Les 1
Racism Reflection
Racism is a part of life in America. For some it makes life easier and can give them competitive
advantages and to others it can be a death sentence. This practice helps us to take a look at how racism show up in our lives, personally, in our family, intergenerationally, and systemically.
Les 2
Implicit Bias
Influences from our family and community, books or articles we have read, news, tv shows, and movies we have watched - these all shape our view of how we see the world. Implicit bias is something we all face in our lives whether we know it or not. This practice helps us become aware of how and when it arises.
Les 3
Racial Injustice & Anger About Racism
In life we form habit patterns - some good, some bad. One of the worst habits that we have in this
human experience is bringing negative emotions like hate, hurt, and anger into a conflict. When you
lead with negative emotions while attempting to resolve a conflict, everyone involved in that
disagreement walks away in a lower vibration, and the conflict is rarely resolved. This practice is all
about first sitting with a conflict where you led with anger or any other negative emotion, and reflecting on how you made the other person feel, how you felt, and where you felt it in your body. Then, we will sit with that same conflict and take the anger or negative emotion out of the conflict, and just deal with the conflict, still getting your point across, but once again leaving the negative emotion out of it. See how that made the other person feel, how it made you feel, where you felt it at in your body, and if walking away from the conflict were you in a higher vibration or a lower vibration than you were when you led with anger.
Les 4
Loving Kindness
During these trying times of racial injustice, division, and overall chaos, loving kindness practice is an essential tool to have in your toolbox. This practice enables you to tap into your true infinite perfect self, which is that thumb-sized light in your heart center that looks like a star in the midnight sky. It is said to be the window to the soul, the cave in your heart, or the seat of Brahman. Once you cultivate being able to tap into it in yourself and see and feel it, you will be able to see that light in all, even those that project hate and violence due to ignorance and that will enable you to have empathy towards those suffering souls.
Les 5
Being An Ally
Thanks to social media, today we are seeing firsthand how entrenched racism is in our society. The more and more we see the inequalities and the lack of compassion that is given to people of color. Black people, in particular, have been and continue to feel the brunt of this racism. They need allies. They need support. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the obvious racist acts, and actions that are going on across our nation. It is time to step up. It is time to speak out. It’s up to all of us to take it upon ourselves when we see racism to stand against it. In this practice we will discuss being allies, not standing for injustice, leading with love, and protecting black lives.
