By Chris Johnstone, 4th March 2025
Is your sense of hope sinking these days? or do you support others experiencing this? If so, you’re not alone. The collapse of hope is a feature of our times – and it has a huge impact on wellbeing. Yet is it possible to activate hope even when it seems to disappear? I’ve been exploring this question for some while now – and I’m glad that Active Hope, the book I co-wrote with Joanna Macy, is now published in 18 languages. Over the last few years I’ve been working with a group of others to develop Su Ha as a new wellbeing practice system to nourish and protect the heartfelt sense of purpose that active hope provides while also facing (rather than avoiding) difficult realities confronting us. I’m glad to share here some important new developments in the Su Ha approach in this three part video below, from a free webinar in February 2025.
In part 1 (20 mins), I introduce the Su Ha as a system of practices and insights for personal and collective wellbeing, a kind of new healing martial art that helps protect our mental health at a time when aspects of our world are so disturbing, strengthening our capacity to act for positive change in our own lives and the world. This video describes an important shift in the Su Ha approach, with Su Ha standing for its three dimensions of SUpporting Hope Activation, SUpplying Healing Activity and SUstainable HAppiness.
In Part 2 (7 mins), I describe Afterglow as a nourishing Su Ha move, showing how you can do this.
In Part 3 (23 mins), my friend and fellow Su Ha trainer Madeleine Young describes her personal experience of Su Ha, showing how she applies it in her life, and how it galvanises her response to concerns about the world. I particularly recommend this video as it gives such a helpful illustration of what Su Ha looks like in practice, and the value it can bring.
Here’s some more background about Su Ha
Hope activation is quite different from feeling hopeful. It is a process that can begin even in places where the spark of hope has died. A hope is activated when it happens through you, through your choices and actions. Starting from where you are, facing what you face, feeling what you feel, what is it you deeply hope for? Taking a moment to make room for that hope, to let it in, is a step in the process of supporting its activation. Over the last few years, a group of us have been developing a set of ‘moves’, simple practical steps, that support this hope activation process. We call this ‘Su Ha’ – at first that stood for Sustainable Happiness, but the route to that is through SUpporting Hope Activation. When overwhelm and other obstacles make it hard to engage in hope or experience sustainable happiness, we need a third dimension of Su Ha – SUpporting Healing Activity. This includes both small steps and larger shifts from any starting point that move in the direction of improving wellbeing in ourselves, other people and our world. The development of this three dimensional model has been a pivotal shift strengthening the Su Ha approach.
So what does it look like in practice? How can we support hope activation and supply healing activity? One of my favourite Su Ha moves is to say to myself the phrase “A plus C equals T”. I have a hand gesture I do alongside this, with one hand palm up to represent A for Acceptance. This is about acknowledging what’s happening. My other hand palm up is for the C of Commitment. What this represents for me is that I can bring something to my acceptance, to the situation, which is my commitment to take a step, to play my part, to supply some healing activity. When I do this, the result is therapeutic, that’s the T. To remind myself of this, I bring my hands together in the shape of a T. Doing this simple practice is a nudge – it prompts me to consider what I can do today that I might be glad about tomorrow. It activates me to make choices and actions that allow my hope, even if in only a small way, to happen through me.
You might recognise the influence of ACT, or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy here. Su Ha draws on proven pathways for protecting mental health, distilling essential elements into steps that are easy to learn and apply. By nourishing and cultivating the type of wellbeing that helps us make it through challenging times, we both help ourselves and strengthen our ability to contribute to our world. If you’re interested to go deeper with this approach, and to benefit from it, Madeleine Young and myself are running our next 8 – week Su Ha training starting on Tuesday 18th March. There’s an early booking discount if you sign up before 11th March. For details, please click here or image below.
