it was set up as, you know, set up by women, Celine Diaris, who’s our founder, with a completely women board.
And it was for essentially, this is one of the intents, to bring the power of the feminine back into this conversation, back into the system.
Because if we want to change, that we want to see, we need to come back with ways of balancing the system, right?
A lot of the systems today are heavily patriarchal, it is a reason why it is like that.
And every human being has the feminine and the masculine in it, but our system is really oriented to empower and support and sort of forward masculinity only.
And that’s something that as an organization and as a mission that we want to be balanced.
So we, as part of the organization and our processes, it’s, it’s were really about bringing the feminine, right, about seeing that that side of things.
And when we’re talking about things like reconnecting at a consciousness level with nature, there is a lot of feminine in that.
When we’re talking about mother earth, we’re talking about Gaia, however you want to phrase it, it is really the feminine.
And so the system that we’re seeing today, which is, which is really destroying the earth, it really makes sense, right?
If you’re just women are being oppressed and suppressed and like abused across the world and then nature, which even the patriarchal system continues to embody as a woman is also being oppressed and extracted and exploited.
So we just believe that we, we, we want to rebalance it. We have to rebalance the masculine and the feminine.
And that’s why we’ve, we embrace the 100% women led as a part of the ethos of the organization.
And, you know, I mean, I just want to, I come from a culture which is extremely matrilineal, actually.
Although today is the age where no less patriarchal than anybody else, but that region is really known for its matrilineal way of including ancestry and, you know, like inheritance.
All of that is very matrilineal. So for me as well, I really believe in the rebalancing.
And I just want to add that rebalancing does not mean having to take men out of the picture, right? It’s not at all.
Oh, thank goodness.
Yeah. And it’s, it’s, it is about the balance, right?
Right. And right now we’re in a place where it’s in balance. So we need to elevate women to a point where there is balance.
But it’s embracing the masculinity and the femininity within ourselves.
And only then we can, we want to regenerate the earth, we have to start regenerating ourselves as community.
And that’s the really the importance of being 100% women led at this point.
Yeah. Absolutely. Love this. Yeah. And I think as I shared before the recording, I’m part Mohawk in my own personal ancestral lineage makeup.
And that is also a matrilineal culture. And many of my friends and relatives, our age, mothers and grandmothers carry the responsibility of the divine feminine.
And there’s a grandmother’s council that actually inspired Ben Franklin and others in the framing of this country.
And some of the functions we have even in our constitutional system as patriarchal as it has obviously been for the last 200 plus years.
And yeah, here at the Y on earth community, one of the things we’ve done is kind of quietly planted the seeds to launch a Sophia wisdom council and grandmother’s council.
So it doesn’t have to be grandmother’s per se women. And maybe we can chat a bit in our behind the scenes segment, which will record after our main podcast episode and distribute with our ambassador network.
Maybe we can chat a bit about recruiting you to join our Sophia council because I think it’s such an important in our systems design.
It’s such an important function. And I don’t think there’s a substitute or an analog that is appropriate other than having councils of women ensuring certain types of decision making and approaches and energetics are incorporated into any of these systems.
And so it really resonates with me what you’re describing. And of course as a man, it’s like, well, what does that mean for the guys?
And guys are in various stages of embracing their divine feminine and tuning into this rebalancing work.
And I’m curious. I just want to ask for you when you’re collaborating. Do you find that there’s a different energetic when you’re collaborating with men versus women? Is that sort of a generalization you would make?
But our concept, for example, the vision of that summit, or we work closely with the coast team.
There is a lot of masculine masculinity in part of our work as well because it’s not that we’re only working with women.
It’s just that the leadership level of the organization would be collaborate extensively with all genders. And the idea of, and that’s why I was saying that I know I really see that there is this threat that men are feeling.
And honestly, it is as there are men who are the men who are really embracing their own femininity are also feeling this threat because all of these accusations of patriarchy then don’t sit well with people who have not been actually patriarchal.
But the point of it is not really to exclude anybody. We don’t want to system where we’re like going from patriarchy dominance to patriarchy dominance, whatever that looks like.
That’s not all the idea. The idea is that everyone’s part of the conversation. But we really bring the feminine as well into the conversation.
And on a specific basis, yeah, sure. I think there are differences in conversations. And I wouldn’t say one is better than the other. It’s different.
But the funnest, I can say, the easiest is when there is balance. When there’s different genders around the table of the conversations, collaborations, all of it is just so much easier.
There are so many meeting points, right? Like when there’s different levels of masculinity and femininity from different people coming to the table.
And that is really so. That’s where I think the collective strength of the conversation really makes a difference.
We’re doing some collaborative work right now with the Lysiel Foundation out of Europe. And they’re very deliberate in structuring teams and cohorts and balances with men and women.
