Walking Each Other Home
Through mindfulness practices, focusing on antiracism, we increase our emotional resilience, recognize our biases, and make real our common humanity. "Walking Each Other Home" is a guided embodied meditation practice. Recorded - Jan 12, 2023
Transcript
Welcome to Project Sanctus,
Walking Each Other Home.
Walking Each Other Home.
It's our,
Here at Project Sanctus,
It is our weekly embodied anti-racism mindfulness practice.
I'm Reverend Kelly Isola and today is,
Well I'm recording this on January 12th and I can't believe it's already almost halfway through the first month of 2023.
Where is the time going?
Where is the time going?
I'm not being very mindful of how quickly time is going.
But welcome,
Whatever time you're watching this,
Whatever day you're watching this,
This is our Walking Each Other Home and we call it that because that's really the purpose and the practice of embodied anti-racism mindfulness practice.
You know,
Remembering that mindfulness is the pause,
Right?
Stopping and starting over right where you're at,
Wherever you may be.
Starting from a place of actually being,
You know,
Attentive.
And it doesn't matter where that place is,
But starting over from that place,
Knowing that you have a myriad of options and possibilities to choose from to settle your body,
To be attentive to your body,
To your mind,
To your soul.
Embodied anti-racism practice is,
You know,
While it says embodied,
It's not,
While it is about the body,
It is more than that.
But we start with the body.
You know,
Each of us carry racism and the way that racism exists within society is carried within each of our bodies.
Yes,
Very differently.
You know,
Whether you're a white body or a Black person or a person of color,
But racism impacts all people psychologically,
Physiologically,
But certainly the impact is different.
And the impact of racism,
If you identify as a white person,
Can be much more difficult to understand.
It shows up as internalized superiority or supremacy,
And it shows up as internalized oppression for bodies of culture,
Bodies of color.
And it can be,
For a white body,
That can be kind of a hard pill to swallow,
That knowing that you're walking around with this internalized superiority.
And it's not because you're a bad person.
It's not because there's anything wrong with you.
It's because we were born into the system.
I didn't create it,
But I have a responsibility to dismantle it.
I have a responsibility to bring the systems of oppression crashing down,
Frankly.
But both,
Regardless,
Not regardless,
But however you identify,
You know,
As a white body,
As a person of color,
As,
You know,
There's lots of different words that can be used.
Both,
You know,
The way that racism impacts bodies is all rooted in fear,
Is all rooted in anger,
In resentment,
In guilt,
In shame.
And so,
And all of that lives in our body,
In our central nervous system.
And it lives in anxiety.
It lives as stress that,
For the most part,
Goes unresolved.
And it unconsciously,
You know,
Lives within us.
And therefore,
It lives within our interracial interactions.
It lives within how we,
What we do with that stress,
What we do with that anxiety,
And why we often have problematic interactions when,
You know,
Interracial interactions.
And,
You know,
We have the National Day of Racial Healing coming up on January 17th.
And,
You know,
Racial healing can be very messy.
And it's because of how difficult and challenging conversations about race and conversations about how I,
As me personally,
You know,
When I have a conversation about how I,
As a white body,
I impact a space,
That can be hard.
It can be hard.
So today,
This practice today of walking each other home is,
You know,
It is,
It's certainly about focusing on the body and connecting it to how we be in the world.
You know,
What the embodied anti-racism work is individual,
Right?
These,
You know,
How we wrestle with our own shadows and our own anxieties and fear and our own wounds and trauma.
But it also integrates social justice work.
It also integrates how,
You know,
How I be out in the world to,
You know,
Bring systems of oppression crashing down.
It's not just me all by myself.
That just perpetuates the,
You know,
One of the hallmarks of white body supremacy cultural norm,
Which is that rugged individualism.
But having to be in a community and be working and working,
You know,
Together in all people.
So our practice today is just going to be,
I'm going to run us through a few questions.
