The core premise of the thesis is that our global environmental and social crises are of our own making and can only be transformed by us. Therefore it is imperative that humanity finds ways of protecting and sustaining the natural environment for our collective survival. This necessarily depends on human beings� ability to co-exist in harmony with other humans and species and to feel connected to and protect nature. This thesis examines three spiritual or wisdom traditions � Aboriginal spiritualities, the Goddess movement and Tibetan Buddhism, as they relate to Arne Naess�s concept of the �ecological self.� The ecological self is a psychological construct that suggests that human beings can evolve from a narrow egocentric way of being and relating to others, to one that is more open, inclusive of the �other� and where one sees all lives as important. One is ultimately able to embrace the whole earth community, so that nothing is excluded as �other�. This process of increasingly �wide identification� Naess defined to be the process of the development of the ecological self. There is much written about spirituality and the environment but little relevant research that specifically examines spiritual traditions as they relate to the ecological self. The insights of transpersonal psychology elucidate the maturation from ego consciousness to eco-consciousness � a process of progressively inclusive identification with �others�, including the environment. However, transpersonal psychology does not directly �converse� with Naess�s construct of an ecological self. This thesis examines the nexus between Arne Naess�s ecological self, transpersonal psychology and the three spiritual traditions. �Aboriginal spiritualities� refers to Australian Aboriginal spiritualities, unless other wise stated. The literature review covers relevant background to the ecological self in relation to Western science and thought; this includes constructions of self and �other� and story. Literature reviews of the three traditions informed in-depth interviews with five research participants who practise or identify with their particular spiritual tradition. I believe this research will enable the reader to gain an overview of the ecological wisdom of these three spiritual traditions, grounded in the lived experience of practitioners who embody these traditions. Each wisdom tradition has a long history of imparting psychological, social and ecological insights and understandings that are profoundly helpful and relevant to the current period of ecological crisis. The interviews are analysed under the broad conceptual themes of ecology, compassion and story. These traditions will be shown to encourage compassion, connectedness, interdependency and impart ecological wisdom - all vital to the realisation of the �ecological self�. Story, lifelong learning and the ecoeducational model are used as frameworks for examining the educational potential of the spiritual traditions involved. A choice must be made: will we continue to base our knowledges on Western science or will we examine alternate constructions of reality, such as those of the three spiritual traditions examined in this thesis? The three spiritual traditions provide a compassionate and non-violent view of human consciousness with the potential to transform into an ecologically sensitive creative force. This thesis argues that great wisdom is held by these three wisdom traditions in the context of education for sustainability. This thesis examines this context.

This thesis explores the personal and social challenges of teaching yoga in addiction recovery from a social work perspective. It is informed by an action research perspective using interviews and focus groups with yoga teachers and allied health professionals and the personal experiences of the researcher teaching yoga in an addiction recovery centre as well as a literature search on existing yoga and meditation programs used in addiction recovery and corrections. The research explores whether yoga could be applied as a complementary therapy in social work and how yoga assists in addiction recovery. Further it explores what programmatic requirements are needed for a constructive yoga program that addresses the needs of yoga teachers in this field and the participants who are very marginalised. The emerging themes and issues from the data and literature were explored and triangulation was used to draw one conclusion that was found consistently across all research methodologies. This was the importance of Kriya yoga. or the yoga of action, to achieve results with yoga as a complementary therapy. Kriya yoga has three elements: a commitment to regular practice, allowing time to reflect on how this practice is affecting your life and having faith in the yoga process. Undelying this notion of kriya yoga is the importance of the yoga teacher-student relationship and the value of a yoga community that supports the student in their commitment to practice. Recovery from addiction is viewed as a journey involving many stages in which the yoga student deals with relapses. The exemplary yoga programs are forms of karma yoga or the yoga of selfless action. The development of a karma yoga network that forms an on-line bridge between the yoga communities and addiction recovery services is suggested by the research as one way forward in promoting yoga as a complementary therapy in addiction recovery.

