Resources for Resilient Families and Ecospiritual Kids
Ecospirituality supports well-being in people of all ages. This year Novasutras entered into a close partnership with The Resilient Activist. They have great resources for ecospiritual kids and their families. In August they’ll be offering a class to help families with healthy responses to the climate crisis. Their website also provides Nature Stories videos and recommended activities, and links to research on the relationships between climate, nature connection, and mental health for young people.
Young people need support in dealing with the emotions surrounding the climate crisis. The prestigious journal Nature published a 2021 study of how 10,000 young people are feeling about climate change. Researchers found that nearly 60% felt ‘very worried’ or ‘extremely worried’ about climate. Young people report experiences of sadness, anxiety, anger, and powerlessness in their everyday lives.
A Class for Your Resilient Family: How Will We Respond to Global Warming?
Mindfulness teacher (and board member of The Resilient Activist) Pam Hausner is leading a four-week course in resilience for young people and their parents. Based on the book All the Feelings Under the Sun: How to Deal with Climate Change by Leslie Davenport, this series takes an honest yet hopeful approach to confront the climate emergency.
This family course – for parents WITH their children – may be best suited for those with children in middle or high school, however, some activities can be done by younger children.
This interactive course:
- takes a candid look at climate change,
- teaches mindfulness skills suitable for all ages, and
- inspires with stories of young people who are making a difference in building a healthier, safer world.
Simple activities to do between class sessions will help families with integrating positive changes in their everyday lives.
Throughout August, Pam Hausner will be teaching these principles through guided meditation, journaling, and open discussion.
Nature Stories Nourish Ecospiritual Kids
How do you inspire a lifelong passion for the planet? Start early!
Nature Stories Around the World grow children’s interest in and connection with Nature. In a video series, readers share engaging picture books with tales of our other-than-human neighbors and the secrets only they can share. Other books are recommended that families can read together.
Nature-Inspired Activities Nurture Connections
The Resilient Activist children’s resources include suggestions for some simple activities to help kids reconnect with Nature. A handful are brief, solo activities: a child can focus on their sensory experiences of Nature, or talk to a tree. Others are more extensive projects or lesson ideas: exploring the details of specific places in Nature, or watching things change through the seasons. Some are structured as group activities or projects: from following rain’s paths and learning about watersheds, to hosting a “Council of All Beings” ritual or a Biomimicry Design Challenge.
Mental Health for Ecospiritual Kids and Young Adults
Academic research shows that youth are experiencing eco-anxiety, climate grief and other forms of distress as they confront the signs of The Great Unraveling all around us. One study in Nature found that a majority of young people report being “extremely worried” or “very worried” about the climate crisis, and that 45% say it is affecting them every day.
There’s no question why young people feel angry — they stand to inherit a world afflicted by climate change and face the impacts for more years of their life should the trajectory of inaction persist.
American Climate Perspectives Survey 2022
Our allies at The Resilient Activist are tracking important research on how climate and other environmental issues affect mental health in young people, particularly in the most affected people and areas, and ways that activism, nature connection and ecospiritual community can help kids cope with these stresses.
How are the young people in your life affected by the climate emergency and other signs of ecological unraveling? How can we better support kids through ecospirituality and connection with Nature?
![Tree with roots exposed. Photo by Aaron Escobar [CC BY 2.0]](https://i0.wp.com/novasutras.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/800px-exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg?fit=768%2C567&ssl=1)