Do you ever catch yourself thinking: “I’m just one person, what difference can I really make?”  or  "What I do is insignificant, it makes no difference to the whole." 

In this episode, we explore how to weed out unhelpful thoughts that lead to overwhelm and powerlessness, and plant seeds of connection and active hope.

Drawing on stories from climate activism, psychology, and host Emily Toner's inner circle, you’ll learn how small, intentional actions can ripple outward—just like Greta Thunberg’s first school strike or a friend who sparks lasting change without even realising it.

🌱 What you’ll discover in this episode:

• Why thoughts like “my actions don’t matter” are not always accurate and almost always disempowering—and how to let them pass.
• How one person’s presence and energy can influence entire communities.
• Real stories of ripple effects in climate and wellbeing movements.
• A guided mindfulness practice to connect with your inner nature and cultivate empowering beliefs.

This session is part of the Planetary Hope series—a 10-day journey into mindfulness, eco-resilience, and human sustainability. Together, we’ll nurture inner calm, strengthen our capacity to act, and remind ourselves that we are deeply interconnected: You are nature, and your actions matter.

🔗 If this practice resonates, please share the episode with a friend, colleague, or community group—it could be the start of their ripple effect too.

Resources & Links
→ For more support, workshops and resources visit: emilytoner.com
→ Support the creation of this work: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

Missed the beginning? Start from Episode 1: “Climate Courage — Seeing the Human Side of the Crisis”

In this episode of Climate Courage, clinical psychologist Emily Toner explores how reconnecting with nature—and our own inner nature—can help us cultivate joy, resilience, and clarity in the midst of stress, uncertainty, and the challenges of modern life.

Today’s episode gets straight into a guided practice, an invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember that everything we need to live fully and meaningfully is already within us. By embracing both our discomfort and our expansiveness, we begin to restore our inner world, which in turn strengthens our ability to meet the urgent needs of the outer world.

✨ In this practice, you’ll learn how to:

• Create space for joy, contentment, and peace in daily life—even when overwhelmed
• Recognise how our emotions, both difficult and uplifting, are part of our rich inner nature
• Reconnect to the awe and wisdom of the natural world within and around you
• Strengthen resilience, active acceptance and wellbeing in the face of everyday stressors

This meditation and reflection is not just about personal peace—it’s about contributing to collective resilience. Every moment you nurture your inner nature, you help build the foundation for communities capable of creativity, courage, and meaningful change.

🌿 Take this time to come home to yourself. You are nature—fully alive, fully awake.

Resources & Links
→ For more support, workshops and resources visit: emilytoner.com
→ Support the creation of this work: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

Missed the beginning? Start from Episode 1: “Climate Courage — Seeing the Human Side of the Crisis”

In this episode of Climate Courage, we explore why prioritising your personal wellbeing may be one of the most powerful actions you can take to heal the earth.

After honouring grief in our last session, today we shift into a lighter place. Together, we unpack the neuroscience behind positive emotions — and why joy, gratitude, and connection are far from luxuries during a time of climate crisis. They're necessities.

You’ll learn:

• How positive emotion literally expands your visual and mental field (the "broaden and build" theory)
• Why happy, hopeful people are more innovative, inclusive, and capable of big-picture thinking
• The surprising link between joy and breaking down social and racial barriers
• A guided perspective meditation to balance your negativity bias and connect with what’s good, right now

This episode is grounded in the work of Barbara Fredrickson and other leading positive psychologists. Discover how positive emotions expand our minds, deepen social connection, and unlock climate solutions. 

Resources & Links
→ For more support, workshops and resources visit: emilytoner.com
→ Support the creation of this work: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

Missed the beginning? Start from Episode 1: “Climate Courage — Seeing the Human Side of the Crisis”

Episode 4: Knowing Grief — How to Sit with Climate Grief 

In this episode of Climate Courage, we gently explore the emotional landscape of climate grief — a incredibly reasonable response to the experience of ecological loss, environmental destruction, and an uncertain future.

Join clinical psychologist Emily Toner as she guides you through a deeper understanding of environmental grief and offers tools to help you process pain, access resilience, and connect back to nature with presence and purpose.

You’ll learn:

• Why grief is a necessary emotional response to the climate emergency
• Neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor’s 90-Second Rule for emotional processing
• A guided nature-based meditation for processing grief
• How mindfulness and self-compassion create space for courageous action

Emotional flexibility is not just a nice-to-have — it's a key climate resilience skill. By learning how to feel deeply without getting stuck, we unlock the energy needed to respond to this crisis wisely.

