Take a deep breath.
Feel the center of your chest open.
Just enough to let yourself soften,
Let the edges blur,
Let your weight be held.
This is your space.
This is your breath.
Close your eyes and imagine,
Oh dear,
Wait,
Wait,
This isn't the journey we're supposed to take today.
I'm sorry.
You know,
Peace isn't always serene legs and deep breaths.
Sometimes it rattles our soul awake,
And for that,
I need you awake,
Not rush.
It settles.
It listens.
It takes root before it rises.
I am not here for peace that bows.
My peace?
It's not submission.
I am here for peace that builds,
Peace that braids itself into the backbone,
Peace that growls,
Peace that sings,
Peace that holds my words like gossamer thread spun of titanium woven through the fabric of my being.
I want the kind of peace that makes room at the table and flips it when it must.
Peace that doesn't bow.
Even with blistered feet,
Dirt under my nails,
And a trembling voice,
I choose peace.
Peace that takes a breath,
But never swallows it without speaking.
Honestly,
Peace is not being afraid all the time.
It's my daughter walking to school without fearing the consequences.
Start the rhythm of peace with me.
Snap your fingers and say it with me,
Not once,
But three times.
Peace in my bones.
Peace in the ground.
Peace where I walk.
Peace is all around.
Let's do that again.
Peace in my bones.
Peace in the ground.
Peace where I walk.
Peace is all around.
And again.
Peace in my bones.
Peace in the ground.
Peace where I walk.
Peace is all around.
Don't hand me peace that needs permission.
Don't hand me peace that stays quiet.
Just to be liked.
I want peace that drips with courage.
Peace that's sweaty,
Messy,
Real.
The kind of peace that rattles my ribcage when I shout.
The kind that sets my soul back to center.
I want peace that calls your name.
On the whispers of the wind and in the fiercest of storms.
Peace that listens for truth and speaks it.
Clear and unafraid.
Peace is being allowed to feel joy without guilt.
Peace means I can stop defending my existence.
It's quiet,
But exist.
Clap your hands together and say it with me again.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
Peace in my voice.
Peace will rise and fly.
Peace will rise and fly.
Let's do this again.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
Peace in my breath.
Peace will rise and fly.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
Peace will rise and fly.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in my voice.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
Peace will rise and fly.
Peace in my breath.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
The kind of peace that needs no words,
Only breath.
Peace that rises again and again and again.
Not passive,
Not still,
But blazing,
Alive.
It's when my land,
My language,
And my ancestors are honored.
It's a meal with my family where no one is missing.
It's a moment where my body isn't in survival mode.
Soles of your feet to the flesh of the earth.
Stomp it out and say it with me again.
Peace in my flame.
Peace in my flame.
Peace in my will.
Peace in my will.
Peace in the spark.
Peace in the spark.
Peace that won't stand still.
Peace that won't stand still.
Again.
Peace in my flame.
Peace in my will.
Peace in the spark.
Peace that won't stand still.
Peace in my flame.
Peace in my will.
Peace in the spark.
Peace that won't stand still.
It's knowing my black son won't be a target just for being who he is.
Peace is being believed.
Peace is when my trans friends are safe.
Not just alive.
Safe.
This peace is our peace.
Flowing like rivers into oceans.
One drop.
Two drops.
And countless more.
A tsunami of peace rising together.
Momentum.
Strength.
Fire and flow.
Rising above.
Rooting deep below.
Peace that heals and softens.
That knows the way back home.
Bring your palms together.
Fill the energy and say it with me again.
Peace in my tears.
Peace in my tears.
Peace in the flow.
Peace in the flow.
Peace in the deep.
Peace in the deep.
Peace is how I grow.
Peace is how I grow.
Peace in my tears.
Peace in the flow.
Peace in the deep.
Peace is how I grow.
Peace in my tears.
Peace in the flow.
Peace in the deep.
Peace is how I grow.
It's being able to exist without catcalls and comments about my body.
It's not having to explain why I need space to heal.
It's being able to walk down the street and not feel like a target.
Peace is when I can breathe fully without bracing for the next thing.
This peace is breath.
This peace is flame.
It knows no border.
Bears no name.
It serves the dark.
It wakes the dawn.
It keeps on rising when hope is gone.
It's not for one.
