Approach
This page is a deeper look at the foundations of this work. It’s not abstract theory — it’s a distillation of what people everywhere are already doing. Adaptation is part of being human. What I offer is simply one way of naming, organising, and refining the patterns I’ve learned through years of listening to, and working alongside, hundreds of remarkable people. This section is here for those who find it helpful to understand the underlying architecture as well as feel the practice.
Inner & outer adaptation for a world in rapid change.
We live at a time of rising stress — personally, socially, and ecologically. Most people don’t lack information; they lack the capacity to stay grounded, make sense of what’s happening at scale , and respond wisely in conditions that are accelerating, uneven and uncertain.
This work supports the inner dimension of adaptation: staying connected, understanding what matters, and acting with coherence in a world that is becoming harder to navigate or comprehend.
Some people like to see the map behind this work; others prefer to simply experience it. Either way is completely fine. You do not need to remember any of this — I’m tracking the patterns and guiding the process when we work together - unless you would like a workshop or training in what is presented here
Key terms in this work
No one likes jargon — and I try to avoid it. But in times of rapid change, our language often can’t keep up with our experience. The terms below are ones I use because they describe patterns I see repeatedly, even if they may be unfamiliar at first.
This image shows how we may respond with both distress and enlivenment in the face of increasing stresses — and the work that allows wise, grounded action to emerge.
At the centre is the work of information processing and metabolisation: the practices that help us stay connected, feel what needs to be felt, and make deeper sense of what’s actually happening.
When this inner work is supported, we naturally move toward possibility, coherence, and meaningful action. When it is avoided, we are pulled back into overwhelm, shutdown, or business-as-usual norms and patterns.
A visual map of the key concepts
Bigger-than-self Distress & More-than-me Enlivenment
Bigger-than-self Distress (BTSD)
The overwhelm we feel when the realities around us — ecological, social, or personal — exceed our capacity to cope. Fear, grief, anger, shame, despair, or confusion rise faster than we can process them. Our perception narrows; options disappear; overwhelm or shutdown follows.
Bigger-than-self distress is how systemic threats and stresses show up in experience. It’s a catch-all term for the many forms of distress emerging in response to ecological, social, and civilisational disruption. You may recognise eco-anxiety as one example — but there’s much more toit than just eco-anxiety — there are many other forms of distress becoming more visible as systems strain and futures feel uncertain.
Bigger-than-self distress transgresses Business-as-Usual norms because it reveals precisely what those norms are trying to suppress or ignore.
More-than-me Enlivenment (MTME)
The surge of meaning, clarity, courage, or hope that comes when we feel part of something larger than ourselves — a purpose, a community, a place, a vision. This state opens possibility, imagination, and resolve.
Both are deeply human. Both contain adaptive intelligence.
And crucially: each is naïve without the other.
If we only attend to the threat space, the possibility space becomes obscured.
If we only attend to the possibility space, we can lose contact with relevant risks and signals.
Adaptive capacity grows when we can remain in steady contact with both — without being overwhelmed by either — and move between them with agility. This is one of the core aims of this work.
Business-as-Usual & Islands of Coherence
Business-as-Usual
Business—as-usual is the dominant but failing cultural operating system rooted in growth, speed, distraction, denial, and disconnection. It requires us to push down the emotional and relational impacts of what is happening in order to keep functioning.
The science is clear - business-as-usual has no future, but it denies the scope, scale, momentum and cost of the crises it continues to generate. As disruption accelerates, our task is to navigate the distressing realities of breakdown, while cultivating the conditions for regeneration and transformation.
Islands of Coherence
As individuals we are vulnerable to change. In contrast, Islands of Coherence are relationships, communities, networks and environments where people can think clearly, feel deeply, and act wisely together — even under pressure. These are spaces where distress can be metabolised, orientation can return, and meaningful action can emerge. Coherence is supported by an ecosystem of sensemaking processes, metabolisation practices and a common goal or purpose - wise action projects. This is not new - human communities have been doing this for millennia.
We can develop inner coherence alone, but humans are profoundly collaborative. Our bandwidth, clarity, resilience, and agency grow dramatically when we support one another. This is why collective practice matters: we see more, feel more, and act more wisely together
Three P’s for Adaptation
Processing, Practice & Projects
These three strands reflect the inner processes that make grounded adaptation possible. Each can be practiced individually — but they reinforce each other, and they are strengthened in community.
Information Processing
Clear, grounded sensemaking in complex times.
Many people don’t need more information; they need a way to work with the information they already have. In times of rapid change, it’s easy to become saturated — taking in signals, news, and emotional impressions faster than we can make sense of them.
Information processing is the practice of receiving and organising information — cognitively and somatically — so that it brings orientation rather than overload.
This strand supports people to:
clarify what’s real, relevant, and meaningful
distinguish signal from noise
understand how rising stresses affect us personally and collectively
reduce confusion, pressure, and cognitive overwhelm
see patterns and trajectories more clearly
When information is processed rather than accumulated, it restores coherence, perspective, and capacity. And when this happens in community, shared perception becomes more accurate and reliable.
Metabolisation Practices
Allowing our experience to transform us so we can move forward.
Most of us were taught to suppress difficult emotions or ignore the embodied signals that arise as the world changes. But unprocessed experience doesn’t disappear — it accumulates, distorts our perception, and limits our ability to act.
Metabolisation is the embodied process of digesting experience — emotional and informational — so that it can genuinely change us and shape our behaviour.
It involves:
making space for sensation, emotion, and meaning
staying connected without collapsing or shutting down
letting information land in a way that we can actually feel and work with
allowing our system to reorganise around what’s real
restoring internal coherence, agency, and responsiveness
When we metabolise experience, the world doesn’t just “make sense” — it makes contact. Our orientation returns, our nervous system settles, and our ability to act wisely increases.
In a world in crisis, metabolisation is both more vital and more difficult than ever. It is a key adaptive skill we can learn, practice, and support one another in developing.
Wise Action Projects
Acting from groundedness, clarity, and values.
Wise action is not about being heroic or certain.
It is action that is appropriate, meaningful, and sustainable — action that emerges when information has been processed and experience has been metabolised.
This strand supports people to:
discern what is truly ours to do
recognise when we are overreaching or acting from pressure
design actions and projects that matter
maintain connection and aliveness while acting
step forward without burning out or numbing out
One of the most common sources of overwhelm is the sense that the problems we face are global, vast, and impossibly complex. Wise Action Projects are about acting at a scale where we actually have reach, agency, and connection — where our choices matter and can take root. This is the same principle behind Islands of Coherence: creating pockets of clarity and capability within the turbulence. When we act at the right scale, action becomes possible again. It becomes human-sized, relational, and meaningful — not paralysing.
When the first two strands are in place, wise action feels less like effort and more like alignment. And in collective settings, wise action becomes more creative, more coherent, and more resilient.
Why This Matters
People are carrying too much alone. As systemic stresses continue to rise, many feel overwhelmed, under-supported, or unable to speak honestly about what they’re experiencing. We see anxiety, polarisation, misinformation and fragmentation within us and around us. Working with the inner dimension of adaptation restores the capacity to stay human in the midst of change — to stay connected, to stay oriented, and to act in ways that matter.
If you’d like to explore this further
You’re welcome to begin with a simple conversation. How might this work support you, your community, or your organisation?
No pressure or commitment — just space to talk about what’s happening and what feels supportive right now.