Rachael Alaia joins me on the Belonging podcast for a potent and important conversation about facing an uncertain future in the midst of eco collapse, ecocide, and the grief and anxiety that comes with it. Many of us across the globe are experiencing more extreme weather and natural disasters (the fires here in California being just one example), and Rachael helps folx engage in body awareness, ecological sentience, and personal inquiry for personal planetary healing.
Together we talk about the physiological response to trauma as a result of ecogrief, finding community to co-regulate and creating a plan for environmental disaster, how to feel safe coexisting with others despite trauma, examining our reality through Systems Thinking, and honoring enjoyment and pleasure in the midst of grief work.
“We’re building our capacity to be with what is happening—not to just be comfortable, but to be able to face and shape the future together.” -Rachael Alaia
Resources:
- Glenn Albrecht coined the term “solastalgia” describing the mental or existential distress caused by environmental change
- The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy by Deb Dana
- The Work that Reconnects – the framework that Rachael is trained in, pioneered by Joanna Macy
- George Monbiot has coined this time the Age of Loneliness
- Healing Trauma by Peter Levine
- Somatic practices: pendulation and titration
- Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown
- Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown
More from Rachael Alaia:
How are you navigating ecogrief in these times?
Share in the comments below!
Credit for the phrase “be a good ancestor” goes to Arianna of Quw’utsun’ Made