Wise Climate Action:
Contemplation, Justice & Activism
Think Tank hosted by MHP & Funded by Mind & Life, Jan 22–24, 2021
We gathered scholars, artists, activists, scientists, and contemplatives in order to find ways to support people in building a sense of inner-rootedness and a sense of interconnectedness with nature to support them in facing the climate crises and in taking actions toward justice. We insured to include participants ranging from young to elders, as well as racially, vocationally and culturally diverse voices.One goal was to facilitate different types of contemplative practices, so that we experience together as a collective. The other goal was to discuss these questions: How can we develop ways to support our youth facing climate and social injustices?What kinds of contemplative practices are accessible and relevant for youth today?How can we integrate contemplative practices into community structures?How can we do this with cultural humility and responsiveness?Click here to read a short summary of the event and its main outcomes.
Image credit: Shane Rounce @shanerounce
Here we provide the content, format, outcomes and insights born out of our meeting, to inspire more community gatherings like this. We also share guidelines, resources and example works, to inspire more projects that nurture and empower youth in being resilient agents of change.
1.
Build the resilience by building the relationships.
2.
Provide tools to move beyond despair and apathy, toward empowerment and action.
3.
How can we call forth the future we desire, rather than the future we fear?
4.
Cultivate unconditional, defiant joy!
1. Build the resilience by building the relationships. 2. Provide tools to move beyond despair and apathy, toward empowerment and action. 3. How can we call forth the future we desire, rather than the future we fear? 4. Cultivate unconditional, defiant joy!
“The reaffirmation that it is imperative that we teach the collective power of individuals to heal the planet vs. teaching that the problem of global warming is so overwhelming, that there is little any person can do to remedy the situation.”
“I work in a school system that does little to teach children about their relationship to the earth, the problems of climate warming. The think tank was not only informative, but it also helped validate my beliefs and the importance of raising students who are agents of change.”
Think Tank Contents
Click on the titles to see the videos
Day 1:
Vision for the Wise Climate Action Think Tank, Michael Kearney, MD, Palliative Care Physician and Author; Co-founder of Mindful Heart Programs.
Opening Poems, Sojourner Kincaid Rolle, Poet Laureate Emerita of Santa Barbara
The Work that Reconnects, Joanna Macy, PhD, Teacher and Author (Introduction by Victor Lee Lewis)
Day 2:
Vision and Process of the Wise Climate Action Think Tank, Vivian Valentin, PhD, Cognitive Neuroscientist, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kind Mind SB
Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice: Cultivating Resilience, Sarah J. Ray, PhD, Environmental Studies Professor and Author
Nature Immersion as Contemplative Practice, Alexis Slutzky, MA, MFT, Psychologist, Mentor and Guide; Founder of Wild Belonging
Love, Perseverance, and Nurturing Young People, Fidel T. Rodriguez, Producer, Facilitator and Speaker; Founder of Divine Forces Media
Healing Justice Container, Victor Lee Lewis, Coach and Founder of Radical Resilience Institute
Mindfulness & Compassion Practice, Radhule Weininger, PhD, Psychologist, Meditation Teacher and Author; Co-founder of Mindful Heart Programs
Inner-nature Connection via the Senses & Imagination, Michael Kearney, MD, Palliative Care Physician and Author; Co-founder of Mindful Heart Programs
Complementarity: Dive within to expand out & observe outer to reach in, Ed Casey, PhD, Professor of Philosophy and Ecopsychology and Author
Nature Connection when You’re Stuck at Home, Diana La Riva, Wilderness Mentor and Garden Educator
Gratitude Practice Embedded in Modern Daily Life, Jessica Alvarez Parfrey, Executive Director at Transition US; Co-Founder of Eco Vista
Nature-based Mindfulness Curriculum for Kids, Anne-Marie Charest, PhD, Psychotherapist, Founder and Author of InnerU
Mindful Movement with Nature, Vivian Valentin, PhD, Cognitive Neuroscientist, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Kind Mind SB
Day 3:
Accompaniment, Mary Watkins, PhD, Co-founder and Professor of the Community, Liberation, Indigenous, and Eco-Psychologies MA/Ph.D. specialization at Pacifica Graduate Institute
Cultural Humility and Responsiveness in Project Design, Victor Lee Lewis, Coach and Founder of Radical Resilience Institute
Nature immersion as contemplative practice, Alexis Slutzky, MA, MFT, Psychologist, Mentor and Guide; Founder of Wild Belonging
Harvesting guidelines of project design for youth, Discussion facilitated by Michael Kearney
Yogic Breathing, Eddie Ellner, Yoga Teacher, Owner of Yoga Soup
Eco Vista Experience: A Radical Experiment, Jessica Alvarez Parfrey, Executive Director at Transition US, Co-Founder of Eco Vista & John Foran, PhD, Sociology Professor, Co-Founder of Eco Vista
1.
