Regenerative Culture
Personal Wellbeing = Communal Wellbeing = Global Wellbeing
We live in urgent times, where mounting crises aim to keep us in constant panic mode. We have just a small window of time in which to respond to climate and ecological collapse and humanity seems to be gaining speed toward destruction.
Yet, this urgency brings with it an unhealthy obsession with winning and achieving outcomes, a compulsion to get sh*t done. This infects the ways we come together and are rooted in the systems of dominance, extraction, and exploitation—the very structures we aim to dismantle as we create the world we know is possible.
Regenerative culture transforms the ways in which we organize and, in turn, the organizing transforms us. Creating regenerative culture reminds—and challenges—us to put care, connection, and wisdom at the heart of everything we do.
Personal Wellbeing
We strive to work in ways that are nourishing and sustainable. We encourage each other to take space to recognize needs as we all learn how to balance self-care with finishing tasks. Beyond simply avoiding burnout, we aspire to find joy, purpose, and creativity in our work.
Communal Wellbeing
A healthy community is a resilient community, but this doesn’t happen overnight. Everyday, we commit to cultivating empathy, trust, and a culture of care with each other so that we can more fully embody radical compassion and justice. Regenerative culture weaves through the way we run our meetings, how we gather, and how we hold space for conflict and, in tandem with the structures of our Self-Organizing System (SOS), helps us support each other into becoming our most authentic and loving selves. We also believe that a community that learns together is growing together.
Global Wellbeing
We recognize that humans are not separate from the planetary ecosystem, but play a vital role in caring for the earth. We humbly accept the daunting and sacred responsibility to both create and engage in systems that are life-giving and aligned with the wisdom of the earth. This calls for new economies and ways of governing ourselves that are built on an ethos of sharing and listening to all voices.
Practice With Us
The tips, tools, and inspiration below are meant as offerings to change the way we organize and thereby, change the way we live on this planet. You can use the quotes and questions for personal reflection, to share on social media, or as practices for your next meeting in order to get to know your fellow Rebels better and build trust and connection.
Regen Tips for Post-Action Care
Check in with your group immediately after the Action, and a few days later
Participate in any group debriefs after the action
Share with a close friend who gets it - and hear their appreciation
In your own way, nourish yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually
Take some relaxation and quiet time each day, without screens.
Spend some time in nature, remembering you are nature
Appreciate the beauty around you and in yourself
Listen to some music
Acknowledge what you’re grateful for
Reflect on the contribution you’ve made to the Earth and its life
Take some time for play and laughter
Pay attention to small pleasures
Connect with your own creativity
Get plenty of rest
Participate in an Embodied Anti-Racism meeting
Participate in a Climate Grief Circle
XR NYC Regen Circle is here to support you (and maybe you want to join us!): xrnyc.regen@protonmail.com
Understanding Earth Emotions
Earth Emotions are the positive and negative feelings that come up in relation to the health of our planet. The state of the Earth is reflected in the state of our minds and emotions.
Everyone engaging with the climate emergency will have their own emotional journey, and can be susceptible to a particular kind of stress due to the overwhelming nature of the problem. This can be very challenging to process, integrate, and communicate to other people.
It is important that we engage with others who understand and appreciate that these emotions are real and appropriate. We find solidarity and pathways in those connections and conversations. This is a fundamental part of Regenerative Culture.
Here are a few of the Earth Emotions that may come up:
Eco-Anxiety - is anxiety about ecological disasters and threats to the natural environment such as pollution and climate change.
Ecological Grief - is grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses - of species, ecosystems, and landscapes.
Eco-Paralysis - is the feeling you can’t do anything about any of it. This can appear as apathy, complacency, or disengagement.
Terrafurie - the extreme anger targeted at the self-destructive tendencies industrial-technological society, as well as towards those who command the forces of Earth destruction.
It’s also important to remember the positive emotions we have for each other and for the earth: Care, Compassion, Empathy, and Love.
Resource: glennaalbrecht.com
weekly Practice
“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and a richness to life that nothing else can bring.”
REFLECTION
How’s your heart doing?
PRACTICE
When’s the last time you felt really, really good? Set a timer for 2-5 minutes. Close your eyes and bring that memory to mind. What do you see, hear, feel? Focus on the sensations of pleasure, ease, joy, etc. and simply breathe into it.
GO DEEPER
Author and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg talks about the importance of actively loving ourselves in her book Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection. In this article, Salzberg reminds us: “It's not just that we need to be careful of naked people offering us their shirts because we will be disappointed. Those naked people will often be wanting to do the generous, caring thing, but find themselves despairing because they know they just don't have what it takes to make a sustained effort to make a difference. There is hollowness on both sides, giving and receiving.”
Cultivating our inner love reservoir is essential for being able to sustainably love others. For more exercises to cultivate self-compassion, check out expert Dr. Kristin Neff’s Guided Meditations and Exercises. Practices range from 5 to 24 minutes.
RECENT PRACTICES
