Mochi4theplanet

Interested in learning more about the psychology of climate change? Read here:

Let’s face it, we are all climate deniers! 3 steps to put your denial to good use Denial of the climate crisis is a common response to perceived threat, but it can take different forms like disavowal, distancing, and moral disengagement.

Do you wonder how to talk to youth about climate change?

This week we are talking about climate change emotions!

Today, we will discuss Solastalgia 🌎🌊

It is important to remember that you are not alone and that this emotion is an expected response to climate change! It means you care 🤗

We have highlighted some ways to cope with solastalgia below 🌲✨

⭐️ Happy Friday Everyone! ⭐️

This week we introduced our new PC game, Kibou | The Guiding Light! 🎮🌎

Scroll through to see everything we want to accomplish through this action-adventure game and stay tuned for more details! 🤗

The MOCHI team has some exciting news to share! 🪐💫

Check it out below and stay tuned for more information coming later this week! 😊

IGDC 2022 India Game Developer Conference Unreal Engine

Practicing mindfulness is excellent for your physical and mental health 😌

Today, Mochi wants to highlight some of the ways mindfulness can benefit students 📖🧠🤗

Connecting with nature can be challenging when you live in a city! 🏙️

Mochi wants to show you some easy ways that you can connect to nature in an urban environment 🦋🐝🌤️

Finding some free time for nature can be difficult with a busy schedule, but it's possible! 😊

Here are some easy ways you can spend time in nature 🌿🌞🦋🐝🌻

P.S., Spending time in nature in the fall is beautiful! 😍

Find a local farm and check out the fall activities they have - bring your friends and family for a fun weekend outing 🎃🍂🍎

Another great way to practice mindfulness is by spending some time in nature 🌤️🌺🌼

Spending time in nature is good for your mental health, and practicing mindfulness in nature enhances those benefits 🌲

If you're not sure what to do, check out these ways that can help strengthen your connection with nature 🌿💭

Being aware of your emotions and accepting them as they come is a great way to practice mindfulness 🌿

Check out Mochi's tips on emotional awareness below! 😊

Happy Mindful Monday! 🌿

Being mindful begins with being fully present. 😌

Today, Mochi wants to give you some tips on how to be fully present in your everyday life! Check them out below 😊

To be morally engaged with climate change, we need to hold ourselves accountable for our actions! 📣

This may be tough and you may not know how to start!

Check out mochi's list of ways to hold yourself accountable below! 😊

A possible reason that we feel disengaged from the climate crisis may be our way of thinking 💭

Reframing your thoughts is a great way to become more engaged with the climate crisis! 🌎

Read more below!

Introducing MOCHI bingo! 👏

In the past few months, what have you done to fight climate change? 🌎

Fill out your bingo card and post it in the comments! 😊

Here is some individual changes YOU can make to become morally engaged with climate change! 🤗

Mochi wants to talk about denial and moral disengagement regarding climate change! 🤗

Carleton University is hosting Psychology Mental Health Day today! 🧠🤗

Come check out the Mental Health Day events in the Richcraft Atrium from 1:30-4:00! 🖤❤️

See you there!

Are you having trouble connecting with nature in an urban environment? 🌲🏙🌷

Try this mindfulness exercise! 💫

🌎

✨ MOCHI Research at Carleton University ✨

Last fall, the MOCHI team conducted a study to examine youths emotional responses to climate change, and how those emotions relate to climate action.

Read about our research in the picture below!

✨🌎 Climate Change Emotions 🌎✨

The thought of climate change can bring up many different feelings, emotions, and moods. As a result, it is important to recognize and identify these emotions, so that we can learn how to express them 🌸

Climate emotions are related to psychological well-being and health.

Climate change may lead individuals to experience positive emotions, such as resiliency, hope, and optimism! 🤗

However, climate change can also evoke feelings of fear, guilt, worry, anger, anxiety, and grief.

Emotions related to climate change can also bring up specific feelings tied to our uncertainty about the future of the planet. Some climate change-specific emotions are:

🌲Solastalgia – sadness or despair from experiencing a loss of land one feels a connection to.

🌲Eco-anxiety – anxiety arising from the uncertainty of the planet’s future because of climate change.

🌲Ecological grief – a feeling of a loss of identity from the destruction of the physical environment.

🌲Eco-guilt – feeling guilty or remorseful for not engaging in climate-friendly behaviours.

🌲Eco-paralysis – feeling as if one cannot engage in meaningful pro-environmental behaviours.

It is normal to feel these emotions! Everyone may feel any of these emotions at any given time, and sometimes we feel many different emotions all at once. If this happens to you, you are not alone! 🤗

What climate-change emotions are you experiencing today?

✨What are emotions? ✨

Emotions are complex psychological states that involves a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioural response. They are reactions that we experience in response to certain situations or events.

A subjective experience can be classified as any event or situation that you are present. It is subjective because the same situation could make some people happy while making others sad.

