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Praise for Unfreeze Yourself:

“As parents, our love for our children is unconditional; without thought, we regularly put their futures and their lives before ours. But too often the reality of climate change paralyses our actions, our hopes, our love and our future dreams for our children. With her wise counsel and supportive, practical simple plans of action, Christine helps us “unfreeze,” reactivating our unconditional love. She reminds us why we can’t fail, and with her guidance, we won’t.” Harriet Shugarman, Founder and Executive Director, ClimateMama

“Unfreeze Yourself is not just another book about how bad things are. Instead, it’s a joyful, re-energizing read for busy people like you who don’t want to be left out of a growing, life-giving movement of ‘sacred activism’. Being unfrozen feels so good, largely because it’s about loving our children and grandchildren. Christine Penner Polle will help you find your own way there.” Mardi Tindal, former Moderator of The United Church of Canada

“In Global Warming’s Six Americas, Anthony Leiserowitz identifies the largest group as people who are concerned but don’t know what to do. Ms. Penner Polle lays out exactly what a person can do. The fact that she is a writer who has developed her craft makes Unfreeze Yourself both extremely useful and pleasant to read. For anyone who recognizes the scale of the problem we are dealing with in regards to global warming, this is an excellent primer to guide their particular response.” Mark Reynolds, Executive Director, Citizens’ Climate Lobby

“Christine Penner Polle has written a timely book to engage more people in the crucial issue of our time, global warming. Practical and encouraging, Unfreeze Yourself gives busy people ways to create a livable fu- ture that go beyond changing light bulbs and biking more. Do yourself and your grandchildren a favour and read this book – now!” Graham Saunders, author of Gardening with Short Growing Seasons and President of Environment North, teaches and researches northern climate issues.

“There is a paradigm shift coming and it’s good news for us as individuals and the planet. If you want to know what that new world looks like and how we get there, read this book!” Shaun Loney, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2015), co-founder of 10 green economy social enterprises, and author of BUILD Prosperity: Energizing Manitoba’s Local Economy.


Sick of worrying about an overheating planet?

Unfreeze Yourself shows how to shift from fear and paralysis in the face of the climate crisis to joyful action. If anxiety about global warming keeps you up at night, this book is for you. Filled with practical information, inspirational stories and clear steps, Unfreeze Yourself is written by a mother and former climate change avoider who moved from despair to empowerment. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to create a livable future but doesn’t know how to start. If you’ve ever imagined a world with a stable climate, clean air and clean water, this is your book. Unfreeze Yourself is an invitation to transform yourself and the world.

EXCERPT FROM "UNFREEZE YOURSELF"

The Climb-It Challenge
"Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street." William Blake

Out for a family stroll recently, six-year old Gillian surprised her mother with the pronouncement that the reason her older brother hadn’t attended a recent march for climate action was because he wasn’t a good climber. It dawned on my friend that, for her daughter, climate change was “climb-it” change. The climate awareness events this concerned mom had organized had been, for Gillian, about people climbing stuff to help the environment.

I laughed when I heard this story, but on reflection re- alized that Gillian’s understanding of global warming is spot-on. We do have a mountain in front of us that needs climbing. The climate change mountain is blocking the road to a prosperous and happy future for all of us and our loved ones. The question is not if the mountain needs to be scaled, but rather when we will choose to tackle it. Every day of delay in lowering the carbon emissions that are over-heating our atmosphere makes the mountain higher and the climb ahead more difficult. There is no doubt that we live in a fast-paced and stressed-out world. There are many, often competing, demands on our time. Even if we hear the experts’ warnings on the nightly news, it’s hard to translate the implications of that science into every-day reality. Most of us are busier than ever, working flat out to keep a roof over our family’s head, food on the table and, if we’re lucky, set some money aside for our kids’ college fund. We may be caring for aging parents. Our partners need loving attention. Perhaps we are wrestling with our own health concerns. At the end of the day, it often feels like we’ve climbed Mount Everest. Who has the time to scale another even more daunting peak? There is often no place and no energy left for the global ecological crisis scientists are warning us about.

Yet we know the storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. It is impossible to escape the reminders of environmental disaster. Interspersed between funny cat videos on Facebook are photos of rivers dying from agricultural runoff and oceans contaminated with oil. There are regular news reports of the changing jet stream and severe weather events linked to our overheated atmosphere. YouTube videos show tens of thousands of bats and whole flocks of birds drop- ping dead from the sky. Yet our hectic routines leave concerned people with little choice but to push worry about the state of the planet onto the back burner, to be attended to when and if we can find the time. It’s easy to push global climate change so far back that it falls off the stove completely. It’s a huge, complex, and controversial issue. Though unchecked carbon emissions threaten our children’s future health and safety, what can one person do? Climate change, or global warming (can’t they just make up their minds what to call it?) is just too big a problem to think about, never mind act on.

But what if there was a way to ensure your loved ones had a livable world in the time it takes to attend one yoga class a week? What if acting on climate change improved your health as well as the health of the plan- et? What if acting to preserve a stable climate improved your family’s quality of life in the present in addition to increasing your children’s future health and happiness?

It is for busy but concerned people, particularly parents, that I wrote this book. As a mother of two who actively avoided the issue of climate change before becoming a climate advocate, I understand the demands on parents in this crazy time in which we’re living. Having lived it, I know how strong the need is to look away from what is threatening our children’s future. I wrote this book to share the good news from the climate front. Ensuring our children have a stable climate is not only great for the planet, it’s good for your health and your family’s well-being. As a bonus, it strengthens your community and even boosts your nation’s economic prosperity. And – more good news - this work doesn’t need to take any more time each week than watching two of your favourite TV shows.