10 Steps to Finding resilience for climate Anxiety


If you’re anything like me and at all concerned about our future on this planet, there’s a chance you’re familiar with various degrees of fear, anxiety, overwhelm or despair.

There’s also a chance you’ve experienced more uplifting feelings about the future as well - like hope, empowerment, unity, and the will to act.

Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Red Brigade’ are often seen grieving natures pain. Also symbolising the common blood we share with all species.

Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Red Brigade’ are often seen grieving natures pain. Also symbolising the common blood we share with all species.

I hit rock bottom in winter of 2019, filled with hopelessness and climate anxiety. With nowhere to go but up, I developed a practice of personal enquiry. I’m sharing this in the hope that what helped me will also help to steer us collectively towards mental resilience in the face of our uncertain future. The 10 steps enabled me to face what I’d been told were symptoms of ‘Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder’. They helped me cultivate the will to continue my work as a changemaker, partner, friend and civil participant.

To give you an indication on what rock bottom looked like, here is an excerpt from my submission to the NZ Governments Zero Carbon Bill, which I then presented in person to Members of Parliament.

I am concerned about the increasing amount of information coming from the scientific community about the impacts of our lifestyles exceeding planetary boundaries.

This concern has developed into a worry that affects every decision I make. Every new article I read about biodiversity loss, social instability and multifaceted climate crises increase the volume of an anxious drone which blurs my vision of a liveable future.

This affects the lives of many of my friends. For some of us, we struggle to see the faces of future generations – unable to reconcile their suffering against our inaction and apathy. For this reason I am choosing not to have children, a choice I believe has been taken away from me by the everyday choices that contribute to the culture which threatens our existence. I am anxious about how this is affecting my marriage. I am anxious about the way that all relationships between all living things on earth will be affected by what is to come.

This anxiety often leads to overwhelm, which can be paralysing at times. Two weeks ago I fell into a depression that allowed me to cry for the first time in a long time, so I'm grateful for that. I'm seeing a therapist and have identified symptoms of Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder – but I don't believe I'm the one with the disorder. I believe the disorder is our cultures' numbness to natures grief. I believe the disorder is in the distraction, and the denial that we are killing our species in the process of killing our planet - of course, these are one and the same.

One and the same.

I would like to see our leadership acknowledge that we are one and the same, except one cannot live without the other. Economy exists only within society. Society only exists with ecology. It's time to flip the script to reflect reality.

I wish to see a shift from an economic focus to an ecological focus. I wish to see mokopuna-decision-making, taking us towards a dignified descent from the energy intensive lifestyles the last few generations have developed. Existing within the living memories of our elders alive today, we need legislation that returns us to a meaningful life beyond the industrial growth economy.

Yeah, it got pretty bad there for a bit. I’m still clawing my way back from this episode. I offer the following 10 steps in the hope that it is helpful for anyone struggling to imagine a future for themselves or their children (imagined, or otherwise).

10 steps to climate anxiety resilience

  1. Acknowledge I am part of the problem, as well as being part of the solution
    Learn to live with the uncertainty and uncomfortable nature of this paradox

  2. Accept that I am nature, and that what's good/bad for nature is good/bad for me too
    Economy lives within society, and society lives within nature - not the other way around

  3. Allow myself to sense, feel and rest when I need to
    Acting from feeling has a better impact than doing from thinking

  4. Take time to connect with something or someone beyond myself
    The most healing/reflective experiences are often spending time in community, with animals or in nature

  5. Be familiar with my privilege, suspend judgement, and make friends with my shadows
    If I find myself in judgement of someone, ask 'what does it mean to be you?'

  6. Be mindful that this has all happened before, and will happen again.
    Being alive is a fatal condition, a blink of an eye in the infinite expanse of deep time

  7. Practice presence and gratitude - joy and curiosity will follow
    Nature only knows the present moment, where there's no such thing as right and wrong

  8. Remember I am not alone and I have a unique and valuable job to do
    There are numerous roles to play in creating a more beautiful world our hearts knows is possible

  9. Celebrate my wins and share my challenges with others
    It's an important community function to laugh and cry and dance and solve problems together!

  10. Take action when the time is right
    Creating meaningful change need not feel like 'a fight'

Leo Murray