A physiological response is also a component of emotions. Emotions can produce physiological changes in the brain that are sometimes accompanied by a physiological response. Our physiological responses are regulated by our sympathetic nervous system. For example, when one is anxious, they may feel nauseous or have a sore stomach. 🧠

The behavioural response is the actual expression of an emotion. For example, when we are happy, we smile. Human beings also spend a lot of time interpreting other peoples’ emotions. Emotional intelligence is our ability to understand the emotions that people around us are expressing.

There are several different types of emotions. Primary emotions are emotions that humans experience universally, and many theories classify happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise as the primary emotions.

Our daily lives are heavily influenced by our emotions. We make decisions throughout the day based on whether we are happy, angry, sad, bored, anxious, etc.

Understanding our emotions and recognizing why we feel that way helps us experience life easily and makes our lives more stable. 🤗

Mochi wants you to go outside and be mindful in nature! 🌲🐝🌸

We want to see your photos, tag Mochi4theplanet 🌎

🌲Mindfulness & Nature Connection🌲

Nature connectedness involves recognizing that we share space with the natural world, which can be influenced by our beliefs, attitudes and behaviours about the environment.

Nature connectedness can provide many benefits including life satisfaction, lower stress and anxiety, and positive emotions! 😊

Being mindful in nature, where one’s attention is directed to the elements of the natural environment, can be important for providing a sense of calm, recharging your mental battery, and help bring a feeling of interconnectedness with the world.

Next time you’re in nature, take a moment to take in the beauty of the environment. Specifically, what do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? You will be surprised how relaxed you will feel!

Are you living in an urban area and feeling detached from nature? Well, there are many ways you can incorporate nature into your daily life:

- Rearrange your living space so that you have more
access to windows and/or light! ☀️
- Adopt a houseplant! 🌱
- Go for a walk outside! 👣

✨Weekend Challenge!✨

Face Your Inner Dragons🐲

Check out Dr. Robert Gifford's Dragons of Inaction:

https://www.dragonsofinaction.com/

🌿What is moral disengagement?🌿

Moral disengagement occurs when a person convinces themselves that ethical standards do not apply to them within a particular context. In the context of climate change, moral disengagement is prominent. ⚡️

Bandura (2007) proposed that understanding moral disengagement is crucial to overcoming the barriers that stand in the way of sustainability. 🌱

It is important to note that it is okay to feel this way! Moral disengagement is considered a type of coping in response to the climate change crisis because it allows people to behave in ways that might hurt the environment while suppressing the negative emotions that accompany the behaviour. 🌚

How can people become morally engaged with climate change?

1) Make Individual Changes 🚴
Do not disregard your individual behaviours! You may believe that anything you do as an individual will not have any effect on climate change, but that is not the case! Remember that the cumulative actions of one person can make a big difference.

2) Hold Yourself Accountable 😊
In the context of climate change, when people do not hold themselves accountable for their own actions they engage in diffusion of responsibility. Individuals normally feel less responsible because they believe it is up to governments and organizations to make a change. It is important to hold yourself accountable for your own actions and remember that we need to work together to solve the issue of climate change. We can’t solve this issue on our own and we need to come to the realization that we, as individuals, are all collectively responsible.

3) Reframe Behaviours 🧘🏾
When it comes to climate change, people attempt to reframe their harmful behaviours into morally justified ones through comparison. You may think that your engagement in pro-environmental behaviours is better compared to your friends’ behaviours. To become morally engaged, remember that nobody is perfect and there is always room for improvement. Just because you are behaving more pro-environmentally than your friends doesn’t mean that you should stop trying to be better!

It is normal to feel morally disengaged from climate change. Climate change is a large issue that makes us feel overwhelmed and anxious. Diffusing responsibility and thinking that you can’t individually make a difference are normal reactions too. Being aware of and accepting that these feelings are normal is the first step to becoming morally engaged. Try and remind yourself that accepting responsibility for your own behaviour and being empathetic towards others goes a long way in the fight for climate justice. 🙌

What is Denial?🌎✨

Our brains are not equipped to deal with complex concepts such as climate change. The issue makes us feel threatened, and we then engage in strategies such as denial to make ourselves feel better.

In the climate change context, we experience many types of denial. For example, disavowal is a kind of denial that is softer, in the sense that we have “one eye open and one eye closed at the same time” (Wray, 2022). Another form of denial is simply distancing ourselves from the problem.

It is important to understand that the way we think about climate change shapes how we act on it.

Don’t worry! The important thing to remember is that denying the existence of climate change is completely normal. Denial is an expected response if you are feeling scared about climate change. If we didn’t engage in some form of denial, we would feel very overwhelmed and anxious!

So, how can we turn denial into acceptance and action?

It is important to be mindful of your understandable sense of denial, but do not react negatively to this feeling – accept that it is a normal feeling/thing to do when faced with climate change!

Remember, the power of acceptance is the freedom that comes with it. Now that you are accepting of the issue, your internal fear can be useful! Being present and accepting our emotions helps build a meaningful connection to the problem and can drive the way we act on it.