Laura Johnson, PhD: Eco Grief

Sacred Community Podcast

Sitaram Dass interviews Laura Johnson, PhD, for a discussion on ecological grief, the importance of “deep and slow” grief work, and whether or not Sitaram is allowed to fly. Show notes at bottom of the page.

Laura Johnson, PhD, is the founder of A Restful Space, offering personalized restorative yoga and community rest & eco-grief circles in Humboldt County, as well as her premiere self-paced online course, Yoga for Ecological Grief. She is passionate about yoga in a holistic sense as a relational and embodied practice for personal and collective healing and has been invited to present at the 2022 Sedona Yoga Festival as well as the annual Post-Capitalist Conference and Vipassana meditation retreats. She is also a freelance writer with essays and poetry published in places like LionsRoar.com, Science and Nonduality (SAND), Tikkun, Resilience.org, Taproot Magazine, Empty Mirror, and Deep Times: A Journal of the Work that Reconnects.

Laura is a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher with advanced training by Samantha Akers of TheraYoga Method and certification in the Trauma Conscious Yoga Method (TCYM) and Yoga for Social Justice with Nityda Gessel of the Trauma-Conscious Yoga Institute. She is also a Geography and Environmental Studies lecturer at Cal Poly Humboldt, and she holds a doctorate in Geography with a specialization in Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change from Michigan State University, as well as an MA in International Studies and a BA in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Laura lives on Wiyot land in Eureka, CA, with her husband and young daughter, dog and cat, chickens and goats, and many plants.

Links:

www.arestfulspace.com

www.laurabjohnson.com

IG: @arestfulspace

Yoga for Ecological Grief online course: https://a-restful-space.teachable.com/p/yoga-for-ecological-grief

Show Notes:

00:00-8:43 Introduction by Sitaram Dass

8:43-17:20 Laura’s initiation into ecological grief

17:20-24:00 The relational worldview, and the importance of grief

24:00-31:30 Why is eco-grief important?

31:30-34:30 is Sitaram allowed to fly?

34:30-49:30 What narrative is occurring? The power of imagination and how it shapes our actions

49:30-56:00 Laura’s offerings

Teachers, Authors, and activists mentioned:

• Wendell Berry

• adrienne maree brown

• Pema Chödrön

• Heather Jo Flores

• Tricia Hersey (Nap Ministry)

• Thomas Hübl

• Chris Jordan (Albatross)

• Raj Patel and Jason Moore

• Octavia Raheem

• Daniel Quin

• Francis Weller

• Rev. angel Kyodo williams

SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu

Music: Carl Golembeski