Have you ever wondered where the problems in the world today would exist if we have deeper connection to ourselves, others, and the environment, and acted from that place? Welcome to the Conscious Action Podcast with your host Brian Berneman, who believes that connection is the key to taking conscious action as individuals and create a better world. We are here to raise awareness and inspire meaningful action by sharing stories, knowledge, and conversations.
With thought leaders and change makers, from sustainability to wellbeing, and everything related to conscious living, our mission is to empower you to be the change that you wanna see in the world. Welcome everyone to a new episode of the Conscious Action Podcast. I am Brian Berneman, your host, and for this episode, I wanted to explore how our personal development journey, uh, focus on our wellbeing.
or whether we want to call it a spiritual development, can actually be a path to climate action, and how it can actually be a climate action itself. So I know for me, when I started my journey, I wasn't as aware as I am now of not only what's going on in the world with climate and all of its changes. And all of its impacts and all of the injustices in the world, I also didn't feel as connected because I was disconnected from myself. I was living in what I call autopilot.
Most of us live Our lives unconsciously versus doing things in autopilot, just like when sometimes we get on the car and we drove somewhere and we don't know how we got there. It's because we are living in autopilot. When we're able to take some responsibility and look at our lives and look at our tendencies and our behaviors.
and our patterns and the way that we are engaging with ourselves, the way that we are engaging with others, then that can be what leads us to climate action, to realize that there's something that needs to be changed, that something isn't working for either everyone or for most people, or even if it's for some, if something on our system is not working, What can we do if we don't even realize that we care about that?
And if we are on survival mode, if we are so wrapped up in our own lives that there's no space really for doing anything else. And a lot of times in the Climate action space. I find that there's a lack of understanding of our well being, our mental health, our physical health, our emotional health, um, the approaches that a lot of times are used. Um, I think they're conducive to burnout, are conducive to more separation, to more fighting.
Um, this doesn't mean that what's going on, it shouldn't be done or that it's wrong. It's just my perspective on what's happening based on the fact that I came to this space. Of being an advocate for change and caring about the environment and caring about creating changes in the systems and in the world and our communities through my own personal life and my own personal transformation and evolution, as I have talked in many of the episodes.
I didn't know what I know now, I embarked on a self discovery process that led me to an understanding of how disconnected I was from my body, from my feelings, from my experience. of how disconnected I was from the things that I actually cared about, my values and the things that I stood for. Um, once I got much better understanding of none of that and some of my, uh, traumas that I've been on that healing journey.
then it's been so much easier to engage in a change of behavior, a change of lifestyle, one that is much more conducive to my well being, and in extension of that, to the well being of those around me and my environment. Because I am much more aware of the impact of my actions. So a lot of times, you know, I, I know that yes, there's this urgency of how things are and when they need to change.
And one of the things that I keep on telling people is that if they do focus on themselves, if they make themselves a priority, that is a climate action itself. It might not seem on paper because they might not be changing, um, such an abrupt outward facing behavior. But the inner changes that we go through as we embark on a transformational journey, on a discovering journey for ourselves, or a healing journey, that can lead so much to later an outward change.
But even in the meantime, the fact that we are changing our own behaviours. Internally starts to have, uh, an imprint on those around us and when we're able to share with those around us, uh, a vibrant energy that is not so stressful. It's not so overwhelming. It's not. You know, um, so rigid and it's much more caring, much more compassionate, much more loving our relationships start to change.
People start to notice then they can take that on board and that can have such a huge ripple effect because when we actually feel Safe, when we feel comfortable in our own skin, we don't need to consume as much because we know that the things that we are consuming, that for most of us, there's It's a way of escaping our reality, a way of trying to get something that we feel unworthy or incomplete.
That behavior starts to change, therefore what we buy changes, what we consume changes, which is a big part of climate action. Yes, this is individual so far, but it is a climate action to take care of yourself. If you are not in survival mode, if you're not on stress mode, if you feel safe, you are bound to change your purchases. It doesn't mean that you need to stop everything or that you have to change.
I just know From my own experience and from the hundreds of people that I've seen through the years that when we change internally, what we do changes. And when we do that, some of us will understand that also how we want to show up is in a more, let's call it leadership role. Whether that is for the community or for an organization. company, business, or even in a bigger sphere. And what we are showing is not just the outward behavior, it is also an inner way of being.
So we are modeling to others what it is like to create a change outwardly. From a peaceful, relaxing space. This, sometimes, I feel like, you know, there's not that many people that you can see that are in that space. There's a lot of people, and I'm so grateful for a lot of the, um, you know, people that speak up, that are Really courageous to put themselves up there, uh, in the trenches and to, and to do a lot of work that isn't necessary.
What I see is that most of them, then, that has a huge impact on their mental health and their well being. Most of them are burnt out. And this is what I am so passionate about that inner revolution to create the outer revolution. When we transform internally, we can create that revolution and the revolution doesn't need to be, you know, uh, like such, uh, out there fighting style, which is, you know, everyone their own way.
But it can be a change of consciousness that wakes us up to a different way of being, a different way of doing, a different way of behaving, a different way of engaging with the resources that our Mother Earth provides for us and how are we providing for her, a way of engaging with others so that we understand that If others are not doing well, we are not doing well. If we understand all of this interconnectedness, then that changes everything.
So I'm a huge advocate of the inner transformation to create the outer revolution that we need, to create the changes that we need to see or that we want to see, to live in a beautiful, loving, expansive, regenerative future.
Where, you know, there's plenty of everything for everyone, because that is the future that I picture, that I visualize, that I imagine, and I know that Unless we change internally our consciousness, the way that we think, the way that we feel, the way that we behave internally, it's going to be much more difficult to get to that place. So, if you are on an inner exploration journey, if you are on a path of healing or transformation, and you care about the environment, know that.
You are already doing something for it. That is a climate action. If you have been in that process and you are now in the space like I am, that you want to advocate for it, that you are sharing your behaviors, that you're sharing different ways that we can engage based on what we care about, then wonderful.
If you're in the space that you are doing a lot of climate action, and you are getting to the burnout stages or super stress or anxious, I do encourage you to see if there's a way that you can continue doing that. whilst taking care of yourself, whilst doing this work that is necessary as individuals and for the collective. And we don't need to do this alone. This is one of the things that I'm, you know, I'll super advocate for. We don't need to do this alone.
We might not know who else is doing something similar, who else cares about the similar things. I do believe that we are hundreds and thousands of people that we care actively, like I think that everybody cares, but that we care so much that we are trying to do something and we might perhaps not be in connection with others, but we are not alone.
And when we actually go out and we look for our communities, when we look for like minded people, they are there and we can seek that support, whether that is for an inner transformational journey or to understand how can we do something in our own community, in our back garden, you know, or in a bigger scale, coming together because we don't need to do this alone. So, I would love to know, where are you on this journey?
On your journey of inner transformation, healing, and climate action, where is this space actually intersecting for you? How are you being able to do both? If that's what you care about or if you are able to see, now that I talked about it from different lens, perhaps you realize that you're doing both. I would love to know your experience.
I would love to know your thoughts about this or give us a comment, whatever it is that you're finding this episode, and hopefully I will see you all on the next one. Byeeeeeee! What did you like the most about this episode? Take a moment to think about what change you can make in your life today. Share your conscious action on social media using hashtag consciousaction and tagging at consciousaction and zed so we can celebrate your impact on the world and create a ripple effect.
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