Our Relationship with Earth, Climate Anxiety and Grounded Hope

Have you felt overwhelmed and anxious by climate change and environmental issues? Maybe your algorithm has been highlighting air pollution, plastic pollution, fast fashion issues or another major oil spill, and you're feeling a bit hopeless.... Or you're not sure what the big deal is with environmental issues and you're curious enough to know what the big deal is. Wherever you land on that spectrum, this episode is for you.

Tune in to:

• Understand what in the world I mean by re-establishing our connection with the Earth;
• Learn about what the subconscious mind has to do with climate anxiety and feeling hopeless; and
• Explore actions you can take to create grounded hope.

Interested in exploring and transforming your subconscious beliefs?

• Book a Relationship Coaching Consultation

Other Resources:

• California Environmental Justice Alliance
• Communities for a Better Environment
• Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Center for Environmental Health
• The Center for Health, Environment & Justice
• Earthjustice
• NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council)

Transcript

Re-establishing our relationship with Earth

What does the subconscious mind have to do with climate anxiety?

Moving towards grounded hope

Holding industries accountable

Practicing sustainability

Taking action in and alongside community

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Life can sometimes feel like a lot, but you don't have to do it alone. I strongly believe that we're stronger together. Here we're gonna slow down, have real talks, make sense of things together, and explore ways to intentionally grow the life you want. We're going to talk about mental and physical health, relationships, money, work, and community. Welcome to Rooted in Intention with me, Garina Gomez. Hi, welcome back. Glad to have you joining for another episode and that you're interested in climate change, whether it's because you're feeling overwhelmed and anxious at the thought of it and you're looking for some hope, or at least you're interested enough in the topic to give it some consideration. So for this episode, I'm not going to really dive into any pollution statistics or specific environmental health issues. I think there's enough documentaries, research, and info out there that you've probably already come across. And if you haven't, it wouldn't be so hard for you to do a quick search to learn more about the different climate and environmental health issues. So what I'm gonna do instead is address three things. One, I'm gonna dive more into why it's important for us to reestablish our connection with Earth. Two, I'm going to dive into how the same subconscious beliefs that show up in our relationship patterns are the same beliefs that impact how we show up for global and social issues. And then lastly, I'm going to share some tangible things that you can do to redirect your climate anxiety into actions to move you towards more grounded hope and the belief that you can be a part of creating a better future for our society and for generations to come. Okay, so with that said, I'm going to try to keep my preachiness to a minimum because I know I could get preachy and it just spills out sometimes. I might have been a minister in a past life, who knows? But I will also be adding chapter markers within the episode. So feel free to skip around to sections that might speak to you a bit more if you're not interested in this first part. So, in terms of our relationship to the earth, the main thing I want to say is that it's important for us to take care of the earth because it's our home. And with the growth of cities and modernism and capitalism, I think we've really disconnected from that reality. And we've disconnected from the land and nature. And when you think about it, we are a part of nature. We're just another species on earth. And if the earth is our home, why would we treat it like trash? Don't you think that you deserve to live in a home with fresh air, clean unpolluted food, clean soil rather than industry-polluted soil, and clean water rather than water-filled with microplastics and PFAS and heavy metals and other industrial pollutants? I think you do. I think we all do. And the generations that are yet to come and the other animals that we coexist with also deserve that. And the thing is that these resources that make up the earth, the air, the water, the soil, they don't have true borders. If you think about it, the contaminated air can spread across the atmosphere and it can sometimes settle onto the soil that's hundreds of miles away. Contaminated soil can then be kicked up into the air and again spread to communities that aren't even nearby. Then if you think about it, water can also carry contaminated soil hundreds of miles away, in addition to contaminating many bodies of water, rivers, lakes, oceans. That's why it's not a hippie kumbaya type of thing to care for the environment, because the reality is that it's all interconnected. And that's why it's important that we all take care of the earth and actually see ourselves in relationship to the earth. And if you're not making those same connections, I don't know what else to say. I'd love to hear about what's going on in your brain. So feel free to share your thoughts in the comments as well. Okay, so I'm done with that. And I'm taking it that if you're still listening, you're on board that we have a climate crisis and you believe that more needs to be done. And you probably also feel that the climate issues sometimes feel too big and polluting industries are too powerful and creating systemic change is too hard. And you know what? That makes sense because climate change is a large-scale issue. It's a global issue. And if some of the top polluting industries acted more intentionally, more thoughtfully, and more respectful of the land that we lived on, then we wouldn't be in the situation that we're in right now. But, but, but with all of that said, although this is a big global issue that requires systemic change and changes from some of the big polluting industries, that