Event 3: Oxygen for South Asia

On Wednesday the 2nd of June I attended a beautifully run event around the theme of oxygen for South Asia. Oxygen rules our world with impacts effecting everything if oxygen changes. Throughout this event I learned how important our ocean is for survival. Not only survival of humans but survival of humans, plants, species and even the world. 

This event started out with giving a little bit of background to how oxygen rules the world. To my surprise I learned that 80% of our air is produced by plankton which is crucial for our survival (2021). Humans and animals are able to survive days without water and weeks without food but without oxygen you would only be able to survive for about 2 minutes before serious effects would take place. This proves the severity of how big of an impact oxygen has on our world and why we need to do everything we can to help it to help us. 

Plankton

During this event I learned that plankton are at the bottom of the food chain meaning if these plankton are harmed it is going to have a run on effect for the the rest of the sea-life (Mindful breathing). Not only this but land animals that eat sea life will also be effected will continues to have effects on humans. It's so important to make sure plankton stay healthy to allow our world to stay alive. 

This event we became mindful of our breath and became one with the ocean. During this time it was really about connecting with the ocean and allowing our scenes to tune in with what is taking place in the ocean. This allowed us to also become mindful of the animals producing oxygen and the works and turn our attention to the micro-creatures that give us life. 

Screenshot of the event showing the ocean we experienced

This event I found I was able to breathe and feel more connected with the ocean and it almost felt like I was floating on the ocean with the imagery they were showing. While I was attending this event it made me think about our current time and how in our world covid has changed the way I view our ocean. I am not sure if this has been happening all over the world but in New Zealand specifically the water in the ocean has become so much more clear (Hudson). As I walk along the beach I notice how much more of the ocean I am able to see and this is due to the world not operating at the usual pace it does. There was a period where no boats, planes and cars were hardly operating and I think this had a lot of positive effects on our world. 

Clear water

The more I think about this I realise how sometimes stopping and really becoming in tune with our senses and the world around us can be a really positive thing as you realise how much of an impact we are having on the planet. 

Sources: 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, June 2). Plankton. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plankton#:~:text=Plankton%20are%20the%20diverse%20collection,constituting%20plankton%20are%20called%20plankters. 

Mindful Breathing (Greater Good in Action). Practices. (n.d.). https://ggia.berkeley.edu/practice/mindful_breathing. 

Andrew Hudson       Head of Water and Ocean Governance Programme, & Hudson, A. (n.d.). The ocean and COVID-19. United Nations Development Programme. https://www.undp.org/blogs/ocean-and-covid-19. 

Winston, D., Goh, C., Greenland, S. K., Fisher, J., Willard, C., Whitney-Coulter, A., Naidoo, U., Smookler, E., Staff, M., Kira M. Newman and Janet Ho, Angangco, T., & Wolkin, J. (2021, February 18). A 5-Minute Breathing Meditation To Cultivate Mindfulness. Mindful. https://www.mindful.org/a-five-minute-breathing-meditation/. 

Vader, K. (2021, April 20). Mindful Breathing Meditation. HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/meditations/mindful-breathing-meditation.htm.