Overcoming Barriers to Adapting Lifestyle for Climate Change with Yoga
Times demand we change our habits to more a sustainable lifestyle. The more I learn about my ecological footprint and my personal impact as a global citizen, the more critical it becomes to reduce my material goods consumption habits, and greenhouse gas emission and conserve water and natural resources for the sake of the climate crisis.
Because yoga and meditation practice has shown me how little invisible tweaks over a long period of time can result in more prominent visible change, I’m hopeful that as a society we can transition our lifestyles. Training my mind not to be pulled in unhealthy directions allows me to stay focused in a positive way. Making sustainable choices about food, conserving resources such as shutting the water off when I brush my teeth, not driving as much, and consuming much less overall, has been the practice of yoga–off the mat. However, I’ve encountered a common attitude about climate change from disbelief and denial to overwhelm and shut down, noticing people are slow to lower their ecological footprint stating, “why should I do it if everyone around me doesn’t bother?”
I came across an interesting interview with Espen Stoknes, a Norwegian psychologist and author of a book What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming. (Schiffman, 2015). It turns out that, pain, difficulty, constraint, and adversity is something most people are averse to experiencing and therefore, withdraw or turn the other cheek and in general, and have an uneasy time addressing. For those who can embrace this kind of tension, barriers to selflessness, generosity, and philanthropy disappear and more compassion and understanding for those in hardship leads to acts of greater acts of kindness.
Stoknes’ book outlines five (5) psychological barriers when resisting change that can apply to anything in life: distant, doom, denial, dissonance, and identity. When people turn away from difficulties, familiar buffers such as the cushion of materialism, brand names, protect their insecurities by giving a false sense of status and a temporary feeling of being uplifted. Instead, the tendency is to turn away, disconnect, and object to any downgrade in lifestyle even if that is what it will ultimately take to lower ecological imbalances. For many others, including those in underserved populations, sustainable options like shopping local or paying a few cents more for renewable power, might not be possible based on strained financial means. Here are my thoughts on the Stoknes' five psychological barriers:
DISTANT
Many people are overwhelmed and struggling with "today." They don't have enough energy to think about thirty years from now. Many people are struggling to work and feed their families. Often it means just getting through the week to make the rent and thoughts about the future might be directed to next month’s bills. People who have a mortgage or a retirement plan might be accustomed to making regular contributions that will lead to gain over time but are not thinking about their personal impact on the whole of that planet or the future of their children and grandchildren. They might not be aware at how the world population grew from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 7.2 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach 9 million by 2050. People might not recognize that to continue as “usual” is simply not sustainable. (Raven, 2015).
DOOM AND GLOOM
Doom and gloom can spread pessimistic lethargy. People don’t always have enough "will power and positive energy on their own to act." Activism is about having the energy to act, and this is especially true if you are a leader. An Ayurvedic physician, Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, gave me this advice about being a healing leader, "You have to have enough fire in you, to burn up the dross in others." It takes effort to resist the pull of gloom and restraint not to take everyone else down with you. We owe it to those around us to make the effort to lift each other up.
DISSONANCE
The expression, "If you can't see it, you can't feel it" really resonates here. Unless you are a global citizen, living in places that are directly impacted by climate change or engage in world news, you don't understand what is happening outside of your neighborhood. I watched this great video of Greta Thunberg and her father Svante this week (see video file resource below). Svante shared his story about how Greta's activism transformed their family’s consumption habits, diet choices, travel patterns and more. He describes the inevitable awakening to changing lifestyle habits resulted as he became more an informed global citizen. (UPFSI, 2018).
Lack of face-to-face confrontation with hardship and suffering causes people to lack empathy for others who are suffering. Stoknes made a comparison between underdeveloped countries faced with real suffering and contrasted it with lifestyles in developed countries having enough money to "stock up" as never to feel the direct negative impact. I feel the barrier of dissonance is widely applicable.
