About the author

Emily (Em) Wright (they/them) is a queer somatic practitioner, designer, and educator. As a somatic coach, Em guides individuals and organizations in embodied transformation as a foundation for climate justice and collective liberation. They currently teach environmental studies at Seattle University. Em has worked for over a decade in social and ecological systems change with a focus on equitable climate solutions. They have collaborated with cities, counties, agencies, and Tribal nations to plan for climate adaptation and resilience, including: Washington State Department of Natural Resources; Yakama Nation (WA); City of Pleasanton, CA; and City of Flagstaff, AZ. They were on the coordination and facilitation team for the Washington Climate Assembly, the first ever in the U.S. Em has conducted research on local resource economies and resilience, including community gardening for anti-displacement in Chicago; seaweed farmer cooperation and trade in Indonesia; and environmental justice in China and Argentina. Em is a 2010 Udall Scholar and holds a BA in Anthropology from Northwestern University and MA in Geography from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. They currently live and work on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, Washington, the Duwamish People past and present.

Excerpts from the chapter

“All stress responses are valid—they are neurobiological tools to re-secure safety, dignity, and belonging. A climate trauma framework invites individuals into compassionate curiosity about their own responses and validates and builds empathy with other people’s diverse responses.”

“Like other types of trauma in our society, climate trauma is unequally distributed. Black and Indigenous communities and other communities of color have experienced disproportionate impacts from climate change and continue to do so, including displacement, loss of culturally important lands and species, financial setbacks, and physical and mental health impacts. Moreover, trauma and stress from climate change layer onto existing traumas from living within systems of oppression, adverse childhood and adult experiences, and intergenerational trauma.”

“Somatic practices can help us understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying our emotional and embodied experiences of climate disruption. They can heal traumas and expand our capacity to “read” our physical sensations, return to a sense of regulation, and mindfully respond to climate stress in a way that affirms our values, vision, purpose, and well-being.”

Additional resources

• Presentation at the 2021 Northwest Climate Conference: “Deepening our understanding of complex trauma and somatics for transformative healing”. 

• Series of accessible writings expanding on climate trauma and somatic healing: 

• Part 1: Embodying the Climate Crisis

• Part 2: Climate Stress Lives in the Body

• Part 3: Climate Repair: Healing Through Trauma

• Menakem, Resmaa. My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Las Vegas: Central Recovery Press, 2017.

• Haines, Staci. The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2019.

Chapter overview

Hiding underneath emotions about the climate crisis is the nervous system responding to threats to safety, dignity, and belonging. The range of responses—from despair to anxiety, rage to hopelessness—can be overwhelming and disorienting. However, understanding how the nervous system works in response to the myriad threats posed by climate change can offer validation, clarity, and a sense of grounded empowerment to navigate the emotional tides, and transform them into centered action. This chapter introduces somatics, or body-centered practices, as an approach to healing the stress and trauma related to climate change as it manifests in the body. Through a reading, practical activities, and reflection prompts, the exercise supports learners to become more aware of personal stress and learn somatic strategies to help find regulation and balance.

From awareness to action: next steps forward

After completing the activities in the chapter, here are some suggestions for what to do with the information you learn about your responses to the climate crisis:

• Affirm your nervous system response to climate change as a valid strategy to keep you safe, with a sense of dignity and belonging. 

• Share your experience with others by contributing to the online gallery and telling a friend, teacher, classmate, or family member.

• Reflect on your nervous system response by asking yourself how it tries to keep you safe and whether it gets in the way of you taking action aligned with your values.

• Consider trying to expand your options in how you respond to the climate crisis. If there’s anything about your nervous system response that doesn’t work or gets in the way, then consider these ways of metabolizing the energy: 

  • Fight: Express the energy without harming yourself or others, such as yelling into a pillow, pressing against a wall, or doing exercise.

  • Flight: Allow the energy to bring you away without completely disconnecting from others, such as by taking a short break in a quiet space by yourself or going for a walk outside.

  • Appease: Allow the energy to collapse with containment, such as curling up with a blanket around yourself or hugging a pillow, or placing a hand on your chest and collapsing around it.

  • Freeze: Shift the energy gently, such as by finding some gentle movement in your body like rocking or twisting your torso in one direction and then the other. 

  • Dissociate: Slowly bring the energy back into your body, such as by naming three things you can identify with each of your senses (e.g., three things you can see, hear, etc.).

• Engage with community to increase your social engagement response to climate change. For example, volunteer at a community garden, go to an organizing meeting, or attend an art class or a march. Regardless of which nervous system response you tend to experience with climate-related stress, social engagement helps our nervous system regulate.

Contact details 

Learn more about Em’s work and services, visit their website: emwright.co. They welcome opportunities to collaborate, coach individuals and groups, and facilitate workshops and programming.