I would encourage you to have a piece of paper,
You know,
And a writing instrument,
Pen,
Pencil,
Crayon,
Your favorite marker,
Because I am going to just pause to allow you to write a few things.
It's not a long journaling practice,
But it's just as I ask some questions and kind of move through the practice to just pause and allow you to take some notes.
Because as we begin to explore and understand our bodies and our minds and how they work together and being more aware of our bodies and our feelings the more,
The greater our capacity to be in challenging situations and conversations about race and about internalized oppression and internalized supremacy and to disrupt the cycle of socialization,
Which is unconscious.
And it's how we've all been socialized into the system of,
You know,
Systemic racism,
Into this culture of,
You know,
White privilege,
White body supremacy,
Cultural norms.
So we can learn to disrupt that though,
Every day,
Little activities.
So doing this practice helps us in learning how to dismantle and disrupt in order to build what,
You know,
Love,
What we talk about at Project Sanctus,
You know,
With love,
Justice,
And liberation for all.
So if you want to pause,
Take a deep breath,
You can leave your eyes open,
You can have them closed,
But it's bringing the attention,
You know,
To the self,
Bringing the attention to your breath.
So in whatever way works best for you to settle,
To settle the body,
To center yourself within yourself.
And if leaving your eyes open gives you a sense of more safety,
Gives you a sense of more groundedness and connectedness to yourself,
Then please do that.
Maybe have a sacred object in front of you to gaze on.
Often I have a candle or one of my crystals.
I like the crystals because they have facets and different sparkles and different light moving around it.
But just follow the rhythm of your breath.
You don't have to change it.
Just notice the inhale and the exhale.
And with the inhale,
Can you feel the different temperature of the air as it comes through your nose or your mouth?
And as you exhale,
Can you feel the temperature?
Is it a little bit warmer than what you inhaled?
And again,
Just follow the breath.
You don't have to change the rhythm.
I want you to be in a natural flow of your own rhythm.
So we're going to do a little bit of inquiry,
Internal inquiry around some wondering and a little bit of nostalgia or kind of looking back.
Not too far,
Not about not going to the past to dig anything up.
We want to inquire,
Which embodied anti-racism mindfulness work is really about inquiry and being aware.
So take a moment and ask within yourself,
Maybe ask your heart's space.
The heart is much more intelligent than the brain.
Ask yourself,
Am I missing some relatively peaceful life before,
You know,
Living in the tumultuous times that are present,
That are here today?
Is there a relatively peaceful,
Maybe it's my whole life or an element of it,
But am I missing a piece of that from before?
And do you miss a piece of that from before?
And do you miss a piece of that from before?
And do you miss only having to worry about things that were personal instead of having to worry about the whole world?
Do you miss only having to worry about things that were personal instead of having to worry for the whole world?
So with those two questions,
Pause for a moment here and ask yourself,
What am I feeling in my body and where?
So what sensations am I feeling in my body and where?
Am I feeling contraction,
Tension,
Maybe a shift in the vibration or the intensity,
Maybe a numbness?
And then just write that down.
So here's another question to take in.
And really,
These are questions,
If you find yourself pushing back or feeling defensive or questioning,
I would encourage you to notice that and write that down.
Don't try to shy away from it.
But that's part of embodied anti-racism work is looking at the things that we don't enjoy,
Looking at the discomfort,
Where I feel defensive.
Because sometimes it can,
You know,
We can be triggered by a thought that says I'm not being a good person or I'm not a good person when that's not the message that we are wanting to focus on.
It's about owning,
Right,
Those unconscious cycle of socialization.
So here's another question.
Do you ache for the old,
Sometimes thoughtless movement you experienced in your days where you didn't have to really carefully assess every action and every word for danger to self,
For danger to maybe loved ones or harm to the ecosystem?
Do you have moments when you ache for what was moments and days and times when I could move through my day a little more thoughtlessly,
Which doesn't mean I don't care,
But where I didn't have to so carefully look at every action and every word because it could bring danger or harm to myself or to a loved one or to planet earth?
Sit with that question for a moment.