doesn't mean that multiple other solutions don't exist. And the thing that might be preventing you from seeing the possibility of creating change and believing in the power of these other solutions and what you can do, it might be the beliefs that live within your subconscious mind. Because the same core beliefs that live in your subconscious mind that influence how you show up in relationships are the same beliefs that influence how you show up in other aspects of your life, including sustainability and climate change issues. Those core beliefs that live within your subconscious mind are at the root of your thoughts, your internal monologue, your feelings, and your actions. So if you do want to deeper dive into the subconscious mind and how those things connect, definitely go check out the podcast episode where I talked about the subconscious mind specifically. But for this episode, I'm going to focus on that connection between, again, our beliefs, which influence our thoughts, which influence our feelings, which influence our actions. And our understanding of the connection between these things is rooted in psychology and neuroscience. So if you're interested, this is definitely something that you could dive more into if you're interested in understanding at a deeper level. So more than anything, what I really want to leave you with is with the knowing that there's power in taking inventory of what's going on in your mind, not just for your mental health, but also for global and social issues like climate change. So if you've been taking in a lot of information about environmental health issues and climate issues, you're probably hearing about a lot of the problems, the things that industries aren't doing well, the things that our society isn't doing well, how we're over harvesting certain things, how we're contributing to landfills, how we have these large-scale oil spills in the ocean that are harming the animals and of course contaminating our water. So if you think about it, your brain is processing all of these things and it's very focused on the problems. And that might get you into this state of thinking about how disastrous things are. And it might get you into this state of just thinking how disastrous things are and what you do doesn't matter. And if you keep thinking about all these things, that's what's then creating that sense of anxiety and hopelessness and helplessness. And even beyond climate anxiety, there's actually a term that captures how trauma or essentially repeated exposure to stressful events that feel like they're out of your control can move you into what's called a state of learned helplessness because our brains are pattern-making machines. We're processing all of this negative information, all of these environmental problems. We're thinking about all of the things that are going wrong, which is creating those feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness. And then what happens is you essentially enter this state of overload. And then what happens? You probably feel stuck and paralyzed. And the actions and the behaviors that then result from that is that you end up being passive towards the situation because now you've created the belief that it's a lost cause, that there isn't anything that you can do. And if you don't think anything can be done, then you aren't going to do anything. So at that point, you're going to be contributing to possible solutions less and you're going to be viewing the world through a very negative lens. And it's not that climate change is all on you or that it's all on one person because it isn't. It's on all of us, really, the collective people of the earth. But just think about it this way: if so many of us are caught up in this state of learned helplessness, that means that a lot of us are not doing as much as we actually can. And that's why it's so important for you to take inventory of what's going on in your mind. Because if we can each do that, then we can show up more fully for global and social issues like climate change together. Okay, so I might have just given you one additional thing to be thinking about, but I'm not gonna leave you hanging because the thing that's super cool is that the subconscious mind is not fixed. Your brain has the capacity of changing. And from an understanding of neuroscience, this is actually called neuroplasticity. So the thing about the subconscious mind is that it's essentially programmed through a lot of repetition and exposure, which is why if you're taking in a lot of negativity, it's going to influence the beliefs that live within your subconscious mind. So the same way that you can have these beliefs that are leading you to feeling overwhelmed and helpless, you can intentionally feed your subconscious mind through repetition and exposure and actions that teach it a new belief system. So there are a few ways that you can essentially reprogram your subconscious belief systems. But for this episode, what I want you to think about is to think about what is in your control. What do you have power over? How can you create change? What are the things that you are interested in being active in? And the goal of these questions is to create pieces of evidence essentially for ways that you do have power over contributing to the solutions and that there is hope for creating change as well. And if you are feeling a little bit stuck with these questions, I actually want to share some ideas with you as someone that has experience in the environmental health space. So I think I might have shared this in other podcast episodes a little bit, but I actually have a public health background, which is why my brain sees the connections between what sometimes feel like unrelated topics on the surface, things like mental health, physical health, sustainability, money, relationships, community. My brain is always just seeing the connections between these things. But, anyways, back to some things that you can do. And I want to start off with sharing how you can help hold industries accountable. So, one of the ways that you can do this is by actually contributing money through donations or time to