Acting collectively gives a feeling of power and agency.
2.
Meet people where they are at by listening and connecting before teaching anything.
3.
Being in circle: no one is ahead or behind anyone; all are heard, seen, valued and safe.
1. Acting collectively gives a feeling of power and agency. 2. Meet people where they are at by listening and connecting before teaching anything. 3. Being in circle: no one is ahead or behind anyone; all are heard, seen, valued and safe.
“Listening to Joanna Macy and other speakers touched me deeply at the heart level. By the end of the weekend I had a new sense of motivation regarding the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. I was very impressed by Victor Lee Lewis and would like to listen to him again on YouTube. I also benefited greatly from hearing about the perspective of young people as they contemplate our degraded environment.”
Insights and Outcomes from the Meeting
This 2.5-day brainstorming generated new ideas, connections, partnerships, and ignited action to collaborate and co-create. Several participants voiced wanting to continue the conversation, and intentions of following up were expressed among 19 pairs of specific individuals. Most participants found it refreshing to hear a wealth of information from a variety of perspectives by diverse speakers and participants, and enjoyed experiencing the contemplative practices weaved in between discussions. They were inspired by and grateful for the wisdom, expertise, insights, humility, optimism, mutuality, good intentions, and being in a community of like-minded, intergenerational folks.
What emerged was the merging of two worlds that are often separate-- justice/trauma work and climate action, indicating a need to orient contemplative practices toward anti-oppression, anti-bias, justice and liberation for all, in service of climate justice.
“There's so much bad news about environmental collapse, and while it's important to face that, it's also important to provide self-care and compassion practices that can counteract the effects of despair. Being open to our grief but also kind to ourselves and others so that we're not paralyzed or suicidal by despair.”
Some participants have expressed that they have experienced burn-out, and/or have become cynical by being surrounded by people who were less concerned with the climate crises than they have been. Sharing this three day experience with people who think deeply about these issues and incorporate spiritual approaches to the challenges, rekindled participants’ commitment to working on this issue, and gave them hope.
Participants shared about their intention to incorporate practices they have experienced at the Think Tank into their work with young people: playful nature immersion, mindful movement inspired by nature, story creation through observing nature, guided meditation by using imagination of a sensory experience in nature, visualization of nature, contemplating beautiful photos of nature, using art, poetry or story-telling about what a flourishing future may look like, visualization of our positive impacts, sharing out about what pains us and what we are grateful for when we look at our world and what gifts we can offer to our world.
“I am extremely grateful for each participant's wisdom and teachings. I truly have never experienced anything so concentratedly meaningful, focused on the topics that mean most to me. I don't want to attend any more conferences or events that aren't as good as this. It set the bar, and I was so grateful to have such a receptive audience for my own work. It was really gratifying, mutually uplifting, mind-blowing, informative, inspiring.... I could spend all day every day in that think tank.”
Ways to weave contemplative practices with climate actions
The Tree of Contemplative Practices illustrates some of the many contemplative practices used in education and secular organizations.
We suggest growing more branches to include bearing witness to nature and climate change as well as immersing in wilderness and nature connection through the senses.
CMind. (2021). The Tree of Contemplative Practices [Illustration]. The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.
Think Tank participants create impact and recommend 5 ways to do so:
-
on multiple platforms to bring awareness to eco despair and grief, feelings which may isolate us in private, but through conversations and stories, they shed light on our common humanity as planet people, inspiring inner work, community connections, and wise climate actions.
-
the contemplative practices and arts, especially to youth, and more imbedded where people gather for the mission of climate justice, activism, regenerative culture, and community, such as schools, festivals, botanical gardens, natural history or science museums, community gardens, food forests, hospitals, work-places and more. Practicing in community connect people to each other, nature and themselves, creating the initial conditions for wise climate actions.
-
across generational, racial, cultural and socio-economic divides to create more compassion, justice, interconnectedness, cooperation, inclusive decision-making, and sustainability. Healing our ways of relating to both, our local community and bioregion, allows effective and collective wise climate actions.
-
around climate justice and eco-emotions along with restorative practices that ease suffering, bring on resilience and empower sustainable engagement in wise climate actions. These practices may include Joanna Macy’s, The Work That Reconnects, Earth Connection, Mindfulness, Awake-Awareness and Compassion practices, as well as expressive arts, journaling and relational circles.