And again,
Take up your pen or your pencil and notice what am I feeling in my body and where?
Is there a sense of uncomfortable or feeling overwhelmed or for some people not feeling safe?
So notice where in your body and what in your body are the sensations going on,
The vibrations.
Then also ask yourself,
Do I feel uncomfortable?
Do I feel overwhelmed?
Identify what you're feeling,
Confused,
Defensive,
Unsure,
Whatever feelings.
It's not to judge them.
It's just to identify them and put them down on paper.
So our next question for inquiry,
Are there moments when you would love nothing more than a return to innocence,
Even if your innocence was actually ignorance or turning a blind eye or just being unconscious to what's going on?
Are there moments when you look back,
Maybe even yesterday or last week,
Last year,
Maybe even right now,
Yesterday,
I had one of those moments.
Can I just go back to when I didn't know,
Which is an ignorance thing.
So are there moments when you would love nothing more than a return to innocence,
Even if your innocence was actually ignorance?
And at the same time,
Do you really want the world to be better rather than only pretending that it's better?
And our final inquiry is,
Do you support changes that would reduce systems of oppression?
Do you support changes and actions that would reduce systems of oppression,
Racism,
Classism,
Sexism,
Ableism,
And make sure that every voice mattered?
Do you support changes that would make sure that every voice mattered?
And what do you do each day to take an active role in doing that?
If I support the changes,
What is the active role I take each day?
And if I don't ask my heart,
What is the voice I want to make sure that I support?
What do I do today that demonstrates that I want to make sure every voice matters?
And if you don't take an active role each day to do this,
Just notice that.
There's no shaming.
There's no blaming.
It's for each one of us to notice and to keep moving.
And remembering that embodied anti-racism work is the individual work,
And it has to include the social justice,
Moving out into the world,
Social well-being,
The well-being of all.
So let's pause again for our last little writing moment.
And again,
Notice what you're feeling in the body and where.
Tension,
Contraction,
Stiffness,
Numbness,
Aching,
And write that down.
And where?
You're going where in the body?
Because I'm going to close us today with some affirmations.
So if you know where in your body,
You can direct the affirmations to those places of discomfort.
And take a couple more notes of what's become alive within you with this inquiry.
And now bring yourself back to the breath.
Maybe you stopped breathing a time or two throughout our inquiry.
Maybe you stopped breathing.
Your breathing became shallow.
So just bring yourself back to the natural flow of your breath,
Feeling it as you breathe in.
Fill the body.
And as you exhale,
Emptying the body.
Just do that for a moment.
And then I'm going to close us with some affirmations.
First,
Give yourself permission to rest.
So I give myself rest.
I let myself fully rest in the world just as it is.
I give myself large doses of grace to be in the world just as it is,
Just as I am.
I give myself large doses of grace to show up all of me,
Bring all of me to this altar of life,
The good,
The bad,
And the ugly.
No shame,
No blame.
I embrace the present moment for the truth,
For seeing and acknowledging the tumultuousness of the times we may be in.
And yet I still find life in my breath.
I give myself moments to think about my own personal experiences and supporting myself through them.
And I give myself moments to worry about the world and everyone in it.
So I give myself moments to support myself in my own personal experience.
And I give myself moments to support the world and everyone in it through its struggles.
And I give myself moments of no worry at all.
I acknowledge that my life is bound up with your life.
I acknowledge my life is dependent on the life of the world.
And the life of the world is dependent on my life.
I acknowledge that.
I affirm that.
And in doing so,
I affirm that my concern comes from my love of life.
That when I feel afraid,
When I feel concerned,
When I feel overwhelmed,
Remembering that that comes from love of life.
And finally,
I gently allow myself to work for change.
Change within me,
Change in the world I move through,
And I allow myself to be nourished by the known and the unknown.
Because love,
Justice,
And liberation lives within all of that.
So let's take a few deep breaths together before we close.
Give yourself rest today,
Every day.
Give yourself permission to rest in the world just as it is.
