Welcome to day four of this challenge.
In day three,
We explored the importance of reaching out for help.
In today's practice,
We'll explore navigating grief.
Let's take a few deep,
Grounding breaths here in this safe,
Supportive space.
Take three deep,
Grounding breaths,
Breathing in from the nose,
Pulling up with the breath,
And releasing through the mouth.
Many people experience feelings of sadness and grief when they think about the climate and biodiversity.
They notice what has changed.
Depending on where you live,
You may be discussing more frequent forest fires,
Noticing less insects flying across your windscreen or windshield in the summer,
Or finding that drought has made it harder and harder to grow a successful crop on the land you farm or know of.
It's unsettling and distressing to realize that the activities many of us take for granted or aspire to come at a terrible cost climate-wise.
Realizing that the freedom to fly around the world,
Own a car,
And have access to less expensive food and short-lived consumer goods has destroyed a huge part of the natural world and is destroying the future is a shocking realization.
The realization is often followed by feelings of concern,
Guilt,
Shame,
Sadness,
Or grief.
Today we're going to look at sadness and grief.
It's tempting to try to turn away from these feelings,
To ignore them,
Or to distract yourself from them.
But it's important to keep in mind that this usually leads to the feelings coming back with renewed vigor later on.
The grief you may feel is likely to have two components.
One is your grief for the destruction that has already happened.
As you let yourself feel this,
You should gradually become able to focus on the things you can do to help repair this.
Planting wildlife if you have a garden,
Supporting a tree planting project like Ecosias,
Or volunteering for a local wildlife charity.
These are all good examples.
The other is your grief about the loss of the kind of life you may have expected to lead.
Whether you were imagining a retirement filled with foreign travel,
A job in a high carbon industry,
Or a gap year trekking to exciting places,
You may be facing the realization that these things are unsustainable.
Mindfully letting go of these desires and working out how to live a fulfilling and satisfying life while adapting and adjusting how you live is usually a slow process and an impactful one.
Stay with your sadness,
Stay with your sadness,
But also take time away from it.
Also take time away from it.
Move gently and steadily towards acceptance of this new reality.
Talk with family and friends about how you want to reshape your life,
But also take time to enjoy your life.
Feel gratitude for everything that you have had and allow yourself to start the process of letting go of the things you need to relinquish in order to contribute to a future that's safer and healthier for us all.
Today's practice is for acceptance,
Letting go,
And grief.
Let's take a few more moments to ground right here.
Focusing on your breath,
Turning your attention inward even more.
Inhale from the nose,
Pulling up with the breath,
Even pulling up tension if that feels comfortable.
Hold and release through the mouth,
Relaxing the body.
Let's do this two more times.
Inhale through the nose,
Pulling up with the breath,
Holding and releasing through the mouth.
We commend you.
You've chosen to rise to the challenge,
And we hold compassion for what you're feeling,
For what you're going through.
As you best take care of your unique experience with grief and letting go that can arise as you change and as you start to adjust to life sustainably,
Know that you are not alone.
Grief and letting go are universal things that we all experience at some point or another throughout life,
And we all grieve in different ways and for different variations of time.
With acceptance,
We journey in our own time as well.
This practice is here as a safe space to take care while on your journey of letting go,
Adapting and adjusting.
While in this safe space together,
Let's ground in the following words.
I am not my emotions.
I am the present observer of them.
Now bring awareness to what you are feeling.
What does the mind body feel about releasing patterns you've had?
Is there sadness,
Disappointment,
Or frustration,
Curiosity,
Or maybe numbness?
Journey in grace with whatever arises and love yourself through it.
Whatever is coming up,
Say to it,
I welcome you.
I am here to take care of you.
I am allowed to feel how I feel in this moment.
I am allowed to feel how I feel in this moment.
What I'm feeling is appropriate.
This is safe space to feel what I'm feeling.
This is also safe space to feel ease.
Acceptance and relief should these emotions arise.
My feelings are allowed to change form.
I live in mindful rediscovery.
My breath is relaxing now.
My heart rate is relaxing now.
My muscle in my body is relaxing now.
My mind is relaxing now.
I am relaxed.
I am relaxed.
Bring your awareness back to your breath and slowly open your eyes.
Now give yourself an appreciation hug as we close out.
Keep rising to the challenge and loving yourself through it.
Today's action step is to check out projects in your local area that are working to restore the natural world and choose one to contribute to through subscribing or volunteering.
Choose one high carbon activity that you would like to relinquish.
For example,
A flight or eating meat every day.
Set an intention to find an enjoyable way of living without this high carbon activity.
Cheers to completing day four.
I'll be back here tomorrow where together we'll explore inner conflict that can arise with eco anxiety.