-
in contemplative practices, by meeting them where they are, get to know them, and then incorporate these elements:
1. Artistic expression, storytelling, first-person writing
2. Singing-bowls / instruments
3. Laughter elicited by playing together
4. Providing options for movement, stillness, or sensory activities
5. Physical presence, being in-person, sharing space and experiences
6. Immersion in, videos, pictures, paintings, or imagination of nature
![CMind. (2021). The Tree of Contemplative Practices [Illustration]. The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6283f91ef9aeae392a6975bc/29667a2f-9cf0-444e-82d6-96e87adc41a1/2021_CMind_tree_8x9in-scaled.jpeg)
Post-Meeting Works, Projects and Shared Resources
1. Dissemination of information (guidelines, resources, books, articles, talks)
Guidelines and Resources:
Existential Toolkit - A Growing Hub of Resources for Climate Justice Educators
Talks:
Resilience - 3 models from social and climate activism and Terror Management Theory: and how to cultivate a fearless heart, talks by Michael Kearney
Peace Podcast - Barbara Mueller-Gaughen invited Sojourner Kincaid Rolle to discuss how poetry illuminates the intersection of nature and self.
Book:
The forthcoming book “Becoming Forest: A Story of Deep Connection” is an allegorical novel by Michael Kearney about a young woman who finds an antidote to climate despair in the wisdom of trees. Its intended primary audience is young readers, with the hope that reading this story will mitigate their climate anxiety and build resilience.
Articles:
“Three Practices to Combat Climate Grief” by Michael Kearney, Joanna Macy, Radhule Weininger, BJ Miller, and Balfour Mount, published by Tricycle
Articles by Radhule Weininger:
List of Recommended Books:
For youth mentors and educators:
Empowering Strength And Resilience: Capacitar Self-Care Practices to Accompany Youth & other Climate Activists in our Climate Emergency by Patricia Mathes Cane, PhD and Sharon Duggan, Esq
Coyote’s guide to nature connection by Jon Young, Ellen Haas & Evan McGown
Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle and Alex Bostic
All the feelings under the sun: How to deal with climate change by Leslie Davenport and Jessica Smith
A Future We Can Love by Susan Bauer-Wu
Learning in the age of climate disasters by Maggie Favretti
The Onward Workbook: Daily Activities to Cultivate Your Emotional Resilience and Thrive by Elena Aguilar
A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety by Sarah J. Ray
Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements by by Walidah Imarisha (Editor), adrienne maree brown (Editor), Sheree Renee Thomas (Foreword)
Undrowned by : Alexis Pauline Gumbs– Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals.
In our Hands: Handbook for Intergenerational Actions to Solve the Climate Crisis by Wilford H. Welch
For ages 5-11:
The Other Way to Listen and I'm in Charge of Celebrations and Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor and Peter Parnall
The Magic and Mystery of Trees by Jen Green and Claire McElfatrick
Life Cycles: Everything from Start to Finish, by Sam Falconer
61 Multicultural Mindfulness Books for Kids, a compiled list
“We are not who our culture is telling us to be: separate, placed against each other for success, in competition for the few places in the sun. We are what the forest, the earth tells us that we are. We are alive, beautiful, sentient, with the capacity of choice. We are parts of the universe and of the earth. If we wake up to that, if we realize that, then this changes everything. It changes who we regard ourselves to be, who we regard others to be, and what we think the world is about. If we see our world as an interdependent web of life which we are part of, then we will care for our world as if it was our baby, our beloved.” – Michael Kearney
Image credit: Ed van duijn @eddyvanduijn
2. Making contemplative practices and arts more accessible in public spaces
Cottage Hospital Hospice and Palliative Care Continuing Education Program: Workshop by Michael Kearney and Radhule Weininger: Three models from the fields of climate and social activism that can boost resilience and allow us to be compassionately present to our patients, families, neighbors, and friends.
Lotusland botanical garden in Montecito: Vivian Valentin created nature connection meditation wellness workshops, one for adults and one for families, as well as a Family Wellness Guide with prompts for mindfulness, compassion and nature connection when visiting the garden.
Pacifica Graduate Institute: The Grieving Tree project, an earth honoring event - Sojourner Kincaid Rolle was invited by Julie Rohde-Brown to read her poem, Circle of Painted Stones (for Casa de Maria) in the closing ceremony (video from 37:55 to 43:40).
Santa Barbara City College: Liz Kelleher taught “Drop In Meditation: Practices for cultivating emotional balance” for one semester. Plans are to offer it for credit under the psychology department in the future.