DENIAL
This barrier is a protective mechanism preventing someone from feeling outer pain caused by surrounding circumstances or inner pain from some form of guilt, dislike, aversion or even loathing. Instead of feeling discomfort, the person shuts it all out. When a person is not able to look inward to deal with something they are shutting it out. A person must blame and deflect the cause of pain onto others to justify shutting it out. Deniers are never wrong, but everyone else is. Denial is a survival strategy to protect oneself from the pain of reality.
IDENTITY
Identity was the most interesting barrier. We are shaped by our values and often they were passed on to us depending on the family we were born into or the experiences that shaped our sense of who we are today. If you were raised to value wealth and aspire to having multiple residences, many brand new cars, become a big consumer, you might have a substantial carbon footprint and it could be more difficult to change lifestyle. However, if you’ve been raised to value being frugal you might drive fuel-efficient or electric car, live in a simple home and be interested in conserving your money or saving it for a well thought purchase. I feel that it is important to look ahead and commit to putting energy to good use for the benefit future generations. Can you commit to local sustainable farming, carpool more, take shorter showers, recycle, reduce waste, adjust thermostat or call your legislator as an engaged citizen?
Values shape identities. Some identities are more accessible to adapt to zero-waste and emissions policies than others. The idea to adjust to a simplistic, zero-waste, healthy, plant-based lifestyle in harmony with nature feels good.
When it comes to climate change and adapting to lifestyle changes the yogic principles can be summarized below:
“Through the practice of postures (asana), breathing (pranayama) and meditation (dharna), mind, body, and breath are linked making practical thoughts, positive feelings, and calmed senses easier to access. Living in moderation, a yogi adheres to a non-harming (ahimsa), non-grasping (aparigraha) way of life, because to hoard would mean that you would be taking from someone else in need (asteya). To a yogi, happiness comes from within (santosa) and not from material goods or by comparing oneself to another’s status. There are additional yogic codes of conduct and personal observance that make it easier to adapt to a reduced ecological footprint lifestyle change. The ability to observe and contemplate (svadhyaya) one's thoughts with discerning truthfulness (satya) especially about one’s actions and the impact it has on another.
Resource conservation and respectful stewardship are crucial to how we use land and treat the earth (brahmacharya) as well as develop compassion (karuna) for all living species. Purification (saucha) to curb excessive lifestyle habits is addressed through self-regulating rigor (tapas). Yoga (union) is a practice that can restrain unhealthy overindulgence (bhoga), which may lead to addictive tendancies. Regardless of food, substance, shopping, or any other form of obsession. Due to restlessness and mental stress, imbalances take the path of disease (roga). In this regard, the yogi takes responsibility to curb unhealthy desires.
Because one identifies deeply with the essence of divinity (Ishvara pranidhana), growth and social-emotional maturity, is an inevitable path by which spiritual realization (Samadhi) is possible. Adapting to a sustainable lifestyle is possible based on values embodied through cultivated action and will power (Shakti).The heatless fire (agni) that illuminates, is refined through balancing the cooling and heating practices of yoga and lights the lamp of knowledge along with a clear path for others to follow.”
Stokens recommends reframing the climate change conversation from 'fear to hope' by telling stories of nature's power to regenerate to a healthier state of balance and how happiness does not come from material consumption. If we are going to adapt to changing behaviors for climate, it is important to solve our greatest social problems with everyone in mind.
We may find that the process of transforming our habits and adapting to a healthier state of balance, sharing our stories and advocating for each other bring a deep sense of satisfaction and true contentment.
Schiffman, R. (2015, July). How do we make people care about climate change? Yale Environment 360. Retrieved from https://e360.yale.edu/features/how_can_we_make_people_care_about_climate_change
Raven, P., Hassenzah, D., Hager, M., Gift, N., Berg, L. (2015). Environment (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
UPFSI. (2018, December). Greta & Svante Thunberg – Straight Talk. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiD04TRwebQ
