Permaculture is a design science, rooted in observation of nature, to learn how to live with the resilience and stability of natural eco-systems. Taught in over 100 countries, Permaculture is a global grass-roots movement in sustainability education. Permaculture principles guide the design method. The principles guide you to discover optimum strategies for sustainability for any given place– urban/rural or any eco-zone.

With the Us Peace Corps supporting her to live in a village in Equatorial Guinea for two years and a US$55,000 grant from the Canadian government, Zia had a chance to practice rainforest preservation with direct-action field work. Zia developed the Finca Permanente Project in Evinayong, Equatorial Guinea, which was used as a model for a $2.5 million European Community agroforestry project and refered to by Norman Meyers, Phd global ecologist and author of the popular Global Atlas of Planetary Management as “what needs to be replicated across Africa”. Upon her return from her two years in Equatorial Guinea, Zia consulted for an agroforestry project in Borneo, and was invited to join teaching teams at the Colorado Permaculture Institute, and on the Navaho and Arapaho reservations.

In her own words: “Now, given the demands of the times, it feels especially pertinent to teach about sustainability here–in my home, Boulder–a place that many look to as a model for how to proceed through the challenges to come.”

As the Universe has it, always in sync, I met Zia in perfect timing. Looking for a new home I wrote back to a craigslist ad that had the most beautiful pictures to a home that rented a great space. I called, Zia picked up the phone. Within the first 5 minutes we were laughing and sharing simple details about life. I got invited to see the house and meet for tea.

That same week, I ended up at Willow Way   www.willowwaywellness.com where i learned so much in just an hour and my attention rapidly turned from finding a new home into absorbing all that happened there so I could share it with you, our Elephants.

Willow Way Wellness provides workshops, training, and private sessions in applied knowledge for healing the land and healing our bodies, and understanding the connection between them.  

At Willow Way, they have applied to Boulder County for the designation “Demonstration Farm” and to have a Farm Stand. They are hopeful that this will allow us to experiment with some sustainable techniques that are not yet legal in Boulder County. For example, bioremediation of grey-water. Their application for Demonstration Farm status also includes a request to offer three five-day children’s programs over the course of the summer. 

“After 30 years of being deeply engaged in the healing arts in Boulder, I feel it is essential that as a community, we enlarge the circle of healing. We have emphasized healing of self for so long. We know that healing the self heals the whole. We have forgotten that healing the whole heals the Self. “ Zia Parker

Asking Zia about her current focus She tell us: “The most timely subject at the moment is the Permaculture Design Course. www.ziaparker.com/pcIt begins on June 6 & 7. The signs are so clear that we need to attend to healing the land.   Wave after wave of modern holistic therapies arise the the Healing ARts scene, directed toward healing our mother and father wounds. We’re being called to “pop orbits”, and attend to the bigger picture, healing the Mother Wound in the big picture–the Earth, La Tierra, Gaia. Until we include relating to the land in our realm of relationships, how can we heal the wounds in our nuclear families? The land is the Mother. And it is us. This is healing for the land, for the self.”

When meeting a healer you always wonder what would be their advice. In Zia’s words: “The next step is engaging in physical world service to the Earth. Green Service. Serve on a Sierra Club committee, get active in your local Transition group, take a Permaculture Design course.”

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