I’ve known for a while that when I was little, one of the reason’s I had such a drive to excel academically was to get love and attention. What I didn’t realize was that this belief—learning being a critical way to get love—was still running the show!

The spiral of silence is that we stay silent with our opinions that we sense are in the minority. As a result, we stay silent on many things: what our opinions and emotions are, especially about contentious issues like climate change.

Climate change progress continues to be too slow. Many scientists say it’s inevitable that we’ll overshoot the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius. What can we do? In this blog I share some of my process in being with eco-anxiety, and new research that suggests the answer may be to welcome catastrophic thinking. To feel, think and act within the realities of the climate crisis. Luckily, Focusing can help with that.

How can we shift our habits? One way is to tap into the possibility of another way with Focusing. We then need to practice the new habit, until it becomes praxis (at least most of the time).

Most of the time our body wisdom is helpful. But sometimes it’s out of date. Learn how to tell the difference, including when to embrace procrastination, and when to use it as a sign that you’re ready to change something about yourself.

Focusing can give us the energy to take action steps. We can also ask the body for an action step. For example: “What action would I take if my body were like that?” But then we have to take the action steps for true change to occur.