Reuniting Soul and Soil

ASHRAF NEHAL speaks to the centuries of correlation between faith and climate, and how, now more than ever, it is critical to reconnect with the Earth through Heartfulness and mindfulness practices.

The planet is gasping. Forests are vanishing, rivers shrinking, and Himalayan glaciers retreating like fragile memories. From Uttarakhand’s flash floods to rising seas in the Sundarbans, climate change is no longer a distant threat but a lived reality. Governments negotiate, scientists warn, and engineers innovate. Yet, beneath these responses lies a more profound reckoning: a need for inner transformation.

If the Earth is burning, it is not only because of fossil fuels but also because of fossilized ways of thinking. Disconnection from nature, consumption without reflection, and a moral numbness toward the suffering of both people and ecosystems have brought us to this precipice. As we look outward for policy solutions, we must also turn inward for moral clarity, emotional resilience, and spiritual renewal. Faith, Heartfulness, and mindfulness—long embedded in Indian civilizational wisdom and increasingly embraced worldwide—offer a path forward.

Environmental psychologist Peter H. Kahn describes a phenomenon called “generational environmental amnesia,” where each generation comes to accept a more degraded environment as the new normal (Kahn, 2011). Once-sacred rivers like the Yamuna and the Ganga are now among the most polluted; Delhi's toxic air is routine; and the rhythms of the seasons seem unmoored. This forgetting transcends environmental boundaries and becomes a crisis of spirit. As the soil erodes, so too does something within the soul.

When the Soul Forgets the Soil, and Faith Remembers

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2023) warns of irreversible impacts if global warming exceeds 1.5°C. Despite the scientific clarity and urgency, such forecasts often fail to spark profound, sustained transformation. This is because the climate crisis has deep existential dimensions that technical approaches alone cannot address. It stems from profound alienation: from the Earth, from one another, and from our deeper values. Addressing it, especially in culturally and spiritually rich societies like India, demands more than policy shifts. It requires a shift in consciousness.

This transformation of consciousness is not unfamiliar; it is deeply rooted in the world’s faith traditions. Spiritual teachings have long offered ecological wisdom. From Vedic hymns to Islamic ethics, from Sikh reverence for hukam (divine order) to Christian calls for stewardship, nature has always been viewed as sacred, worthy not only of admiration but of protection.

Faith, once dismissed in environmental discourse, is now emerging as a vital force. Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato si’ advocates for an integral ecology, “where care for the Earth and care for the vulnerable are inseparable. Faith offers not only ecological insight but moral clarity and urgency (Francis, 2015).”

Islamic teachings emphasize khalifah, humankind's role as stewards, and mizan, the balance inherent in creation. The 2015 Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change urged the global Muslim community to act with restraint and responsibility (IFEES, 2015). Hindu cosmology sees divinity in all elements—agni (fire), vayu (wind), jal (water), prithvi (earth). The ethic of ahimsa (non-violence), which once fueled India's freedom struggle, now shapes low-impact lifestyles and vegetarianism for millions (Coward, 2003). Sikhism, too, teaches humility before nature and critiques the greed that underpins ecological destruction.

Importantly, these teachings have moved beyond scripture into lived practice. Faith-based organizations across India are translating belief into action. GreenFaith, a global interfaith environmental coalition working in over 40 countries, has partners helping temples and mosques transition to solar power. Interfaith coalitions are protecting sacred groves in Meghalaya and organizing water conservation drives in Maharashtra. A 2023 study in Nature Climate Change confirms that religious framing significantly increases climate engagement, particularly in spiritually inclined societies.

In a world grappling with eco-anxiety, disillusionment, and despair, faith also offers solace. Spirituality helps individuals see themselves as part of a larger moral and cosmic arc, where change, though difficult, is both possible and essential. To remember the soil is, in a sense, to remember the soul. In that reconnection lies our greatest hope.

The Heartfulness Way: Climate Action with Compassion

Beyond belief systems, the act of living with intentional compassion and present-moment awareness is emerging as a powerful response to the climate crisis. Heartfulness, a meditation practice rooted in Indian traditions yet global in reach, emphasizes living from the heart, cultivating empathy, emotional balance, and conscious choices that align with planetary wellbeing. Alongside it, mindfulness—defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as present-moment awareness without judgment—serves as a complementary force, teaching us to notice, slow down, and reflect before acting.

Spirituality helps individuals see themselves 
as part of a larger moral and cosmic arc, 
where change, though difficult, is both possible and essential. 
To remember the soil is, in a sense, to remember the soul. 
In that reconnection lies our greatest hope.

The Heartfulness Institute in Hyderabad offers accessible tools, including guided meditation, relaxation, and gratitude practices, to millions worldwide. Scientific studies support their impact: a 2022 Ecopsychology study found that heart-based meditation increases willingness to participate in ecological restoration. Similarly, gratitude has been shown to enhance a sense of reciprocity with nature, promoting more responsible consumption habits (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

Youth-focused initiatives, such as Changemakers for Climate Action—supported by the Embassy of Italy and TERI—train Indian students in heart-centered leadership. These programs emphasize acting not out of fear or obligation, but out of love for the Earth. This model of leadership is emotionally resilient, ethically grounded, and inclusive, and is especially vital in today's polarized climate discourse. Heartful leaders are uniquely equipped to build coalitions that are not only effective but compassionate, sustaining long-term efforts without burnout.

Where Heartfulness teaches us to feel deeply, mindfulness helps us pay attention and disrupt the autopilot of unsustainable habits. In India, mindfulness is finding renewed relevance in schools, therapy rooms, and tech workplaces. It enables reflection on everyday decisions, whether to take a cab or walk, eat meat or choose plant-based foods, or buy fast fashion or repurpose clothing. A 2019 study in Global Environmental Change found that mindfulness is correlated with reduced materialism and increased pro-environmental behavior (Wamsler, 2019).

Moreover, mindfulness builds psychological resilience. As climate anxiety becomes more widespread, especially among young activists, meditative practices offer crucial support. The American Psychological Association (2022) recognizes mindfulness as a key strategy for managing eco-anxiety. Globally, institutions like the Garrison Institute engage corporate and policy leaders through the Climate, Mind & Behavior program, integrating inner awareness with external impact. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness model, which weaves mindfulness into environmental and educational policy, stands as a compelling template for other nations in the Global South.

Together, Heartfulness and mindfulness form a powerful inner ecology. They remind us that climate action need not come solely from crisis, guilt, or fear but can also emerge from stillness, care, and compassion. In a time of accelerating environmental and emotional turbulence, cultivating the heart and mind may be among our most radical and restorative acts.

Healing the Earth Within and Without

When faith, Heartfulness, and mindfulness converge, what emerges goes far beyond a soft supplement to hard science—it represents a necessary paradigm shift. This synthesis creates a new kind of sustainability: in systems and spirits. It generates sustainability that moves beyond fear-based messaging to hope-filled action, replaces burnout with belonging, and treats the Earth as a relationship to heal rather than a problem to solve.

The climate crisis extends beyond carbon emissions—it reflects a deeper crisis of disconnection. In trying to dominate the Earth, we have forgotten that we are of the Earth. This forgetting is now costing lives, livelihoods, and futures. Faith traditions remind us of sacred duty. Heartfulness helps us act with compassion. Mindfulness teaches us to live with awareness. Together, they offer a path forward—rooted, resilient, and radically hopeful.

For the world, this integration offers a powerful way forward, in which innovation is matched by introspection and the path to a greener world begins in breath, prayer, and love, flowing outward into policies and action.

Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL