Contemplation, Action, & Solidarity

This is reminding me of something that you hear around personal development circles or self-help psychological trainings,

Workshops that are finding the right word right now and that is this saying that we know what we know,

We know what we don't know,

And we don't know what we don't know.

And so what that means is I know that I know how to play basketball,

I know that I don't know how to fix a car,

But I don't know what I don't know.

And so the last one is really where transformation takes place.

It's where we have these paradigm shifting experiences where like,

Oh wow,

There's like this whole new world that I didn't even realize.

And the second one,

When we learn what we don't know,

That's where learning and knowledge takes place.

And I feel like right now,

As far as what is happening with the racial justice movement currently,

At least in America,

And I know many other countries all around the world are kind of hopping on board in their own way,

Is that we're finding out more of the second and the third.

A lot of us are learning more of what we knew we didn't know,

And for many of us we just haven't had the time or just not in our awareness if we're from a privileged set where it's not something that we pay attention to.

And that's not to feel guilty for,

That's just how we've been living our lives.

And then the third is a lot of us is learning also what we didn't know we didn't know,

And that's also providing this shift,

This paradigm shifting experience that is happening within this country,

Which is really phenomenal and interesting to watch this because a lot of people that I've talked to and that I see,

It's something feels different about this than anything else,

At least in the past.

And I've only been here not that long,

In my life,

So this is definitely the first of I'm seeing of a real movement,

At least in the times that I've really been a little bit more conscious in the things that I work on in my life.

And so all of this,

I'm trying to see this as as I said in maybe the the email that I sent as a way to see our own growth within this,

Like what can I learn,

How is this teaching me,

And what is this teaching me about our society or other people.

And Marianne Williamson has a saying that what transforms an individual is what transforms a collective.

And so that goes to say in what's happening right now with this movement,

But this is a saying for everything,

Right?

The fact that when we show up to do our work and whatever our work is as we meditate,

As we whatever our own development is,

That that transforms the people that we then come across in that day,

Right?

That energy is the ripple effect that I always like to talk about.

And so we'll use this practice today to move through any feelings that have come up in the past week,

Just seeing where we're at feeling-wise and emotion-wise,

And seeing if we can keep in what we want to serve us and then let go of what maybe won't serve us.

And then we're gonna work through where we're gonna ask a question,

And we're not gonna try and necessarily find the answers in our mind.

We're gonna just be with the question and seeing if things arise.

Just living into the question itself and seeing if there's some new insights that spark.

And then the last part of our practice will be coming into that unity and solidarity,

Uniting us all and uniting us with hopefully a greater purpose in in our lives.

And whenever you are ready and close down your eyes,

Maybe finding a few intentional breaths or movements of your body that just allow yourself to to land and to settle.

And as your body settles,

Working to find the sense of the human-ness of our body,

The physical-ness of our body,

The stillness as we slow things down and let our energy move down and towards the floor,

Towards our cushion.

And the thighs heavy,

Feeling the legs relax,

Relaxing your shoulders,

Your jaw,

Still finding a gentle lift through your upper chest,

Finding stillness in your body,

And stillness doesn't necessarily mean that we're completely unmoving.

Sometimes when we're meditating we find a little sway here and there,

Different parts of our body move,

But it starts by stilling our body and then allowing yourself to come into your breath and feeling that cool fresh air from the outside world come in and fill up your body,

And allowing the warm stale air from inside of you release and extend out.

I'm beginning to find your own rhythm here,

Feeling the energy,

Feeling the expanse with each inhale,

And then feeling yourself ground and relax and root with each exhale.

And just as there's stillness in the body,

We can find stillness in our breathing,

And that doesn't mean that we stop breathing,

And even with the movement of breath it creates a stillness,

And all showing us that we can stay fluid,

We can stay flexible,

But still still,

And if we can still our body and our breath,

Maybe,

Maybe we start to give us a chance to still our minds,

And so if you are having those thoughts here and there,

You know,

Doing what the mind does,

Maybe thanking the mind for this human gift that we have of our consciousness,

And sending it some love,

And then using the stillness of the body and the breath,

See if you can let those thoughts just move and pass away as they come,

Working to find a stillness of the mind.

And then just do a scan of your body and noticing if there's any areas that are feeling a little tense or tight,

Maybe bringing your awareness to this area,

Bringing your breath there,

And it's allowing it with each breath to release tension.

If you can't find a specific area,

Whether it's your neck or your hips,

Maybe just find an area that you want to show some extra love to,

Maybe it's your heart,

Maybe it is your mind or your thoughts or your head as a symbol of that,

Inviting this feeling of warmth and of ease with each breath,

And then together we'll take a more conscious breath in,

And let that go.

We're going to move now to just kind of note what's been going on energetically in the past week.

A lot happening in the world,

And so just scanning back in your week,

And this doesn't have to be related to the movements that's happening,

It could just be specific to something with you,

But thinking about all the different emotions or feelings that you've had in the past week,

What came up?

Related or not,

Maybe it was shame or guilt or anger,

Maybe there was indifference,

Maybe you had moments of joy with your family or doing something that brought you happiness,

Maybe you felt empowered or alive,

Or maybe it was kind of critical energy towards yourself of some pattern of I'm not good enough or those kind of energies that we want to put into the work that we're doing to release in a way.

