Walking Each Other Home - Dec 1, 2022

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.

Transcript

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Reverend Kelly Isla from Project Sanctus and this is our embodied anti-racism mindfulness practice.

And I said good morning because it's morning for me but I recognize that others may be listening or watching this at any time of the day.

And yet I really wanted to be in the energy of of morning.

Two kinds of morning.

M-O-R-N-I-N-G like the beginning of the day but also morning.

M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G as well as some gratitude.

So I wanted to say good morning because I want our practice this morning,

Our embodied practice that supports us in building our our resiliency and building our ability to be in difficult conversations and difficult situations.

So today our practice is about speaking,

It's about listening,

It's about mourning.

M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G because I think we all could use a little.

What I mean by that is pay attention to it a little bit.

You know we just came through Thanksgiving and there was a lot of conversation on social media about you know perpetuating the myth of Thanksgiving that it was this this lovely you know Native Americans and pilgrims come together and and have this wonderful you know three-day feast and and really very very little of the reality of you know 400 years ago.

And I want to be clear that I'm not it's not that I'm interested in you know because we get at Project Sanctus we often get emails and and comments so why do you have to keep dredging up the past and why is it always about race and why is it and you know the interesting thing about quote-unquote dredging up the past is we're not dredging it up.

It hasn't left so you can't dredge something up that's still present.

What we're wanting is you know to tell the truth to engage with the whole story of American history and what that means at Thanksgiving is that there's millions and millions that have made it you know for decades now it's a day of mourning m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g so indigenous many indigenous groups of people you know it's a day of mourning because because of our history.

Colonial settlers come in and decimate populations with illness and land theft and genocide and that's just a reality.

It's not to make anyone feel bad today it's just a reality of of our history and it's important to acknowledge our history it's important to to to just to just be with our history again not to beat anybody up but so that we can make make our future just a little bit different and even maybe a lot different you know the phrase you could take away from today is live in the present moment of the past live in the present moment of the past right so we're not just going to be in the present moment of the past right so and one way and and that's living into our preferred future live in the present moment of the past the world that we once knew is decimated in many ways so now we have to decide what we want to create so these mindfulness practices being still the meditation is designed to help us do that to help us live in the present moment of the past and lessen our discomfort get you know engaged use the discomfort as a power to create the world that we want so that's today's practice is the good morning right morning m-o-r-n-i-n-g the beginning of the day but a good morning m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g which is which is grief which is you know and a and good grief meaning we just own it claim it live it allow it to move through us of course we don't want to stay stuck in it and the gratitude the gratefulness the great fullness of life so let's take a deep breath together just inhale and exhale just inhale and exhale let's take a moment to just arrive to just arrive to this space and maybe as you were listening to me you were kind of doing that unconsciously but let's with every breath settle ourselves a little more into the body and mind with every breath settle ourselves a little more into the body right to to arrive to arrive physically to arrive mentally to arrive emotionally and and kind of if you you can have your eyes open you can have your eyes closed whatever supports you in really arriving fully having a sense of safety comfort centeredness and then pay attention to to quote-unquote who's here and i don't mean here in this space of people you know the video the zoom i mean who's here like search within yourself who's here in terms of thoughts emotions who's here like what part of your body is do you sense is really here and just take notice just take notice of quote-unquote who's here or what's here and then turn your attention to pick one pick one of the three and then take notice of quote-unquote who's here or what's here and then turn your attention to pick one maybe there's a thought that sort of popped in your head about something you need to do later on maybe there's a little ache in somewhere in your body so we pay attention to that and just focus on pick one of who or what is here and allow it to be allow who and what is here to come in a little bit closer what are the impressions of who's here right the emotion that you may have it may be feeling content maybe a little nervous or uncertainty maybe some curiosity because something's coming later today and you're just kind of waiting for that to happen maybe some curiosity because something's coming later today but what's your impression of who and what has shown up here maybe you have some ancestors popped in your mind or friends allow for the curiosity of the impressions of just taking in who and what is here in your space you know inside and outside of your body and just settle in to whatever feels right settle into welcoming the comfort and the discomfort now do we know what feels right part of decolonizing ourselves meaning you know healing racial consciousness is actually coming back to how we process things how am i having an experience right so what feels right for you is that eyes open so eyes closed some people need to go to stillness others need to move their body i personally rock i rock my body that's what feels right to me that's what allows me to feel into who and what is here i rock my body that's what feels right to me that's what allows me to feel into who and what has arrived so allow yourself to arrive some people need to go within as i was doing when i you know who's arrived in my thoughts or what what emotions am i having what sensations am i having in my body so to fully arrive some of us need to go inside and take in every detail take in every detail and some of us need to go outside ourselves and look around the space what's hanging on the walls what's in front of me at my desk what's overhead what's to the left of me to the right of me what does your system need to arrive and here's where some mourning some some grief or some sadness may may emerge we may have been taught and practiced a very long time that it's going within that that's how we arrive or how that's how we become settled and centered and yet they that may not be it for you but we've been trained that that's the way so maybe there's a little bit of mourning or a little bit of grief and and maybe for me to settle i i notice what's arrived outside of me which can be very different than maybe what i've been taught so is there you know if i shift how i arrive do i have a sense of but wait i really loved that other way or is there a sense of freedom give yourself the freedom to arrive and feel into how you want to be in this space and how do i really want to get ready to learn how do i really want to get ready for how do i really want to get ready for my day what is it that works for me so i'm going to be still for a minute or so that was a lot of questions but i want you to hold the questions and really notice if something needs to shift or change or let go of in order to more fully arrive and to really have a deeper sense of what works for me ask yourself what works for me so let's be still with that for a moment you So hopefully you have a sense of,

