To live in right relationship.

Indigenous place-based and nomadic cultures were intimately adapted to, and were expressions of, the ecosystems and landscapes they inhabited. As the ancestors of all of us, indigenous cultures guided much of the 100,000-year-old story of our modern species.

The indigenous people of the Navajo tribe describe their traditional way of living as the ‘beauty way’. To them, living in right relationship with the Earth is to ‘walk in beauty’ (Hózhóogo Naasháa Doo). The way to walk in beauty is to ‘witness the One-in-All and the All-in-One’.

The Beauty Way is a central Indigenous wisdom teaching that is crucial to how we understand—and reframe—ourselves as a species during this time of crisis.

As human beings, we are playing the paradoxical role of being both part of the problem and part of the solution for life on Earth. As life, we have the power to create conditions conducive to life. We can become the healers, or we can become the destroyers.

But living in "right relationship" is not merely a choice we can make if we wish. It is one of the fundamental laws of nature—one that our species has depended on for survival. To harvest in right relationship and to sow in right relationship was the key to prosperity and progress in our agricultural traditions, both here in the Nordic countries and across much of the world.

Somewhere along the way, we lost not only our right relationship with the Earth and the wisdom of the Beauty Way. We also lost our own beauty as a species. species.

Now, faced with crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and pandemics, we can no longer pursue sustainability merely for our own sake. We are being called to a much greater task: to create diverse, regenerative cultures and a thriving future—not just for humanity but for the entire community of life.

It is time to re-learn the wisdom of Indigenous earth-centered practices, which teach balance and right relationship as an ongoing practice. We must look to the Beauty Way and weave it together with the modern world. We must heal the wounds of the damage done and once again become stewards of the Earth—our home.

Hózhóogo Naasháa Doo — If you walk into the future walk in beauty.

Navajo saying

Taking its name from the Native American word Hózhó in Diné (Navajo) culture, the Beauty Way can best be translated as a feeling of oneness and the human experiences we call beauty, balance, harmony, and well-being.

It has been said that Hózhó may be the most important word in the Navajo language. Often translated as "balance and beauty," the concept carries an essential emphasis on harmony in the many connections that link the ephemeral and ever-changing parts of the world into a larger, more enduring, and significant whole.

Originating from a ceremony called the Beauty Way, which helps "the patient" re-establish balance when they are ill, depleted, or sad, Hózhó is a form of sacred medicine. It embodies the dynamic interaction between the human and animal worlds, teaching love, heart-connection, and the practice of Walking in Beauty throughout life.

To Walk in Beauty means to move in harmony with all things—people, objects, animals, and beyond. This includes how we walk, how we feel physically and emotionally, and how we navigate our own inner wilderness.

Beauty is central to Navajo life and thought. While Western societies often emphasize beauty as a surface phenomenon—visible in a person’s appearance or an object’s form—in the Navajo worldview, beauty extends beyond what can be perceived by the senses.

It encompasses fundamental ideas of health and goodness and is expressed through orderly and harmonious relationships—with other people, with the natural world, and with the realm of spiritual beings and forces. Physical beauty—seen in a healthy person or a well-crafted weaving—is merely an outward sign of something deeper and more all-encompassing.

This deeper beauty is the result of striving for harmony in one's way of living. This understanding is reflected in the ritual poetry of the Blessingway Ceremony, which contains verses emphasizing the idea of Walking in Beauty. To do so means to live in harmony, embodying beauty as an active and ongoing force for good.

Interbeing – The Buddhist View of Interconnection

A similar way of thinking can be found in the concept of Interbeing, which is central to Buddhist philosophy, particularly in the teachings of the Vietnamese Zen master and peace activist Thích Nhất Hạnh.

The concept of Interbeing, also known as interdependence or interconnectedness, is based on the idea that everything in the universe is deeply connected. Nothing exists in isolation—rather, all things are part of a vast web of relationships and interactions. This interconnectedness extends beyond living beings to include non-living elements such as rocks, water, and air. According to this perspective, all phenomena influence one another in an ongoing, dynamic interplay.

Ultimately, Interbeing means that no one exists entirely on their own. Every life is connected to something else—its origins, its surroundings, the changing of the seasons.