Eco Vista Community offered weekly yoga in the park. They planned to collaborate with local youth on service projects, such as restoring native and edible landscape, building sustainable housing, clean ups, free swap shops, repairs, etc.
“Why Earth Day Matters?” (2021) and “Climate Change: Our Impact” (2022) Sojourner Kincaid Rolle was invited to judge a part of the Earth Day Poetry contest sponsored by the Wildling Museum. Nearly 50 people entered the contest and a multitude of people viewed the poetry reading live and recorded. Gathering and inspiring people to discuss the importance of environmental sustainability can motivate others to take action on behalf of climate change and deal with the climate crisis.
3. Community and Relationship Building
Jessica Alvarez Parfrey is serving as the Executive Director of Transition US and working with an amazing team of community practitioners to support the development of bioregional hubs, weaving together relationships and supportive community infrastructure that will lead to the design of more regenerative, just, and joyful communities. One of the main focus areas of the work includes our ReGeneration Nation Campaign, and launch of the ReGenerative Communities Design Lab which will take place in June/July 2023. The first of a four part workshop series, R4 (Resist, Repair, Reimagine, Regenerate) Workshop, took place on Apr 20, 2022 exploring the theme of resistance. The goal is to design supportive learning pathways, and healing our way of relating to peoples and places while co-creating truly intergenerational and intercultural spaces that help us all to thrive in the face of climate chaos and disruption. Invested in centering the needs, experiences, and knowledge of BIPOC and frontline communities, and support the recentering of the indigenous science of place and relationship, also known as TEK (traditional ecological knowledge), in the climate solutions space. Stay connected on Instagram @Transition_US and subscribe to the Transition US newsletter by filling out the form at the bottom.
Ongoing online series of 10am Sunday live talks, meditations and Earth Connection practices hosted by Mindful Heart Programs, presented and facilitated by Michael Kearney & Radhule Weininger: “Healing and Resilience for Climate Instability – Seeing with new Eyes: How to Work with Fear in Daunting Times”. The intention of this community gathering is to live wide awake, with less fear and with more inner ease, and with care for our world.
4. Curricula and Trainings:
Climate Wisdom Lab, a professional development program created by Kevin Gallagher and Sarah J. Ray, helps faculty and staff of higher education institutions develop curriculum and programs that prepare students for sustainable engagement with climate change, structural oppression and inequality, and other systemic challenges. The program builds understanding and awareness of the complex psychosocial dimensions and affective experiences of climate and social injustices. It assesses the hidden affective implications of existing course offerings, and creates a collaborative creative process for developing innovative new offerings and teaching modules that respond to the unique demands of today’s educational environment.
Mindfulness, Kindness & Nature Immersion for Climate Justice Syllabus for the forthcoming curriculum by Vivian Valentin and Harrison Heyl, co-founders of the Kind Mind SB Program.
Effective Collaboration Training: collaborate more effectively with each other without replicating oppressive hierarchical structures or getting bogged-down by inefficient group processes and interpersonal conflict.
"The Becoming Forest Project: Deep Resilience Training for Uncertain Times" in development by Michael Kearney: www.becomingforest.com. This project makes available key wisdom teachings and regenerative practices from the bedsides of those living with serious and terminal illnesses, to all those searching for pathways to vibrancy and resilience in the face of climate collapse, and other existential threats. Palliative care for our world: We can only survive the relentless tsunami of suffering if we let it flow through us; our feet rooted in what is not afraid and does not die.
ELI Institute at Exeter, professional learning in environmental education for teachers middle school and up – Sarah J. Ray was the keynote in the 2022 summer institute.
“It deepened my sense of the natural world as conscious. Watching my kids at the beach recently I felt the ocean and the beach as active participants in their play and development. The think tank reinforced my sense that it is vital that we shift our perspective from a Cartesian anthropocentric perspective to one in which the natural world is as close as family.”
What Think Tank Participants Have Said
“Gave me ideas about how I might approach people who think differently from me. I'm going to lead a group at MN350 in a shorter version of this exercise later this week.”
“There were several imagination exercises that were shared by Joanna Macy and Sarah Ray to invoke the radical imagination, that feel particularly important for me to learn.”
“Thank you again for creating such a stimulating and grounding experience.”
“I appreciated the opportunity to be with such beautiful and remarkable souls.”
“Thank you so much Vivian and Michael and everyone else who made this workshop possible. The conversations exposed me to so many new ways of thinking.”
“The best on-line teaching experience I have had. A true alchemical happening. Something emerged that was more than the parts.”
“By the end of the weekend I had a new sense of motivation regarding the urgency of addressing the climate crisis.”
