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About the Book
Author’s Note by Richard Klein
Why I Wrote This Book: A Life Rooted in Nature, Community, and the Call to Act
I have always found myself drawn to nature. As a kid, I remember summer-long camping trips across North America. As an adult, I’ve often preferred exploring trailless routes up a valley rather than following a well-marked path. On a number of occasions, I’ve travelled alone into mountain wilderness on multi-day journeys, learning to trust, to observe, and to experience myself as part of the living world—not separate from it.
I believe that we have entered a new period of transition and ferment. Ecologies are under increased pressure from rising temperatures and new cycles of drought and flood. Disruptions buffet a global economy conditioned by 250 years of fossil fuels to expect continued exponential growth. We have attempted to wallpaper over economic disruption with expanding debt.
It is as if we are walking a precarious ridgeline through thick fog, the way ahead unclear. A kind of societal rite of passage is leading us away from what we have come to know and into a new territory, where our narratives and habitual ways of doing things no longer take us where we wish to go.
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The Climate Within Us
Key Points
1. The climate crisis isn’t just out there—it’s inside us. Climate anxiety, overwhelm, and freeze are nervous system responses that deserve care, not shame.
2. Personal healing fuels environmental healing. When we do the inner work, we show up clearer, steadier, and more powerful in climate action.
3. Regenerative practices—nervous system repair, somatic grounding, inner listening—are essential for long-term climate engagement.
4. Climate leadership begins within. When we shift from reactivity to embodiment, we lead with integrity and connection.
5. Healing our relationship with the Earth means healing our own disconnection. The climate mirrors what we haven’t tended to in ourselves.
6. Collective climate action becomes more sustainable when it’s rooted in inner stability, shared meaning, and nervous system co-regulation.
Book Synopsis
The Climate Within Us
Leadership, Integration, and Regeneration in a Warming World By Richard Klein
What if the way we respond to the climate crisis depends on how connected we are—to ourselves, to each other, and the living world?
The Climate Within Us is a powerful invitation to those who feel the urgency of the moment but know that facts and action plans alone aren’t enough. Drawing on neuroscience, somatic therapy, and personal experience, Richard Klein explores what happens when we lose touch with the wisdom of the body—and how reconnecting with that wisdom can unlock new forms of resilience, leadership, and collective healing.
At its heart, this is a book about returning: to our breath, to our relationships, to the sense of being part of something larger. Klein guides readers through the ways modern life pulls us into left-brain overdrive—constantly analyzing, solving, producing—and how this disconnect from the right hemisphere’s intuitive, relational awareness makes it harder to face a world in flux. Through grounded storytelling, science, and gentle practices, he helps us relearn what it means to be present, to feel deeply, and to lead from a place of wholeness.
You don’t need to be a climate expert or activist to feel the weight of what’s unfolding. This book is for people who sense that something is off—not just out there, but in here. It’s for those who are asking:
- How do I stay grounded when the world feels uncertain?
- How do I reconnect with meaning, purpose, and each other?
- How do I lead, love, and act in a way that feels true?
Inside, you’ll find a map—not of escape, but of return. Through stories, brain science, and somatic insight, Klein offers a new model of leadership: one that begins with integration, builds relational strength, and ripples outward. With each chapter, he helps you widen your Window of Tolerance, deepen your presence, and rediscover the body’s intelligence as a guide in times of change.
The Climate Within Us is not just a book about climate. It’s about remembering how to be human in a way that heals—within ourselves and in the systems we touch.
Because in the end, the most radical thing we can do may be to reconnect.
The Climate Within Us by Richard Klein explores the deep connection between our inner worlds and the global climate crisis. Klein suggests that our ability to respond effectively to climate change isn’t just about knowledge or action plans—it’s about how we, as individuals and communities, are emotionally and neurologically equipped to face such an overwhelming challenge. Drawing on neuroscience, somatic therapy, and systems thinking, Klein presents a new approach to climate leadership that goes beyond facts and strategies, focusing instead on our relationships with each other, our bodies, and the planet.
In times of crisis, our nervous systems often become overwhelmed, and Klein argues that learning to regulate ourselves and reconnect emotionally is key to building resilience and collective action. He emphasizes that climate leadership is not just about solving problems—it’s about how we show up, together, with presence, trust, and compassion. Through real-world examples, personal stories, and scientific insights, Klein offers practical tools for individuals and groups to strengthen their emotional resilience, deepen their relationships, and co-create meaningful change.
At its core, The Climate Within Us is a call for us to slow down, reconnect with our inner wisdom, and lead from a place of wholeness. In this way, we can move beyond mere survival and step into a regenerative future—one that is grounded in connection, integration, and collective healing.