I think I've got it,

I think I'm here,

We're not going for perfection,

But maybe an expanded sense of arriving,

Right?

The body,

All of us arriving and looking at what works for me.

Maybe something needs to change.

Take a moment now and call to mind one of any number of groups who have suffered because of efforts in our country to colonize and build institutions that prop up systems of oppression and have helped build the wealth of our nation on the backs of marginalized.

You may think about indigenous people whose labor was exploited and certainly dehumanized.

That would include African Americans who were enslaved,

Maybe Asian Americans or Latinos who came to the United States,

Worked,

And then were discriminated against in efforts to become citizens.

But just bring to mind faces of a group that you know that has suffered.

And visualize the suffering as much as you can,

As much as is safe and possible for you.

We can never know the details of any one person's lived experience,

But just allow yourself to explore some of that suffering.

And then consider how their descendants continue to suffer the legacy.

As you contemplate that continued suffering,

The legacy of these systems of oppression,

Maybe education or healthcare or socioeconomic gaps,

Sexism.

In light of recent events here in the United States,

The LGBTQ communities,

Trans communities,

All suffering and carrying a legacy.

So what thoughts,

What emotions,

Physical sensations have arrived as you sit with these feelings and images?

And if there's an image,

Just kind of burn it into your mind for a moment.

If there's an emotion,

Really bring it to a fuller expression where you can really have a greater sense of the emotion.

Might be grief,

Might be fear,

Anger,

Confusion,

Guilt.

Allow the emotion to have as full expression as you might,

As you feel safe with.

Or maybe there's a bodily sensation.

Where in your body do you feel the suffering of this group that you've chosen to hold in this space?

And now ask yourself,

What is the valuable and important thing that's here to teach me?

What is it about that image in my mind?

What is it about that emotion that's uncomfortable?

What is it about that tension or constriction in my body?

What's valuable about it?

What is it here to give to me?

And in so doing,

I give thanks for it.

In what positive way might their experience or their suffering be a part of your world today?

In what positive way?

Remembering we don't want to wallow in anything.

It's not shaming and blaming.

It's harnessing what's arrived and using it for our greater good,

For everyone's greater good.

For giving thanks that it showed up in our space,

We allowed it to arrive,

And now we harness it and use it.

We use it to live in the present moment of the past,

Which allows us to decide what we want to create.

Now gently let whatever images and thoughts that you've been holding just dissolve.

Just allow them,

Stretch the body a little bit,

And just allow them to move through you.

Notice the place of expanded awareness or connection.

Notice if there's a difference from,

Say,

20 minutes ago.

And take a moment before we close to feel the quality of your heart.

Feel the quality of your heart because it is more connected with others than when we started.

So feel the quality of that interconnectedness.

Is there a sense of gratitude and appreciation in that?

For it is the gratefulness,

The gratefulness,

And the gratefulness of life.

So let's take a deep breath together.

And exhale.

One more time.

Inhale and exhale.

And feel the quality of your heart,

Knowing that you are always connected to all life.

Thank you and thank you.