It's made for all.
A quiet call that breaks the fall.
Peace that transcends name and nation.
Peace that breathes between stars and skin.
Peace that needs no flag.
Only willing hands.
Peace that reminds us we were never meant to do this alone.
This is the peace of oneness.
Of center.
Of soul.
Of source.
Of the spirit that connects us all.
Palm to your heart and tap it out.
Let's say it one final time.
Peace in my soul.
Peace in my soul.
Peace in the space.
Peace in the space.
Peace in the still.
Peace in the still.
Peace is every place.
Peace is every place.
Again.
Peace in my soul.
Peace in the space.
Peace in the still.
Peace is every place.
One more time.
Peace in my soul.
Peace in the space.
Peace in the still.
Peace is every place.
And now,
Let your heart open.
Let your breath expand.
Let your soul remember you are the vessel.
You are the flame.
Feel the current of peace rise through you.
Vibrant.
Alive.
Woven with purpose.
And rooted in the sacred truth of who you are.
Lit from the holy fire of your sacred being.
Move your body to this rhythm.
Now that peace is you.
I'm Dakota Earthcloud Walker.
Thank you for joining me in this Slamtation of Peace.
Peace in the sky.
Peace in my voice.
In my tears.
In the flow.
In my soul.
In the space.
In the still.
Peace is everywhere.
I think I have historically gotten really caught up in one idea.
Like,
Peace is sitting quietly and meditating.
And I got into dance and I'm like,
Oh,
Peace is dance.
And I think my trap was I kept making a philosophy and,
Like,
A distinction that only one thing was.
But in truth,
I mean,
What gave me,
What gives me peace today may not be what gives me tomorrow or the next week.
Or peace in a moment with my family and friends is very different than peace when I am enraged or grieving.
Right?
Like,
There are.
And I think that's the beauty of it.
Of all the colors that exist in the world,
There are different avenues and different qualities.
I'm somebody who deals with complex and chronic illness.
And that's who I often seek to help.
Every morning I have to enter into my meditation,
Which is always a confrontation with some kind of tension.
I have a body that doesn't want to respond in the normal way that befits society,
That befits work.
That is in a seeming constant tension with even my mind's ideas of what the body is here to do.
And there's this continual command where the mind wants to keep pulling the body or fighting with it.
Rather than surrendering to that truth that whatever it's working with today,
I think we all have that sense of riding those rhythms and accepting that peace can be breaking the tension between what my mind thinks is the right thing to be doing in my life and whatever that leadership looks like.
And then what happens when I let my felt sense experience,
When I honor my heart,
When I honor that the body itself might be struggling today to do what would be normally what I would want it to do.
And when I break that tension,
When any of us,
I think,
Breaks the tension by surrendering and accepting the truth of where the body is at,
Then peace can be mine.
What really resonated with me from that was the list of,
The extensive list of things that peace can mean.
And I think there's so many occasions in my day,
In my life,
When I remind myself not to aim for one particular thing.
Because I go,
Right,
This is what peace is,
But it could be so many things.
And if I'm to find one thing that it is,
It's actually flipping it and flipping it to see what it's not.
And what it's not is suffering.
And I'm hesitant to use that word because it makes me sound like a teacher.
But anything that disturbs my day,
Basically,
Anything that's preventing peace.
So peace could be a million different things.
But it's about,
And it's an ironic term,
The negative space,
Looking at what that is.
And if that's not there,
Then everything's good.
I recall years ago,
Maybe 20 years ago now,
I was working with a guy who had this ambition to be an architect.
And I was like,
Oh,
Great,
Wow,
Buildings,
Building,
Building.
The space in between the buildings is what I'm interested in.
And I said the word architect.
And even then,
My mind immediately goes to buildings.
It's like,
No,
What's the space in between?
And that's when I think about peace.
And I think,
What am I aiming for?
I'm saying,
Don't aim for anything.
Just remove a few of the barriers.
And then whatever peace means in that moment has the space to exist.
That was beautiful.
For me,
On a personal level,
Emphasize that.
It's that deep sense of just knowing.
It's like the underlying thing of everything.
So it's who I'm choosing to be in whatever moment I'm participating in at that time.
And it's just the one choice after another.
