I wish I didn’t get a cry voice when...

“I was walking with my dad and sharing what I thought about the climate crisis… and I wish I didn’t get a cry voice when I talk about how millions of people are going to die.”

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I heard this from a sustainability manager, let’s call her Sarah, that I coached on ecoanxiety.

She was asking a question I often hear: How do I acknowledge the climate crisis, say that it’s urgent AND not attack people?

Have you felt this?

An emotion that sticks in your throat and chokes you up when you try to explain why the climate and ecological emergency scares you?

How you feel lonely because the world doesn't seem to recognise the scale of the crisis?

All of these feelings are why somatic work is so important in coaching.

‘Somatics’ basically means that we learn to notice sensations in our bodies and gain more skill at understanding what our bodies are telling us.

And when it comes to somatics — working with the feelings and sensations in your body — it can be simple stuff like shaking or changing your posture to break out of your current emotional state.

It can also be more fun like noticing the direction of movement in your body (an internal spin) or concentrating on a body part and seeing what wisdom it offers.

I invited Sarah to associate these two sides with her two hands:

✋ On one hand, she wants to be able to talk about 2C of warming with family and friends without getting too emotional

🤚On the other hand, she doesn’t want to make anyone else feel anxious and overwhelmed.

Focusing on Sarah’s hands helped her move past that cry voice to understand the positive intentions under each side.

Elbows up and braced against her rib cage, we did some deep breaths together and then Sarah was asked to imagine an image to represent the two sides – talking more about the urgency of the climate crisis verse approaching people with curiosity and compassion rather than alarm.

In this calm state I asked again, “what’s the positive intention under each hand?”

“Love.”

“Care.”

Sarah’s whole face and body changed as she said this, her jaw and shoulders relaxed in the realisation and she came out of this little somatic practice smiling.

When she imagined talking to her father in the future about the climate crisis she couldn’t find that cry voice.

Even though my coaching often takes place online, we will still bring movement and our bodies into our calls.

If you’re at all intrigued to take part in a group that incorporates somatic practices into talking about climate action – you’re going to love coaching with me.

Send me a message for a free consultation to play with some of these techniques.