This is an autoethnographic account of my 1000km journey across The Camino Via de la Plata, framed within transpersonal theory. From my personal account of a peak experience on The Way, this spiritual inquiry attempts to connect myself and the reader to insights into transformation and living through embodied writing while contributing to the exploration of personal flourishing and growth in leisure studies. This process involved moving into and through Romanyshyn’s (2007) six orphic moments found in re-search processes with soul in mind. I then unfold my journey along the Camino and deepen this inquiry by engaging literature that help to explore spiritual aspects of my journey on the Camino. Leisure inquiry frames this transpersonal peak experience in a number of ways: it is an act of empowerment (Arai, 1997), focal practice (Arai & Pedlar, 2000), resistance (Shaw, 2001, 2007), and an experience of liminality (Cody, 2012) with transformation occurring at the flux of it all.

This is an autoethnographic account of my 1000km journey across The Camino Via de la Plata, framed within transpersonal theory. From my personal account of a peak experience on The Way, this spiritual inquiry attempts to connect myself and the reader to insights into transformation and living through embodied writing while contributing to the exploration of personal flourishing and growth in leisure studies. This process involved moving into and through Romanyshyn’s (2007) six orphic moments found in re-search processes with soul in mind. I then unfold my journey along the Camino and deepen this inquiry by engaging literature that help to explore spiritual aspects of my journey on the Camino. Leisure inquiry frames this transpersonal peak experience in a number of ways: it is an act of empowerment (Arai, 1997), focal practice (Arai & Pedlar, 2000), resistance (Shaw, 2001, 2007), and an experience of liminality (Cody, 2012) with transformation occurring at the flux of it all.

In contemporary transpersonal theory, women‟s experiences of transformation have largely been overlooked. This study seeks to answer the question, what are women‟s lived experiences of the path of transformation through self-other relationships? In setting the stage for the study, the researcher identifies two transpersonal theorists, Wilber and Almaas, and describes their models of consciousness development. She then outlines the feminist critique of existing psychological literature and the need for exclusively female research. Following is an inclusion of themes that have been extracted from the existing literature, themes which represent the biases of the researcher in what she expected to encounter in the current research. Further is a description of existentialism and the role it plays in inviting women to embark on a journey of transformation. The methods employed by the researcher were qualitative phenomenological-hermeneutics. Seven females participated in a three-stage interview process, whereby information was gathered via interviews, then further transcribed and interpreted. This information was then synthesized and presented in a thematic analysis where women‟s experiences were categorized into four separate stages. Finally, the sub-themes of each stage were compared to the stages of development as illustrated by Wilber and Almaas. Ultimately it is concluded that women‟s experiences are highlighted by the relational nature of self-development, and the cyclical process of the journey itself. / ix, 218 leaves ; 29 cm

The topic of my research is the lived experiences of eight psychotherapists and counsellors who consciously work with unusual phenomena as it arises in the therapeutic encounter. Unusual phenomena in this thesis refers to felt experiences which are considered to be beyond the everyday in the Cartesian paradigm and are often referred to as spiritual and/or mystical phenomena. Exploring these phenomena brings to light the potentialities in the vastness of consciousness which is considered to be an integral aspect of human existence in the thesis. I chose Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenological methodology for the research because it gives credence to the many and varied possibilities and potentialities both in particular lived experiences and in human existence as a whole. Van Manen’s lived existential provides the framework in which the participants’ experiences are explored. What emerged from the research is that unusual phenomena are not unusual for the participants. Although such phenomena are less visible and therefore less familiar in the everyday world, they are recognizable through their consistent presentation. This includes the participants having a powerful sense of ‘knowing’ which is all-encompassing and is beyond familiar landmarks such as the linear models of time and space. The participants bring their ‘knowing’ into the everyday world through embodiment and through their acknowledgment of the interconnectedness of existence. The expression of interconnectedness is experienced by the participants as lovingness, from which the ability for immediate healing in their therapeutic work becomes apparent. The participants’ accounts show a capacity for accessing the subtleties of human existence which emerge in the phenomenological process as the forgotten feminine of consciousness. The feminine of consciousness is a term used to describe a fundamental state of ‘being’ in contrast to the everyday masculine principle of ‘doing’. The research has implications for psychotherapy and counselling as it illuminates the need for a holistic approach which acknowledges the multidimensionality of human existence.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2002. / A thesis submitted in fulfillment of he requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, School of Social Ecology and Lifelong Learning, College of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, Oct. 2002. Bibliography : p. 303-321.

