how empathy saves the earth
One hypothesis about how we got to where we are from a climate perspective:
Humans have become largely disconnected to their relationship with nature and therefore, earth.
Seen as a commodity more than a living, breathing work of art - earth has been, unsustainably, stripped down to her resources and in many cases, seen more prevalently on screen than with our own eyes.
how do we reconnect?
Intentionally, mindfully and DAILY, we must get into nature. Like your morning coffee, daily workout or mental health practice, in order for us to realign with our planet with compassion and empathy, we must stand on the soil, notice the leaves, hear the birds and reclaim the essential importance of that relationship. We call her mother earth for a reason - and there is science supporting this as a direct catalyst to sustained environmentalism.
In Japan, they have practiced the art of Forest Bathing (known as shinrin yoku) for years, as a mental health practice and way to realign with higher meaning. "The practice of forest bathing has been found to lower blood pressure, heart rate, and levels of harmful hormones — like cortisol, which the body produces when stressed. This can help put you in a more calm and relaxed state."
At its core, these practices are a daily physical reconnect to the earth and her beautiful nature - most importantly, through the lens of empathy. We are currently using over "1.8 earths" (and counting) worth of natural resources, a certainly unsustainable - and short-sighted feat - and one that desperately calls for course correction.
the psychology (and science) behind it
A great way to developing this kind of mindset is to nurture a suite of feelings known as “self-transcendent emotions," otherwise known as Empathy, Gratitude and Awe. There are a few ways that empathy, scientifically, is being shown as an accelerant to environmentalism + conservation.
Firstly, Dispositional empathy with nature (DEN), refers to a tendency to understand and share the emotional experience of the natural world.
In five studies with 817 participants, DEN robustly and uniquely predicted conservation behavior.
Females, respondents who felt close to nature, and participants who considered nature to be sentient exhibited stronger DEN.
There are a number of known determinants of conservation behaviors, which include things like: emotional involvement with nature, environmental concern, values, personality traits and social desirability bias. DEN sheds light on several under-explored areas of conservation psychology (such as the role of physical connection to nature & the gender gap in environmentalism), and provides hopeful proof for the promotion of environmentalism.
empathy + eating plants for others
Secondly, transgenerational empathy – can help guide our decisions to impact us today and for generations to come. This can include actions like eating less red meat, helping our own cardiovascular health as well as the health of existing ecosystems in danger of ruin by harmful agricultural practices.
Empathy for future generations creates a positive emotional lift which can transcend short-term impulses – to take a car vs. mass transit, choosing frequent meat consumption vs. a plant based diet - and further, refusing single use plastics rather than picking up that oh so easy soda during a road trip.
Some of this simply requires planning ahead - and definitely requires awareness, along with strong will.
But for all its power + grace, empathy can be fragile, if not mindfully worked towards and cultivated. As we have seen play out in very public ways in America, people find it challenging to empathise with opposing views from their own, politically, racially and ideologically. Alternatively, empathy comes naturally when we have direct access to people’s emotional cues – voices, faces, stories.
Such limits can definitely be overcome. Like other emotions, people can regulate empathy with practice, and right now, our planet needs it more than ever.
Let's re-invite earth to be our closest confidant and greatest healer.
15 easy ways to reconnect to earth:
Go on a local hike
Take daily activities outside - coffee, meals, brainstorming, painting, etc.
Go barefoot, sit or lay down in the grass
Make a daily practice of taking 5 minutes to notice the sky
Plant something - and subsequently nurture it
Get into a forest (meditate on your appreciation, if you're willing)
Take an extended break from technology
Reduce/Eliminate Plastic for a specific time frame - then extend it!
Eat from the earth (locally grown fruits, vegetables - or grow your own)
Limit food waste (reuse, upcycle and compost the rest)
Do your own local litter cleanup (any day, any time)
Walk instead of drive
Bring Nature Indoors - Houseplants, herbs, rocks, crystals - reminders of the beauty and abundance of our planet
Notice the details in nature with Awe (smell the flowers, notice the insects, dive in the water)
Give yourself gratitude for your mindful efforts.
We love the idea of living more of our lives with Empathy, Gratitude + Awe. Anyone else in for our Self-Transcendent Emotion Club? It will convene after our Tree Huggers Non-Anonymous.