And just allowing all of these emotions to kind of just be around you for a moment,

And actually imagining these different feelings of your past week,

And also the feeling that you're having now too in it,

Kind of imagining these emotions as if they're like a little bit of a circular sphere of energy,

And they're going to start to kind of move in and around your body,

So almost like they're swirling in and through your body.

And if you're familiar with those old fast food play place ball pits,

Those balls,

That's kind of the energy that I'm talking about,

But they're just not physical.

Imagining that we're at the center.

I'll give you one last metaphor for any science nerds out there.

For an atom,

You are the nucleus and your emotions are the electrons and protons that are kind of just swirling around in those energy spheres.

And just being and breathing with it,

Kind of feeling the swirling of this energy around you.

And then I'd like you to move all of the spheres to the right in front of you,

So you kind of move all of these different emotions that you felt.

They're looking right in front of you,

So if you reached your hand out you can almost juggle all of them.

And I'd like you to ask yourself,

Are any of these emotions serving me right now?

And which ones do I want to let go of and which ones do I want to keep?

And is it helpful to feel guilt or shame?

Is it helpful to feel anger?

In this moment it might be helpful to feel anger for some.

So just noting,

What would you want to keep and what would you want to let go?

And let's use our breath to embody this.

So I'd like you to breathe in the energy that you want to keep.

And breathe out what you want to let go of.

Breathe in what is supportive.

And breathe out what is unserving.

And do this for a few breaths on your own.

Maybe imagining those energies coming in and the ones that you're letting go of start to dissipate and kind of float away.

And some of you might be like,

Well I let go of a lot but there wasn't a lot coming back in.

It was a tough week and so I'm going to offer some some energies for us to take in and let go of.

And so you're welcome to to feel this in your own body.

Breathing in hope.

And breathing out despair.

Breathing in strength.

And breathing out weakness.

And breathing in stress.

Breathing in courage.

And breathing out fear.

Breathing in trust.

And breathing out doubt.

And go ahead and repeating one or a few of those that may feel true for you right now.

And then together let's take a breath in.

And let that go.

And so we're going to move into the the contemplation and action portion of this practice.

So and it's just really sitting with questions.

Like I said,

We're gonna,

I'm gonna ask or have you ask yourself a question.

And then see if you can not immediately go to your mental answers.

And instead stay in your body and just breathe and be with the question itself.

Allowing maybe something new to arise.

And the first question is,

What is the meaning of this?

And make this relevant for you.

It may be the racial movement,

But it doesn't have to be.

It could be something specific in your life.

What is the meaning of this?

Ask the question.

And then just be with the question.

Live the answers.

What is the meaning of this?

And then letting that go.

The next question.

What am I learning?

Maybe about yourself,

Others,

The world.

All right,

Again,

Just be with the question.

Don't search for an answer.

What am I learning?

Letting it arise.

And then adding on to this,

What am I unlearning?

Kind of a twist there.

And then letting that go.

And for our last one is going to be our action-oriented question.

And there's going to be a few that you can meditate on.

What can I do?

How can I help?

What is in my control?

And remembering these are great questions to ask ourselves with anything that this might be.

What can I do?

How can I help?

What is in my control?

Allowing that to kind of arise.

And it's okay if there's nothing that comes.

But if you do have something that comes up,

Maybe that you move to a visualization and you're seeing yourself taking that action.

And then letting that go.

And together we'll take another full breath in and full breath out.

And so we're going to come into this solidarity portion,

This ability for us to come together.

I was actually reading a new book to try and educate myself.

And I didn't realize this happened in the Clinton administration.

They had a big research found in the genome of the human species.

And it showed that out of all humans across the world,

That we are 99.

9% from the exact same source.

And so just proving what these spiritual traditions all have told us for eons and eons.

And so this might be a little heavy to take on right now,

But we've done the work and I think with the right intention we can do this together.

And so I'd like you to hold the entire world in your heart.

Both the current world and the world's history.

And specifically all of the people who have suffered.

We've all,

You know,

In some way have suffered,

But also the people who have suffered,

Been oppressed or mistreated.

Right,

From the slums of Calcutta to concentration camps to slavery and all the injustice that we've seen witnessed,

Been witnessed to.

Right,

And race recognizing it as the same humanity.

And I find this very interesting.

I don't know if you can hear it,

But maybe the march that was in seems like it's coming by.

So what timing for that?

So you might not be able to hear it,

But there is some chanting happening outside of my home.

And so holding all of these people and sensing that we have that same humanity.

Right,

If we're connected and they are our mothers,

Our brothers,

Our sisters,

Our fathers,

Kids.

Right,

They are us.

And so holding all the living and dead in your hearts and sharing these intentions.

May we be one.

May we be whole.

May we be whole.

May we be at peace.

May we be one.

May we be one.

May we be whole.

May we be at peace.

And then just repeating peace,

Peace,

Peace.

Or I'll also offer the Sanskrit shanti shanti shanti if you like.

And then keeping that or letting it go and then we're just going to share one last minute or so of silence in honor of all of those that have been lost.

Allowing ourselves to just take a moment to be and to honor.

And then very slowly,

Whenever you feel ready you can begin to come back to the stillness of your body,

Your breath.

Maybe the mind is still,

Maybe it's not so still.

Both are welcomed.

And in your own time you're welcome to open your eyes,

Take any movements that call to you,

And come back to this day.