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Falling ill with cancer is a human experience that, by their socio-cultural meanings and stigmas, refers to facing existential questions and the search for resources to help make sense of what is being lived. The attention focused on the spiritual dimension becomes increasingly necessary to practice in health care, as science gradually recognizes the fundamental role of spirituality in the dimension of the human being. The study's research question: what is the perception of women diagnosed with breast cancer in relation to spirituality as a coping strategy of the disease? The overall goal is to understand the perception of women diagnosed with breast cancer in relation to spirituality as the disease coping strategy, and specific objectives are to know the meanings that women with breast cancer attaches to spirituality; identify strategies related to spirituality used in fighting the disease / treatment; know how women diagnosed with breast cancer perceive the care provided by nurses in relation to spirituality. This is a descriptive research with a qualitative approach, guided by the theoretical framework of the Theory of Human Caring, in an department of oncology of a teaching hospital in the central region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Data were collected from March to June 2015, through semi-structured interviews with 14 women who underwent cancer treatment, after approval of the Research Ethics Committee, Nº 991.305. Data analysis was performed according to the content analysis technique. Resulting in the development of four categories, that approach the extent of women with breast cancer and their meanings, the driving force to face the adversities of illness, spirituality and self-esteem, nursing and spiritual care. Therefore, it was understood that spirituality was an effective coping strategy in the face of illness from breast cancer. The results of this study may provoke reflections that allow rethink the practices developed by nurses not only about the spirituality of people they interact, but also bes ides contribute to strengthening the practice in the care of the spiritual dimension. / O adoecimento por câncer constitui-se em uma experiência humana que, por seus significados socioculturais e estigmas, remete ao enfrentamento de questões de ordem existenciais e a busca por recursos que ajudem a encontrar sentido para o que está sendo vivido. A atenção voltada para a dimensão espiritual torna-se cada vez mais necessária à prática assistencial na saúde, uma vez que a ciência, aos poucos, reconhece o papel fundamental da espiritualidade na dimensão do ser humano. O estudo tem como pergunta de pesquisa: qual a percepção das mulheres com diagnóstico de câncer de mama em relação a espiritualidade como estratégia de enfrentamento da doença? O objetivo geral foi conhecer a percepção das mulheres com diagnóstico de câncer de mama em relação à espiritualidade como estratégia de enfrentamento da doença. E, os objetivos específicos, foram conhecer os significados que a mulher com câncer de mama atribui à espiritualidade; identificar as estratégias relacionadas à espiritualidade utilizadas no enfrentamento da doença/tratamento; compreender como as mulheres com diagnóstico de câncer de mama percebem o cuidado prestado pela enfermagem no que se refere a espiritualidade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, com abordagem qualitativa, orientada pelo referencial teórico da Teoria do Cuidado Transpessoal, realizada no serviço de oncologia de um hospital de ensino de um município do interior do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Os dados foram coletados no período de março a junho de 2015, mediante entrevista semiestruturada, com 14 mulheres que realizavam tratamento oncológico, após a aprovação pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa com Seres Humanos sob o parecer Nº 991.305. A análise dos dados foi realizada conforme Análise de Conteúdo, que possibilitou a elaboração de quatro categorias, que abordam a dimensão da mulher com câncer de mama e seus significados, a força que impulsiona enfrentar as adversidades da doença, espiritualidade e autoestima, a enfermagem e o cuidado espiritual. Os resultados evidenciaram que a espiritualidade foi uma estratégia de enfrentamento efetiva diante do adoecimento por câncer de mama. Conclui-se que este estudo poderá suscitar reflexões que possibilitem repensar as práticas desenvolvidas pela enfermagem no que tange a espiritualidade das pessoas com quem interage, além de contribuir para fortalecer a prática em relação ao cuidado da dimensão espiritual.