In the Buddhist tradition, Interbeing is closely related to the concepts of impermanence and non-self. Impermanence refers to the reality that all things are in a constant state of change, while non-self suggests that there is no fixed, independent self separate from the rest of existence.

In this way, the concept of Interbeing invites us to see ourselves not as isolated individuals, but as integral parts of a greater whole. By recognizing our connection to all things, we can cultivate compassion, a sense of responsibility for the well-being of all beings, and a deeper appreciation for the beauty and complexity of the natural world.

The Modern Way

Much of the way we live in modern society is hostile, sometimes even fatal, to the Beauty Way, our Interbeing, or what Jungians call the feminine. In many ways, we have exhausted ourselves trying to keep pace with a growth-obsessed world that prioritizes productivity, prestige, wealth, and power.

Over time, this relentless pursuit has chipped away at our inner beauty, leaving us stressed, anxious, and trapped in a sense of scarcity, feeling as though we are never enough. At the same time, it has depleted the Earth's ecosystems, destroying biodiversity and disrupting the balance of life.

We now stand at a critical point in human history, where we must confront our presence as a destructive force rather than a regenerative one. We are being asked to rekindle to the beauty of the thriving of the whole as a way that will ultimately lead to the thriving of humanity.

The Healing Way

In order to restore our beauty, we can look to Indigenous earth-centered practices and their wisdom of relationship with "All that is."

We can re-learn to move in a new way—or an old way. Like the earth-centered traditions, we can cultivate the Beauty Way of being in the world to retrieve what we lost along the way.

For many modern people, the ecological crisis is something we try to separate from ourselves—a problem that takes place "out there," something that "the others" will hopefully address. For many, the situation feels too complex, too overwhelming, and requires too much change. We are not ready to give up our everyday comfort and privilege for the sake of something better. We prefer to continue as usual, consuming, moving, and traveling in the ways we are accustomed to. In many ways, the ecological crisis has come to represent a limitation to our current lives and a loss of freedom.

But we are missing a huge piece of the puzzle. The truth is, we have already paid a much bigger price than what we are unwilling to give up by choice—the loss of our own beauty. How can we look ourselves in the eye when we have reduced ourselves to something less than we are? What happened to our Beauty Way of innovation, solutions, and collaboration?

The irony is that we don’t necessarily have to "give up" something. But we do have to change. And like the concept of Interbeing has just taught us, things are constantly changing, and nothing is permanent anyway.

We can move, consume, and travel in the Beauty Way when we realise that moving in beauty is not just about how we move. It is about our very being as we journey, how we interact with other beings along the way, and what we leave behind. It is about taking the time and daring to ask the right questions before we rush into answers and achieve a goal. It is about reframing, seeing, and applying what we need to do differently to achieve the goal without harming each others and the Earth.

The Woven Way

If we look to the idea of walking in beauty, where the aim is to live in harmony with everything (yes, even your neighbours, plants, animals…), we can start to change and completely transform our perception of life.

We can learn to restore our own beauty as we gradually become more physically and emotionally connected. We can gain a deeper sense of ourselves, as well as our physical and emotional footprints. Our perception of life and its complexities is completely transformed when we think and act with the Beauty Way.

When we retrieve the wisdom of earth-based traditions for guidance on how the human species can be a regenerative rather than destructive presence on Earth, we can access new ideas that can guide us on the uncertain path ahead.

While Hózhó is a central concept in Navajo life—one that unifies the modern Navajo community—it is also a very personal choice. Each individual in the community must determine how to realise Hózhó personally. This choice arises each time they shear a sheep, gather a plant for dyeing, design and weave a rug, engage with non-Navajo buyers, or help support their families.

Now that you know about the Beauty Way, you too can make a choice: to re-member, to re-weave beauty back into your own life—and into the world. In your thoughts, your actions, your words, and your interactions, you have the power to bring harmony and balance. Each small act of kindness, every mindful decision, and every effort to live with purpose contributes to the greater beauty of the world. By embracing this path, you not only restore your own beauty but also help to heal the collective and the Earth itself.

May you walk in beauty.

Forward,

Sidsel Solmer Eriksen, Founder Spread Studio