[Clare Maxwell]

I’ve been thinking recently about the CHIPKO, or “tree-huggers” movement that started in the Himalyas, and how historically prescient they were. These women literally put their bodies on the line to defend the forest, and the fact that they were female meant that they were not as likely to be beaten or attacked by government forces.

If you have never heard about it, you can start here: https://thenonviolenceproject.wisc.edu/2022/04/18/the-chipko-movement-treehuggers-of-india/#:~:text=The%20Chipko%20Movement%20adhered%20to,and%20resources%20of%20rural%20India.

Modern day scholars might look at it as a feminist movement, but for those who started it, it’s essence was non-violence. It was of course not a somatic practice, but rather a profound acknowledgement of the unity between the livelihood of an entire village and the forest on which that village depended.

Just thinking out loud!

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