Session Resources
Session Leader
Core Offering
Dr Britt Wray is the Director of the Special Initiative of the Chair on Climate Change and Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Stanford University School of Medicine. Her latest book Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis, is an impassioned generational perspective on how to stay sane amid climate disruption. Britt holds a PhD in science communication from the University of Copenhagen and she completed her postdoctoral training at Stanford Medicine’s Center for Innovation in Global Health. As a practicing science communicator, she has hosted several podcasts, radio and TV programs with the BBC, NPR, CBC, and is a Canadian Screen Award winner. Dr Wray has spoken at TED and the World Economic Forum and is a Chicago Council on Global Affairs Next Generation Climate Changemaker. Dr Wray is also the creator of Gen Dread (gendread.substack.com), a popular newsletter about building courage and taking meaningful action on the far side of climate grief.
Opening the Space
Tools for Every Session of the Training
Dharma Offerings
Introduction and Core Offering 1
In this first video, Kristin Barker invites us to begin looking at our own hearts and minds. To help us become more familiar with our internal narratives, she explores seven limiting views we sometimes hold about ecological crises and our response to them. By understanding these possibly distorting lenses, what insight might we access?
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Core Offering 2
The difficulty of ecological crises is immense. For perhaps the first time in human history, we find ourselves within a field of trauma that touches every single one of us—even as impacts are distributed with dramatic inequality. In this conversation with Kristin Barker, Dr. Britt Wray investigates the dimensions of ecological distress, as well as what can help us hold the pain this moment presents us with.
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Guided Practice (Optional)
To support and deepen this inner investigation, Kristin leads this embodied contemplation of our stories about ecological crises.
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Inquiries
We offer here a set of inquiries and group practices that support this step in our journey. Consider these suggestions and feel free to customize, replace and augment. But we strongly suggest that you explore at least one inquiry with each session.
Below are this session’s inquiry questions in bold, followed by a short commentary. We invite you to gently hold these questions. If this form of exploration is new to you or you would like a refresher, you can learn more about inquiry practice here.
- How do I experience ecological distress?
With as much gentleness as possible, can you be curious about where and how you hold the impacts of ecological harm? What issues feel most alive to you? What happens when your distress gets triggered or activated? What resources do you find helpful in metabolizing or composting your ecological distress? - How do I relate to limiting views of ecological crises?
Explore your response to Kristin’s presentation of limiting views and strategies. Where was there a recognition, where might you have found some objection, and which ones do you want to explore further? Are there limiting views that were not named that you feel are important? What role does compassion and an appreciation for causes and conditions play in your response? - What would make me feel seen, heard, or understood amid the collective trauma of ecological crises?
If you’ve ever felt alone in holding the suffering of ecological crises, what would ease the sense of isolation? What kinds of relationships or communities would support you? What might an ally in this work say to you, and what might you say to them? How might you show up for one another? And what steps could you take that would bring you closer to this kind of connection?
Supplemental Resources (Optional)
- More from Dr. Britt Wray:
- In this article, Zhiwa Woodbury argues that humanity as a whole finds itself in the midst of a new form of collective trauma: Climate Trauma: Toward a New Taxonomy of Trauma
- Dr. Renée Lertzman has researched, spoken, and written extensively on ecological distress, and how our views about others’ responses might be mistaken. Here is a selection of her offerings:
- Video: Listening to Young Voices, with Kirsten Rudestam
- Study: Global Warming’s Six Americas (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication)
Support these Teachings
Dana, or generosity, is considered an essential part of practice and situates us in the unbroken line that seeks to bring the gifts of Buddhadharma, wisdom and compassion, to our world. One Earth Sangha offers dana directly to our session leaders, and we invite you to join us in supporting them if you value what is offered here.
Britt offers two options for sharing dana: Supporting her team’s work in partnership with Small Change Fund, or becoming a paid subscriber to her Substack newsletter, Gen Dread.
You may also wish to support One Earth Sangha. We offer this series at minimal cost in order to maximize participation, and any contribution you share is greatly appreciated.
Another way to support the training is to share your first-hand experience in a way that we can use to help inspire others to participate. We invite you to share your testimonial here.