Explore our Supporting Mental Health collection of classes. These classes honor our connection with nature and can help ground the nervous system. You’ll feel the hearts and passions of the teachers as you do in all Glo classes. They beautifully weave in the themes of our interconnectedness with nature into the breathwork, the movements, and the stillness.

Understanding Eco-Anxiety and Its Impact

Eco-Anxiety describes a broad area of human experiences, causing us noticeable tension and hidden forms of stress. The American Psychology Association defines eco-anxiety as the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm emerging from our observation of the irrevocable impact of climate change and our associated concerns for the future.

It can also be known as climate anxiety or environmental anxiety. Eco-anxiety can be felt on a spectrum. And it’s important to remember that some people are more directly affected by the climate crisis than others. Eco-therapists are becoming more prevalent. The Climate Psychology Alliance is a community of mental health professionals who educate and train mental health professionals in climate-aware practices and inform the public about the mental health impacts of climate change.

We know, too, that the environment includes all of the conditions and connections that inform our greater human experience —personally and spiritually, in family and work, in our relationships and society, as inhabitants of our shared planet. Humans are anxious because we have evolved to be concerned, caring, and aware of our surroundings, situations, and prospects.

Anxiety can disable and disorient. It can devitalize our intentions, blunt our actions, and even paralyze us. But such anxiety can also fuel positive transformation.

 

Strategies for Managing Eco-Anxiety Through Yoga

When addressing any anxiety, we can look within and without. As deeply personal as this process of self-engagement must be for each of us, we can transform some anxiety into attention, awareness, and appreciation when we gather our collective resources. The path forward is the path we make together.

One of the meanings of yoga is engagement with our truest feelings and so our ability to recognize the human potential to transform, evolve and create. We can develop intentions, commit to practices, and implement meaningful change when we see ourselves, our individual gifts, and abilities contributing to the greater whole. Yoga means to yoke, not to bind but to connect so that we move forward together. The key is a sustainable practice that we can learn and share.

When we develop sustainable practices, we learn not only to cope but address the sense of being overwhelmed with better possibilities and opportunities for self-evolution. When we have a path of engagement and empowerment, we can connect with greater awareness, understanding, and genuine commitments that foster hope and create meaningful actions. We’re anxious when we feel too alone, isolated, and helpless. We’re empowered when we recognize our concerns and know we need each other.

We can learn to reach out for help, which helps us reach further inside ourselves. We can create networks of connection and transform our inner anxiety into creative engagements. When we have ways to address experiences of anxiety, we gain confidence, trust, and a greater willingness to effect change that recommits to the future. What began as debilitating anxiety can become mindful and skillful inspired action.

When we take time for self-care, we’re equipped to help our communities and planet. Answer the call of your heart and our Earth, who provides for us and nourishes us and future generations. Take care of yourself! Our world needs you!  

At Glo, care and concern for our shared planet is a vital feature of our why. Our mission is to connect people through self-care so that, together, we can heal ourselves and our planet.

We aim to celebrate interconnectedness with nature and take time to care for our planet. Our bodies, hearts, and minds nourished, we can commit more deeply to helping our loved ones, our communities, and the planet in healthy and sustainable ways.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. At Glo, we’re highlighting issues connected with eco-anxiety. 

As the realities of climate change and its consequences become more plainly manifest, we may experience worry and rumination, insomnia, feelings of sadness, guilt, and hopelessness. These emotions can lead to shallow breathing and bodily tensions. But these unhealthy prospects are not inevitable outcomes. When we feel more connected, our awareness reaches through anxiety and our ability to change for the better.

Taking individual action will help us all address eco-anxiety. In the newly released book, One Green Thing, Discover Your Hidden Power to Help Save the Planet, our friend, environmentalist Heather White is helping people deal with the direct, personal consequences of climate change. Heather reminds us, It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment for the planet. Learn more about Heather and the One Green Thing initiative in our podcast episodes, Eco-Anxiety and the connection between protecting our planet and self-care and Ease eco-anxiety: Your sustainability superpower can protect our planet.

When we better understand how we can help our planet, we will seek out a sustainable, daily practice that serves us as individuals and that we can share with others.

Explore our Supporting Mental Health collection of classes. These classes honor our connection with nature and can help ground the nervous system. You’ll feel the hearts and passions of the teachers as you do in all Glo classes. They beautifully weave in the themes of our interconnectedness with nature into the breathwork, the movements, and the stillness.

Care for ourselves and our care for our planet are inextricably woven together, a beautiful dance of interconnectedness. Glo means to express this connection with deeper commitments. Our giveback initiatives are now dedicated to helping our planet even as we create practices that foster mindful living.

 

Partnering for Positive Change: Glo’s Collaboration with SeaTrees

We need to heal our planet, cut emissions, invest in renewable energy, and encourage Earth to heal itself. Nature provides the most sophisticated system for removing and sequestering carbon emissions.  

We are happy to partner with SeaTrees as our dedicated giveback partner. Their work to restore coastal ecosystems connects inspired vision with committed efforts that will affect positive change.

Emissions reductions alone will not be enough to solve climate change. Removing CO2 from the atmosphere is proving critical to protecting ocean health. Glo’s partnership means that we will be able to plant trees and protect ecosystems in more effective and natural ways, sequestering CO2 and advancing the health of the environment. Partnership means progress together.

During May, many Glo members are participating in a challenge to prioritize self-care and help our planet. Complete any 6 Glo classes during May and receive a free 1-month Gift of Glo membership to give to a friend. Then, with the help of SeaTrees, our sustainability partner, we will plant a mangrove tree for you and your friend. You must opt-in to participate in this Mental Health May challenge. 

New to Glo? During May we welcome you to join Glo today and receive 24% off our annual membership. In addition, we will plant 5 mangrove trees through our sustainability partner, SeaTrees. Once you join, you can opt-in for the Mental Health May challenge and help plant more trees. Our support team can help guide you, contact support@glo.com.

Thanks for being here. Take care of yourself. Our world needs you more than ever.

 

 

Lisa Brooks Mills
Glo’s Chief Impact Officer