The ecoanxiety cypher
From climate paralysis to climate movement
“The thing about climate is that you can be overwhelmed by the complexity of the problem or fall in love with the creativity of the solutions.”
— Mary Annaïse Heglar
quest for climate anxiety solutions
Burnout, depression, ecoanxiety…
There are countless conversations about the mental health decline of this generation. Those working on social justices issues often experience them the most with little mental support.
How can they keep going? How can they maintain hope and sanity needed in an increasingly unstable world?
This question is prevalent even among, or especially among those working on climate solutions because they know first-hand just how dire our climate crisis is. There is a growing need for ecoanxiety solutions as the awareness of our climate crisis becomes increasingly apparent.
Resemblance with Street Culture
Many art forms from street cultures were born as a reaction to an unstable world.
Breaking, a dance born as an alternative to gang violence
Krump, a dance born out of systemic oppression to release anger
Latin Hustle, a partner dance born to escape the violent gang life
There is a resemblance with ecoanxiety in terms of living through systemic issues and needing something to help cope, be hopeful, or just maintain mental health.
“In light of a collapsing world, what better time to be alive than now, because our generation gets to rewrite history.”
What this workshop is
90-min guided movement journeys for dance novices to explore the emotions involved when talking about the climate crisis and discover ways that movement can heal.
Participants will be guided with curated physical movement prompts along with stories from nature, street dance culture and people in the environmental movement.
Think of it like a guided meditation - but by a street dancer!
[Note: This is NOT an alternative to psychotherapy.]
(Photos by @kavipictures)
“Jackson is a light who shares knowledge from a deeply embodied place. He invites participants to connect with their bodies through laughter and play, which makes embodiment accessible to everyone, no matter where we find ourselves on our healing journey.”
— LaUra Schmidt, Founding Director and Co-Founder of Good Grief Network
“You have a knack for facilitating. I was super impressed!! Especially for grounding beginners into this… I love how you weave stories into it.”
— Dr. Britt Wray, Author of Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis
“Surprisingly, I did it. Meaning that I usually am not one to do this, but you got me to. In a good way. And it makes sense - the more you bring in the more you can give out.”
— Clara George, Lead Sustainable Production Advisor, Canada for Netflix
Dance recalls the mind-body connection — it heals a connection with ourselves that we’ve been conditioned to ignore. We have a physical body that our “hustle culture” encourages us to ignore and we have a larger, planetary body that our capitalist values tell us it’s okay to destroy. Healed people heal people. Finding that connection for ourselves again will inevitably influence others with our presence.
Explore shared experiences and feelings
Release emotions to create room for more
Return focus on self and what we can control
Footage shot by Maelys Renaud from a short version of my workshop for Hollywood Climate Summit in collaboration with Walk Good LA
“You had a profound impact on me… you’re a damn community leader and I have learned a lot from you... Thank you so much for being a part of the community and a friend too”
— Samuel Rubin, Co-Founder of YEA Impact! and Hollywood Climate Summit
“Jackson's dance workshop was surprisingly freeing -- through it i discovered grief and strength and a new way to communicate using my body.”
— Nicole Levin, Former Hub Coordinator at Sunrise Movement Los Angeles
"…His movement prompts and accessible way of role-modeling movement brought us on a journey through our emotions and closer to each other. It was a terrific experience that I would totally do again!"
— John Ma, Organizer at Ground Game LA
“Most people who are interested in climate change just don’t yet have the tools to talk about it confidently. The choir is there. They want to sing. But they don’t know the words.”
— Emily Atkin
why it works
"Psychological and physical improvements have been attributed to Dance Movement Therapy and can be categorized into five areas:
Resocialization and integration within a larger group system
Nonverbal creative expression for emotional expression
Total self- and body-awareness and enhanced self-esteem
Muscular coordination, broader movement capabilities and tension release
Enjoyment through relaxation." (Source)
Dance may be the most natural form of art - You don't need any tools or external elements. If you are free to move, you can dance.
It is only natural that we mend our relationship with nature through our movement.
Book a workshop
My climate anxiety movement workshop is the culmination of all my experiences.
Let’s customize it to what works for you!