Methods & Mindfulness
Action: Try out mindfulness meditation and find a way (or ways) that work for you to be more aware of yourself and your surroundings. Do some active reflection on your stressors and signs you are feeling stressed, and practice stress management techniques to improve your resiliency in the face of disaster and climate change. And remember, not everyone has the capacity to manage disaster and climate change in the same way, so find a local food bank to use or donate to depending on your circumstances, and help out our undocumented (1, 2), indigenous (1, 2, 3), and trans friends through mutual aid programs as they face these crises with fewer resources and less government support than should be the case.
Educate: Read through this article on the physiological realities of stress, and dive a little deeper into why psychology matters when it comes to climate change and disaster. Check out the resources on managing climate stress and distress from The Climate Reality Project, Psychology Today, and the American Psychological Association. And be sure to check out our Mindset Shifting Techniques Infographic from the week of June 29, 2020.
Source Material: Click through the links to the source material we used to research this week – take a deep dive into what was most interesting to you!
- Mindfulness and climate change: How being present can help our future from American Psychological Association
- What is Ecoanxiety, and How Can Mindfulness Help? from Mindful.org
- Mind the gap: The role of mindfulness in adapting to increasing risk and climate change from Sustainability Science
- Mindsets for Sustainability: Exploring the Link Between Mindfulness and Sustainable Climate Adaptation from Ecological Economics
- Mindfulness Exercises from Mayo Clinic
- What are the benefits of mindfulness from American Psychological Association
- The Psychology of Climate Change: Why Feelings Matter from Psychology Today
- The Psychology of Disaster from Resilience
- Healthy ways to handle life’s stressors from American Psychological Association
- 10 New Strategies for Stress Management from Psychology Today
- Coping with Climate Change Distress from The Climate Reality Project
- The Science of Stress from Experience L!fe
- What Science Says About Why You’re Stressed and How to Cope from Discover Magazine
- How to recognize the signs of stress from Community Access Network
