Climate Grief & Hope

A regenerative retreat for climate activists and climate carers

A collaboration between Rising Tide and Simply Mindful

Connect and support each other, metabolise grief together and activate hope for facing the climate crisis.
A morning of meditation, connection, reflection – being with climate anxiety and hope.

• Settle and quieten in a safe supportive environment
• Connect with nature and community
• Listen deeply to your inner wisdom and yearnings/longings, to our collective wisdom and nature
• Lean into care and compassion for your deepest wellbeing, nature and community
• So we can regenerate – act, interact and be with environmental and political challenges in a way that is sustainable, deeply respectful of our being, and allowing us to attend to what’s needed.

Why a retreat?

So we can turn towards grief, pain, despair and fear; metabolise them; meet them with care and compassion; and move into regenerative reflection, action and care – both inner and outer.

This retreat is to help us collectively meet, metabolise and move through big emotions and concerns with tenderness and care. To move out of paralysis and reactivity towards empowered and compassionate action that is regenerative and kind towards self and others. This is so that we can access all our inner and outer resources and supports in the face of discouragement, and act from a clear and resourced place. So we don’t have to shut down, withdraw, numb or move into unhealthy patterns of guilt, blame, exhaustion or martyrdom.

The retreat is secular – you don’t need to believe anything in particular or to have done any kind of meditation before. It is designed to be inclusive and meet a diverse range of experiences and needs. It is compatible with any spiritual orientation.

Format

The retreat will be jointly facilitated by Megan Layton from Simply Mindful and John Wurcker from Rising Tide and has been jointly designed to meet the needs of climate activists and anyone experiencing climate anxiety and grief. It will include:

• Opening settling meditation
• Welcome and acknowledgement of country – connecting with country
• Opening reflection and circle ‘Why are you here, what do you need’
• Connect with nature
• Movement and meditation/reflective practice
• Community
• Nourishing morning tea (and stay for optional shared lunch after the retreat finishes)

What to bring:

• Drink bottle, journal and pen
• Yoga mat, blanket, cushion (if you have them)
• Wear comfortable clothing that doesn’t restrict movement or breathing
• We will spend some time outdoors in the garden, so bring appropriate warm layers
• Some food to share if you want to stay for lunch

What is provided:

• Light morning tea
• Tea, coffee and a range of milks
• Comfortable chairs and spare yoga mats, blankets and cushions available and a well equipped kitchen with crockery and cutlery

Cost:

This retreat is run at cost.
There are 4 fee options to cater for different circumstances, please select the fee that best reflects your capacity to pay.

• $70 (cover your fee and help pay for someone else)
• $30 (concession/part-time income/student)
• $50 (standard fee – covers costs)
• $0 (low income)

About Megan Layton

Megan Layton is the Director of Simply Mindful, a senior Meditation and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher, Yoga, Self-compassion and Positive Neuroplasticity teacher. She is also a Mental Health Social Worker and therapist.

A warm, skilled and insightful facilitator, passionate about helping individuals and organisations to thrive, Megan discovered mindfulness when she was on the road to burnout. Convinced by the research and some personal glimpses of the potential, she signed up for the 8 week MBSR course and has never looked back. Since then meditation has been embedded in her life. She attends long meditation retreats every year and trained in 2009 in Australia and 2012 with Bob Stahl and Florence Meleo-Meyer (Centre for Mindfulness, USA).

Megan is also a brain science enthusiast and a certified trainer in Positive Neuroplasticity Training, endorsed by Dr Rick Hanson (author of Buddha’s Brain, Hardwiring Happiness and Resilience). She has spent almost 30 years working in mental health, with a particular interest in trauma, and worked in torture trauma rehabilitation for over 15 years, research and training, cross-cultural settings both in Australia and internationally, management and leadership roles locally and nationally, and in business.

Megan also knows well the challenges of being human and has witnessed time and again, the life changing shift from surviving to thriving that is possible with mindfulness meditation. She is also a nature lover and outdoors enthusiast, ocean swimmer and mother of 2 fabulous young adults who keep it real.

Megan has facilitated mindfulness sessions with a large range of organisations, ranging from the National Gallery of Australia, Federal Government Departments, ACT Supreme Court Judges and Magistrates to Floriade, Mental Health Australia, Carers Australia, Global Tech Companies, businesses, schools and community organisations.It’s been the best adult learning experience I’ve ever had (and I’ve participated in, or led, many)! Clear, warm, generous, wise….’ 2023

‘I can’t emphasise enough how motivating it was to attend each week and feel like we were all on this journey together. Megan was an incredibly humble and generous teacher.’

‘I have found more positive ways of coping with my anxiety and to find things I am grateful for. I can do this much more effectively than I could a few weeks ago.’

‘Megan is a fantastic teacher. Everything was broken down and taught in a way I could understand. She was always happy to get feedback and help us ‘

About John Wurcker

John is a climate activist, with a focus on direct action. He has been active with Rising Tide, Extinction Rebellion; Move Beyond Coal; Just Stop Oil; and Peoples Climate Assembly.

Raised on a third-generation family farm in the Hunter Valley, much of John’s 40-year career has been related to social, economic and environmental justice.

With international experience in agriculture; environment; business and leadership development, he is convinced all other issues will become irrelevant unless we act quickly and decisively to deal with the climate crisis.

With qualifications in agriculture; economics; and finance John worked for over 20 years in the delivery of poverty reduction programs across Asia Pacific, firstly as an Australian Volunteer Abroad and then with Hassall & Associates International, one of Australia’s leading implementers of overseas development assistance - working as a development consultant in over 15 countries and as the CEO of the Hassalls group for 12 years.

John then pursued his combined passion of leadership development and mindfulness practice – with a focus on how mindfulness, compassion and selflessness can enhance leadership performance – including wellbeing outcomes for both individuals and organisations (and contribute to a wiser and more peaceful world). He founded the Australian arm of leadership development firm Potential Project International - training leaders to develop greater compassion; selflessness and ethical behaviour for themselves and in their organisations.

Recognising the worsening climate crisis, John increasingly turned his attention to organising and participating in direct action. He firmly believes his mindfulness practice has been pivotal in facing the climate crisis with resilience and optimism.