Wellbeing

A Regenerative Rebellion

Regenerative Cultures seek to bring a different approach to climate and other activist movements. They are how we move towards a practice and demonstration of the change we want to deeply experience in this and all society. We aim to nurture new cultures that are resilient and robust and which can support us all through the changes we must inevitably face together. Regenerative Cultures precede, hold us through and last beyond the actions that we take as part of our rebellion.

In XR we recognise that we have much work to do so that we can truly embody Regenerative Cultures within our movement. It is a necessary way to generate meaningful and lasting change in our shared world. There is no singular definition of regenerative cultures, but a framework based on natural principles allows each of us to develop our own approach to practicing a regenerative way of being. At its simplest this means putting a little bit more in than we take out.

We are experimenting with new ways we can come together to nurture the kind of deep care that will be needed to sustain ourselves and our communities, and we invite you to participate by considering what Regenerative Cultures mean to you. Here you will find some of the tools to support you through Rebellion and beyond.

XR Don’t Panic: What to do in an emergency when you don’t know what to do!

Everyone can feel vulnerable or become vulnerable depending on our personal experiences and the situation in which we find ourselves at any one time.

We are all crew. Always approach problems with others and use the knowledge and skills each person brings. The Don’t Panic team advise you to avoid working alone.

For more information or advice please email the team on xr.dontpanic@protonmail.com or click on the dropdown below:

More information and contacts

We are responsible for ourselves and hope to support others.

Please do not try to deal with a situation alone when you have gone beyond your skills and training or when you feel you are out of your comfort zone!  Involve others around you and try to make contact with the vulnerable person’s friends, parents, guardians, carers or family. Having people around that the vulnerable person knows and trusts can be massively helpful.  

There are also less urgent, or less clear situations which are on-going which you feel uncomfortable about but aren’t quite sure how to resolve or help with.  Alternatively, you may be planning an event and may want advice ahead of time.  Again please email us for advice on xr.dontpanic@protonmail.com.

Other useful numbers:

• Emergency services: 999
• Health advice line: 111
• NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
• Childline: 0800 1111
• Samaritans: 116 123
• Mind helpline: 0300 123 3393
• Frank drugs helpline: 0300 123 6600

Don’t Panic Booklet

This book aims to provide guidance to help you start thinking about dealing with challenging situations. It is packed full of scenarios for when you are feeling panicked and not sure what to do.

Read the Don’t Panic Booklet

Action Wellbeing

Civil disobedience can be exciting, exhilarating even, and sometimes also exhausting and stressful. We want to build a regenerative culture where we take care of ourselves and others before, during and beyond actions. Action Wellbeing is one of the Action Support roles which helps activists feel safe and supported. Action Wellbeing is the responsibility of everyone – we are all crew! 

You can explore more of our resources which may support you in creating or being part of an Action Wellbeing Team

Post-Action Wellbeing

Getting ‘back to normal’ after an action isn’t always easy. We’ve got you covered – read on for our best advice on looking after yourself and others as we come back down to earth; complete with bundles of free resources!

Read more about Post-Action Wellbeing

Other Resources

Regenerative Action Cycle

This model is based on the observation of natural cycles as well as teachings from many regenerative cultures and indigenous cultures around the world. It draws out ways we can follow these cycles in our human activities to foster connection and regeneration within ourselves, within our communities and in our relationship with the other-than-human communities we are part of.

Arrestee Welfare

Our aim is to support rebels to make informed choices about arrest, reducing the impact of challenging experiences through the arrest process and criminal justice system and support their wellbeing throughout.

Creating a framework within the XR network which ensures adequate pre-arrest preparation, during-action support and post-arrest care enables supporters and arrestees to work together.

Explore more resources on our Arrestee Welfare page

Debrief

Why Debrief?

Through our meetings, actions and rebellions we are filled with thoughts, emotions and hormones, things are messy and beautiful and stressful and passionate and traumatic all at the same time. Burn-out can occur for people who take on or support direct action, because we often take on a lot or find ourselves in high energy or anxiety situations, and of course we take this stuff on because we really care.

It is important to have time to process events in a constructive way.

Aims of debrief

• Process challenging experiences
• Grow as a movement by learning from what went well and what didn’t go so well
• Explore tensions and develop conflict resilience

Each affinity group self facilitates a check-in as soon as possible post action, or at least daily for sustained actions, in order that each member can have some time to process: What actually happened? How am I right now? What do I need? How are we as a group? How can I support the health of this group?

In the days following an action a full debrief should be carried out with all involved.

Remember it’s important to physically nourish ourselves, share our stories and let off some steam before jumping straight in to debrief.

Download the On-site debrief flyer Download The Off-site full debrief Document See more debrief resources

Transformative Conflict

Conflict is inevitable. We are in conflict with the degenerative culture that depletes us humans, the Earth and all living beings. We choose to see conflict as an opportunity for learning, and processing conflict is welcomed and encouraged. We also recognise that a relational, transformative, connected approach to conflict asks more of us all than enforcing change in a punitive way. The process of a transformative system engages us in dialogue and connection that allows us to hear other perspectives, repair broken channels of communication and integrate our learnings from this experience.

How do I get support?

Our Transformative Conflict website tells you more about dealing with conflict within your group, initiating a conflict process and how the Transformative Conflict team can support you with guidance or facilitation.

Find out more on our Transformative Conflict website

Consent Advocacy

By rebelling we are withdrawing our consent from the governments and systems that are failing us. Spreading a healthy consent culture is vital for our regenerative culture and community safety, as it aligns us with our desires so we can unleash our creativity in respectful and beautiful ways.

Read more about XR’s consent culture, find support and get involved

Grief Tending

Grief is the price we pay for our love. Anyone who loves this Earth and this life is experiencing grief in some form now, coming together to give it space can help both our wellbeing and our capacity to act to avoid climate breakdown. We provide a space in which we can develop an XR culture of grief tending work that draws upon an unbroken ancestry and offers guidance and support to those drawn to the work.

Children and Young People

If you are interested in promoting regenerative culture amongst children and young people we will be putting some resources in this space in the next few weeks.

XR Youth have a regenerative culture team who you can contact for more support and ideas. Email address: XRYouth.Regen@gmail.com

XR Open Homes

We are over the moon to re-launch the XR open homes program, providing rebels with homes all over the country for rest and reconnection. We have log cabins, remote cottages, rooms in stays – all for free for hard working rebels needing some respite and nature connection. We like to think of it as the XR free airbnb!

See the interactive map of all the homes offered to us

Please contact us at xr-openhomes@protonmail.com to request a stay, providing the following infos: where you’d like to stay, an idea of when and how long you are looking to stay (NB as this is a volunteer service we cannot guarantee a date or location); and finally some idea of your links and involvement in XR.