It’s really interesting and quite lovely when it shows up in that way, kind of in that context.
I totally enjoy these diverse conversations. First of all, it’s just better for your own mental health to just be in more accepting sort of spaces.
And I think bringing different genders and the masculine and the feminine together is really, really important because it also gives us practice, right?
It’s really hard to go from one system to another system and you don’t know how to behave, right?
I mean, sometimes you have to figure it out and what better way to do it than working together in safe sort of cohorts like that, right?
And I think it’s about practice as well. I mean, I have worked in extraordinarily male-dominated fields.
And the difference is not about whether it’s a man or a woman in the room, it’s about what is that level of patriarchy that is entering that room.
And that’s where the difference in that collaboration happens when women can also be patriarchy.
So it’s really about what are the different ways in which we can bring balance.
Thank you. I really appreciate that part of our conversation. And, you know, I know we’ve been talking for a while and you’ve actually been recording for days, a bunch of content and material.
And I don’t want to take up too much of your time. And of course, we’re going to do our behind-the-scenes segment. But I definitely want to ask you because I would be remiss if I didn’t.
And with respect to your architecture, planning, design, background, and expertise, you’re amazing. You’re a big deal.
And you’ve got so much to share an offer in that regard. And I’m hoping in, you know, relatively concise manner, you might share with us about your design expertise and how you bring to the table certain genius and insight and know how and methodology.
For these various design, you know, projects, if we call it that, tell us about that aspect of yourself.
Thank you. Thank you for that. That’s really good. You have to say all that.
Yeah, I mean, it is a big part of me. And I have gone through this processes where I’ve distanced myself from architecture.
And, you know, but then I am an architect. I can’t change that. You know, I’ve done that. But I look at it from a human settlement point of view.
And, you know, and I’ve really repositioned the way I speak about it as human habitat.
Because I think that is the missing piece. We’re talking about shelter and shelter technically means that you’re in danger and you need something to protect you.
And I think that’s something to think about, right? Like, are we so removed from the planet that we’re born in that we need to shelter ourselves all the time?
Or are we building a habitat for ourselves? Are we, or not building? Are we, are we joining in to create habitat for ourselves? Right?
And that is my entry point into the world of planning and architecture and design to see how, how do we make our spaces more livable?
And it’s, you know, when I say it, it feels like a ridiculous thing to be working out like this. We are living. Why is it not livable? But it’s not.
We’re, we build spaces which are not natural. And when I say we’re not natural, it’s because it’s not our natural habitat.
So our needs are not being met. We might think it’s being met, but it’s not being met. You need for recreation is not being met.
You need for access to fresh air access to good food. None of that is being met.
And so the way in which I have worked is to see, look at land, because it’s, my work is mostly been land-based.
You look at land and you look at what do we need to live on this land to make this our habitat? And what do we have to get back? Right?
So my projects have been anywhere between two to three acres, 10,000, 20,000 or more like city, city region scales as well.
And to think of how do we bring nature ecosystems, nature based infrastructure back into it. And one of my favorite examples is like just to sort of, it’s again simplifying it.
But one of my favorite examples is like we have cities which are completely concrete.
And then we have huge concrete sewers and stormwater drainage systems which take all this water out. And depending on the city, it either throws it into the ocean.
And I’m going to say throw it. I’m using that word intentionally. It’s just like dumped. And that’s our intention behind it. Or it’s mixing with sewage or it’s just like, we don’t know where it’s going.
And actually it’s part of the natural system. Rain is supposed to come to the ground. And nature has a brilliant drainage system.
So when we design our projects to do with cities or neighborhoods, it can just be or individual blocks of land even.
We just have to look at what is the natural drainage pattern right unless you’re living in a lake which we often are.
There is no reason why the water is like flooding every time. Because nature has a drainage pattern and it has an entire system.
What we need to do is figure out how we fit into it. How do we not block those natural drainage systems or if we have to block it.
How do we create alternate pathways. So something I mean, which is it’s a very common concept nowadays, things like soils and rainwater gardens and things like that.
What it does and that’s why complexity comes into the picture. What it really does is it does the same function.
The kind of the simplified function of tracking water off our roads or off our wherever we want water out of.
And you take, you know, allowing that space between dry and what happens to all the water, but in this process it slows it down.
It takes it back into the earth. It allows the flourishing of biodiversity in that space. Therefore it makes it livable.
So we don’t have to have like a dedicated part just so that there are some birds and then we have concrete sewers.
If you integrate all of this and it’s surprisingly easy to do it, it again comes back to mindset shift. It’s significantly cheaper.
Not when you think of it in terms of all the ripple of the salt and build huge tanks. No, that’s again we’re going back into infrastructure here.
