Facing the Environmental Crisis with Compassion
The alarm of global environmental catastrophe is loud and clear. There is an emergency, but we are not responding adequately to the emergency.
Billions of us live in urban environments where the presence and power of nature is squashed by the concrete and the buildings and the hurried lives we live. No matter where we might live, additional billions have lost the inherent sense of deep interconnection and we have constructed the illusion that as humans we can control and dominate our environment and domesticate nature to serve our every whim.
All of this comes at a great cost. We are forgetting who we really are, our incredible interconnection with all of life, and what is really important to us. The great compromise sets in and all of society pretends that everything makes sense and we will be fine. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing makes sense and we will not be fine.
If we take time to notice the way we relate to and treat nature and the Earth,
we see that it faithfully reflects how we relate to and treat ourselves.
In the background of our minds, and deep in our hearts, we know that we are, at an individual and collective basis, causing great harm and violence to life and to nature. In our hearts we know that we cannot escape the consequences of our choices and actions, and that we are complicit in the great destruction. We know we are not living according to our deepest values, to honor and protect life and beauty and balance.
The trauma of this awareness is pervasive and strong, and of course, difficult to face, so we add a layer of environmental amnesia (a “blocking” response) in an attempt to protect our emotional selves. Millions suffer from eco-grief and climate-anxiety.
We don't like dissonance and emotional distress. We use various strategies to reduce it. We use strategies like rationalizing our choice, denying responsibility for our choice, distracting ourselves from the choice we made.
We find ourselves in a situation where we see that our lifestyles and actions don’t align to our values and beliefs. Rather than using this tension to signal the need for change in the way we live, we choose to push it down and repress it. Overtime, this great internal resistance leads us to become disconnected, not only from nature but from even ourselves.
In summary, there are two main underlying reasons that we are not responding adequately to the crisis:
Blocking Responses - Our natural responses to danger are becoming blocked by denial and despair. We are overwhelmed by bad news.
Profound Disconnection - we have lost our sense of interconnection with nature and the Earth. We live with an illusion of separation between ourselves and others and the earth and her living ecosystems. We believe and feel and act as if the problem is external to us and outside of us.
We need to learn how to unblock our natural responses of “denial” or “despair”.
To overcome these requires great skill and to develop these skills takes time and practice.
If we concede that these truly are two key underlying reasons, we can then ask ourselves, how to overcome them. We already have an abundance of data, reports, scientific investigations, videos and documentaries on the various elements comprising the crisis. Awareness is abundant. Data is abundant. Intellectual understanding is abundant. Despite all this, the crisis continues to get worse. So if awareness and understanding is not required, what is still missing? At Now.Here. our answer to this is high levels of compassion. Let me explain.
Empathy and compassion are like superpowers. To overcome these challenges mentioned, we have to find ways to unblock our stuck emotions in order that we can become positively active once again. Secondly, we have to rediscover our profound interconnection with all of life. We can achieve both of these as we develop the superpower of compassion.
The human skills of empathy and compassion are uniquely powerful and effective. They help us unblock our stuck emotions and help us dissolve the illusion of separation from one another. (the two main challenges highlighted above).
Indeed, empirical studies have shown that higher levels of empathy and compassion are co-related to more pro environmental attitudes and behaviours. Significantly, higher levels of compassion lead to, among others things, reduction in stress, more positive outlooks, greater resilience, better mental well-being, healthier lifestyles and decisions, more prosocial and pro-environmental behaviors! Our approach is to help others explicitly focus on developing and exercising more empathy and compassion.
We can develop our skills of empathy for nature and compassion for the Earth.
Through the superpower of compassion we can turn towards our difficult emotions, face the situation, overcome the challenges and live differently. There is hope. Each of us can return to our authentic selves. We can choose to live in greater alignment with our core values; to more authentically engage in our lives by taking responsibility for our choices and actions. We can reconnect with ourselves, with life, and with the Earth.
As we reconnect with the Earth,
we reconnect with all of life,
and even with ourselves.
At Now.Here. , under the guidance of Chief Compassion Officer, Randolph Oudemans, we offer many workshops and programs to help. Through the workshops, guided meditations, teaching and other exercises, participants reconnect with themselves. They learn to turn towards themselves with a quiet, open, curious and listening heart. They learn skills of self-empathy. They learn how to be courageous and honest with themselves. When they see that they are facing difficulties, they learn how to overcome the internal self-critic and offer themselves kindness and self-compassion.
As we reconnect, we understand that suffering is part of life and what makes us human, and we learn how to respond with kindness and compassion. As we do, we become more resilient, more grounded and more happy.
Please consider joining us at one of our many workshops or retreats. Our goal is to help people uncover and experience their interconnections with all of life, and equip them with vital life skills, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in in creating a sustainable civilization.”
Join us at one of our many workshops or retreats.
