The Planet is warming but are we in an Emotional Ice Age?
The planet is warming up and many of us are worried about the impact this is going to have on our futures. The resulting eco-anxiety or climate distress is starting to compound the stress we already face, contributing to poor mental health.
But perhaps if we dealt with those other stressors and got ourselves into an upbeat, positive and resilient emotional position, there would be a critical mass of people around the world to take action on climate change?
The problem, we are disconnected with ourself and let our brain run on autopilot
I always thought we had allowed the climate to heat up because we have lost touch with and feel disconnected from the world around us. Living in towns and cities we have forgotten where our food, water and resources come from. But now I have started to think it’s because we’ve simply lost touch with ourselves and who we are at our core. How can we expect to feel deep connection, kindness and compassion for those around us and the planet we live on, if we don’t feel these things about ourselves?
To save the planet, we must first save human loving kindness one by one. Loving kindness is core to our being, a gift we are all born with, but a gift that can be forgotten in the hubbub of life. The challenging & stressful experiences we all face, can become too painful and, so, we often bury how we feel about them and suppress the emotions they bring. There begins a pattern in which being disconnected with our true feelings becomes normal.
As many of us aren’t shown how to bring attention to our feelings and to make decisions about how we respond to our emotions, our disconnection can successfully carry on throughout our lives. I have a beautiful elderly friend, a war time child who grew up in a loveless family, and learnt the only way to survive was to hide away all those painful feelings. She doesn’t consider herself disconnected, carrying childhood trauma and to her the way she feels is 100% the cultural norm. But has she pushed away her emotions and numbed herself to the feelings that might have revealed her truest self?
It took me until my late forties to learn to pay attention to my own emotions, to acknowledge and accept the feelings they create but to then (most of the time) make very deliberate decisions about how I respond to them. This realisation that I can be the master of my mind, that love is overflowing within us, that self-compassion is more than OK, was real headline news and has helped me feel deeply connected to myself.
We are plagued by an epidemic of disconnection.
The solution?
De-stress, practice self-compassion, turn down the ego (it will never let you rest) and as you start giving generously in your attention and time, focus on the loving kindness within you and the energy that comes from positive emotions, for serving others and the planet you are a part of.
It’s time to melt this emotional ice age and embrace the challenge of climate change together: and the first step? Learning what it is to love and be kind to ourselves.
If you want to learn more about MindSpire and the science of de-coding and treating stress by tapping directly into your nervous system, please follow us.