Resources & Links
→ For more support, workshops and resources visit: emilytoner.com
→ Support the creation of this work: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

Missed the beginning? Start from Episode 1: “Climate Courage — Seeing the Human Side of the Crisis”

In this episode of Climate Courage, we explore how some emotions spur us into action while others stop us in our tracks. 

From shame, guilt, and fear, which tend to paralyze us, to courage, acceptance, and love, which empower us to move forward with clarity and purpose. Clinical Psychologist Emily Toner shares personal insights and psychological research into how different emotional states influence our motivation and behaviour.

You’ll learn:

• Why some emotions lead to inaction and burnout, while others catalyze impact
• What "radical acceptance" really means—and why it’s essential right now
• The difference between force and power in emotional states
• How to build emotional agility for climate action and personal wellbeing
• A guided practice to move from overwhelm to presence using mindful awareness

Whether you're an activist, a changemaker, or someone simply feeling the weight of the world—this episode offers real tools to help you get unstuck.

This is inner work for outer change.

Resources & Links
→ Book Emily’s Climate Courage Workshops for Teams: emilytoner.com
→ Support the podcast on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

Missed the beginning? Start from Episode 1: “Climate Courage — Seeing the Human Side of the Crisis”

In this episode of Climate Courage, clinical psychologist Emily Toner explores how our emotions shape decision-making and behaviour—and why avoiding discomfort may be the greatest barrier to meaningful climate action.

Drawing on the work of neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, we uncover how emotions aren't just “nice to have,” but essential for purposeful action. Without them, even simple choices become impossible. So what does that mean for an overwhelmed world trying to face an existential environmental crisis?

You’ll learn:

• Why “a brain that can’t feel, can’t act”
• The psychology behind climate denial and experiential avoidance
• How mindfulness helps us move through fear and become unstuck
• A guided body-based practice for reconnecting with your emotional wisdom

If you’re struggling with climate grief, numbness, or inaction, this episode offers clarity, compassion, and a scientifically grounded path forward.

This episode is for you if:

• You're feeling emotionally stuck or overwhelmed
• You avoid climate news because it feels “too much”
• You want to better understand the link between emotions and action

Take the next step toward inner resilience.

Resources & Links
→ Book Emily’s Climate Courage Workshops for Teams: emilytoner.com
→ Support the podcast on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

In this powerful first episode of Climate Courage, clinical psychologist Emily Toner explores the emotional toll of climate change and why our greatest environmental challenge may not be a technology problem at all, but a problem of human behaviour.

With a personal story followed by a perspective-taking practice, Emily helps listeners begin to process eco-anxiety, climate grief, and the overwhelm that so many people feel in the face of environmental collapse.

You’ll discover:

• Why the climate crisis is a psychological crisis
• The emotional barriers that keep us from taking action
• A surprising truth about what trees can teach us
• How to reconnect to purpose, calm, and collective power

Whether you're a sustainability leader, environmental activist, or someone who simply cares deeply and feels deeply, this episode will help you ground yourself, gain perspective, and begin your journey toward inner and outer resilience.

Try this episode if you're feeling:

• Climate anxiety or environmental overwhelm
• Stuck in fear, helplessness, or inaction
• Disconnected from purpose or hope

Listen now and take the first step toward climate courage.

Resources & Links
→ Book Emily’s Climate Courage Workshops for Teams: emilytoner.com
→ Support the podcast on Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/climatecourage

How do we stay present and purposeful in the face of ecological breakdown, climate grief, and total overwhelm?

Climate Courage is a 10-episode audio journey for anyone navigating emotional fatigue, eco-distress, or burnout in the face of the environmental crisis. Whether you're a frontline climate professional, an overwhelmed young person, or a concerned citizen, this podcast offers 10 days of grounded psychological tools for processing difficult emotions, building resilience and reigniting purpose.  

Created by clinical psychologist Emily Toner, each short daily episode blends insights from wellbeing science, mindfulness, and behavioural psychology to help you regulate your nervous system and rediscover your agency. 

Over the next 10 days you will –

• Process your emotions about the environmental crisis
• Reprioritise your mental wellbeing 
• Learn how to use your feelings as fuel for action
• Feel motivated to use your voice and take meaningful action

Transform your mind. Transform the world.