When you start thinking of it like and the benefits are not as tangible and measurable, right? Like having birds back into your immediate neighborhood,
having like that kind of flourishing biodiversity, which also cleans the air, it reduces noise.
It just makes your environment more livable again coming back to the idea of meeting the needs of us as human beings in our habitat.
Then maybe you don’t have to go so far away to have a vacation, right? You can save that money if your life is not that stressful in your immediate environment.
So these are the ways in which I bring design and thought processes into it.
My focus on strategic design as well, strategic planning, and that’s to say like what’s going to happen 100 years from now?
We are thinking in terms of five years and 10 years, the earth is thinking in terms of thousands of not millions of years.
We don’t need to again take the burden of thinking of million years ahead, but can we at least think 100 years ahead?
Or leave room for somebody 10 years ahead to plan for the next 10 years. We don’t have to make such immovable plans that 10 years from now,
so when I talk about strategic planning and that’s something I bring.
How do we look at it as the needs of the day, transformation required for the day, how do we build into an organic system,
how do we integrate into a natural system, such that the future generations also have an option of planning of adapting.
And there is enough abundance everywhere, and I’m not simplifying it when I say it, but I really believe it’s much easier than we are making it out of it.
Because when we come in with intentionality, nature meets us, and then it just is exponential the way in which it can really grow.
That’s so exciting and inspiring. Thank you, Nisha. I just want to remind our audience that this is the Y Honors Community Podcast.
I’m your host, Aaron William Perry. Today we’re visiting with Nisha Mary Poulose, the executive director of regenerative rising, and the founder of woven design collaborative.
And Nisha, it’s such a joy to have this opportunity to visit with you. And again, I’m so glad we could do it in person while you’re here in Colorado.
And I wanted to ask just one other question when we’re talking about your childhood experience and being in the woods and the forest.
And we talked prior about the Japanese concept of Shinra and Yoku sitting in one spot forest bathing, and sometimes how it’s translated and observing what’s going on in the forest around us.
I’m curious if you might share with us a bit of what that was like for you as a kid, and also now what that might be like for you as something you intentionally connect with from time to time.
Yeah, I mean, when I say this, I think my parents will be like relating and laughing the most because I suspend all my time on double trees growing up.
And that’s how I was studying because I would take my book and go sit up on top of the tree, and I was multitasking in my mind because I could not study inside a room.
I just could not. And I didn’t have all of this vocabulary, and thankfully I had a family that just let me be.
And if you want to go sit on the tree and study, go sit on the tree and study.
But that was a big part of how I was able to, even today, I cannot work in a room that has no access to nature.
If I have to do my productivity is very less, and I don’t think I’m unique in that, but maybe I’m very aware of that.
So it’s something that I always do when I need to be creative. I have to find a space that is coming from India where it’s kind of hot and the air conditioning is really something that’s taking over the country.
And I cannot tolerate air conditioning spaces, but I can’t breathe in it because all the windows are shut, and the temperature is too consistent.
And some of these things are saying because I’ve thought a lot about it, why can’t I sit in air conditioning space?
Because I feel like I need that temperature variation of, it’s not one standardized temperature for like 16 hours.
But so these are things that I have thought a lot about what I need to be creative, what I need to be well, and it’s really hard sometimes to find it.
And I think though what I wanted to share is maybe that I was living in a city for a really long time. When I moved to that city, it was a really green city.
It was a beautiful city. It’s so beautiful.
But at some point, I started feeling so claustrophobic, I was not able to function, and I didn’t realize why.
And well, serious things happened, which was not really planned. And somehow I ended up moving from the city to a rural part of the country, which is coastal and tropical.
And my mind just flipped, and I was like, oh my god, for 15 years, I didn’t have this access to nature that I did growing up, and that’s what’s been missing in my life.
I forgot that this was, this was, you know, because I still was like seeking out spaces like I walked out of a co-working space, which was not a condition, and it had this huge canopy of, you know, which is just under a canopy.
But actually, I actively found homes that had gardens and like old trees, and you know, I did all of that, but still having a little bit of wilderness makes all that of me.
I think I’m just like, I’m still reeling like, oh my god, how did I not realize that’s what is going on, you know, so yeah.
Yeah, I can definitely relate to that personally. Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that mission. Thanks so much for being a guest on our podcast. I’m so thrilled we can share a bit of view in your story and your wisdom with our audience and really look forward to other collaboration in the coming weeks and months and hopefully years.
Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Aaron. It was a very enjoyable conversation, and I’m just, I’m so grateful that you could make this happen in such a, you know, there’s a sharp, sharp time, and it was, I just really enjoyed it. Thank you so much.
And absolutely, I really am excited for all the things that we can do, all the things that we can leave together and for being, just I’m just grateful that we met.
Yeah, likewise, absolutely. Well, thanks and we’ll sign off and say goodbye to everybody.
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