organizations that are already leading policy changes and advocating for better environmental health laws. You can follow these organizations on social media. You can sign up for their email or text action alerts, which oftentimes ask you to call your elected officials in support or against particular policies and pieces of legislation. And I'm going to share some of these organizations towards the end. But another thing that you can do is also vote for candidates that demonstrate through their actions that they care about environmental health policies. And on top of that, another important piece is actually talking with your friends and family members that might not have similar viewpoints as you, because those people are likely also voting and shaping the results of elections. So we need to be able to have conversations about these important topics. And lastly, within this category, if you do work within one of the industries that's causing a lot of pollution, just think about what practices do you continue to uphold when you go with the flow and you don't attempt to stand up for what you believe is right. For instance, one of the big policies and practices that comes to mind within the fashion space is approving the slashing of new unpurchased merchandise. Like that's such a waste and it's only contributing to the landfill of things that would have actually been able to be used by other people. And it's those types of things that we need to be able to stand up against and advocating for more sustainable practices and inviting folks that we work with into those conversations as well. So those are some things that you could do in terms of holding industries accountable and on a more systemic level. The second category of actions that you can take is around practicing sustainability. So this is where things like the zero waste movement are important. So think of using a reusable water bottle instead of relying solely on plastic water bottles. Think of actually using those grocery bags that you might sometimes forget at home when you go to the grocery store. Think about walking to more places, using public transportation rather than solely relying on your car. Think about buying less new fast fashion and opting for thrifting or doing clothing swaps with friends, with family members, with people within your community. I think the essence of really practicing sustainability is using less plastic and not caving into consumerism. And last but not least, the third category from which you can take action is to actually do things in community. And I think that this is actually so powerful because it actually came up in every conversation that I had with folks that have been doing work on environmental and sustainability efforts. Darby mentioned this in episode 26. Julie mentioned this in episode 28, and John and Julie in episode 27 showcase how you can do more by actually working in collaboration with groups and organizations. So if you're looking for more inspiration and more ways to get involved, other groups to connect with, I would definitely encourage you to listen to the next three episodes if you haven't already. I'm not going to repeat what others shared in other episodes because I think they already said it so nicely. More than anything, I want to add and build on what others have already so beautifully shared. So again, after having worked in the environmental health space, what I would really encourage you to do is to connect with environmental justice organizations, which are usually more grassroots groups focused on local issues, as well as what are known as big greens, which are large organizations working on environmental health issues and also leading those policy changes that I was talking about previously. I'm going to mention some right now, but I'm also going to include links to these within the show notes as well so you can find them more easily. So if you are in California, one of the ways that you can find an environmental justice organization near you is through the California Environmental Justice Alliance or SEHA for short, which is made up of multiple environmental justice organizations within California. And if you're not in California, it might take a little bit more research to find a local group near you. But if anything, you can always plug in with a larger national organization as well. And some of those larger environmental health organizations that you can plug in with include physicians for social responsibility, which actually has some local chapters, including one in LA for those who are joining me in LA as well. There's also the Center for Environmental Health, which is the organization that I previously worked with. There's also the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, or CHEJ for short. And then there's Earth Justice. And lastly, the Natural Resources Defense Council or NRDC. So again, these are organizations that you can make donations to, that you could get involved with, that you can sign up for their action alerts because they're already doing the work. So you don't have to start a movement from scratch and you can plug yourself in where there's already work being done and helping amplify those efforts. Now, of course, if you don't feel aligned with any of these, for sure, feel free to start your own group as well. Maybe it's a grassroots group, maybe it's a social media campaign, whatever things call to you. The whole point is to take action so you can really transmute that sense of helplessness and anxiety into grounded hope. And if you feel like you have subconscious blocks that are preventing you from showing up for the issues and the relationships that you care about, feel free to connect with me via the link in the show notes so we can talk about how we might be able to work together. Other than that, that's it for this episode. And as always, if you haven't already, please leave a review as that will help the podcast and these messages reach more people. Okay. Bye. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Rooted in Intention. Until next time, and remember to keep showing up for the life, relationships, and community you want. Now go.