Every step,
Every little baby step that I make is a choice of how I'm going to perceive or how I'm going to respond or how I'm going to be in this moment.
So for me,
That's what peace is.
And it's just not allowing other things to control how I respond to things.
I mean,
Of course,
I'm going to human.
I'm going to have reactions and responses.
But I'm also very conscious and cognizant,
And I accept responsibility for all of that.
And just understanding that in the grand scheme of things,
Does this have to affect right now?
And it's just that's always in the back of my head.
It's like,
What do I want my next moment to be like?
Because that's going to depend on what I'm doing right now.
So looking through the lens of time,
That's how I am able to stay in a more peaceful state.
That's all I got for now.
For me,
In this moment in time,
Peace is being able to be my most authentic self and embracing being human,
As you just said.
And just sort of allowing,
Right?
I mean,
These are things we talk about and hear all the time,
Right?
But what does it really,
Truly mean to be my most authentic self and to flow and to embrace all of it?
Like you said in the beginning,
Alejandro,
All the messiness,
All of it,
Right?
But also have that,
Which is also peace to me with other people as well,
Is love,
Right?
That just yumminess,
That beauty that we can't even really use in words,
That comes across in words.
So thank you all.
Yeah.
The yumminess is so good.
It's so good.
I guess we're tasting peace today.
I love that.
But yes,
It's the saying yes.
It's the surrender to who we are right here,
Right now.
It's the acceptance.
It's the now.
It's the in-between,
What I'm doing next.
I love it.
Thank you so much,
Brenda.
Jaclyn?
Peace is a reminder that I do have a choice because a lot of the times I think that we find that we don't have peace because we feel like we don't have a choice.
And it's whether to choose in that moment different,
Whether it's a choice to step up,
Whether it's a choice to commit to something different.
But oftentimes we feel like obviously life is happening to us as opposed to for us.
And when we make that choice,
We can make that change.
And so for me,
That's where I have peace.
I take my power back.
Things,
Places,
People that I figure are empowering me,
Basically.
For me,
Part of lightening up is in my day-to-day when I'm not at peace,
There's so much pressure to try to be peace or to try to be love and to try to exude peace.
Let me try.
And when I get Beau out of the way,
My buddy,
A lot of times when I'm in non-peace,
He's like,
Oh,
Buddy,
You just forgot your soul's dreaming a dream of separation and none of it's real.
You bought into it yet again.
You forgot there's nothing really going on.
Whether it's Buddhist attachment or whatever word you want to call it,
It's like I'm gripped with some idea that there's something really serious about all this.
And it really matters.
And when my ego gets a hold of my spiritual seeking,
I'm done.
I'm cooked.
And so for me,
Trying to stay out of the teacher hat,
It's like I like that phrase,
The peace that passeth understanding.
When my mind gets out of the way,
The peace that I am shows up.
It's nothing I need to seek.
It's what I am.
So it's like when I'm a seeker,
I can't be a finder.
So I just try to let go of the seeking and the achievement and the doer.
And then what's left over is like,
Oh,
Right,
There it is.
There was the peace.
And there it is again.
And there it is again.
And there it is again.
And I can laugh.
So thanks for the question.
That's my piece.
When I realize I'm in resistance,
When I have that awareness,
I'm in resistance to something right now.
Like last night,
I was working on some art and I was overcomplicating it.
I was like,
It needs to be more because there was something that I was feeling like I was less than.
And when I realized I was in resistance to accepting,
It's like this is already something.
This is already something beautiful.
And when I released my resistance to that,
I felt such peace.
And I could see literally what I was working on with much more clarity.
So for me,
Finding peace,
Or again,
See,
I say it again.
I'm still working on it,
Clearly.
We're all working,
But it's the resistance that is there.
As soon as I become aware of that and I can soften that edge,
It's right there.
Serenity can be so surprising because it is so deep within us.
And it's easy to over-intellectualize.
You know,
We can think about different ways that we can try to,
You know,
Find peace.
But as Beau said,
It's always there.
And for me,
I like to remind myself that we're all here on a journey.
This isn't always easy.
And the soul is here to have fun,
To get in trouble,
To do some things.
And we can just go back to that inner stillness and surprise ourselves.
And so anyway,
I love that about this experience.
And yeah,
I find peace just a beautiful thing that's just deep,
Deep,
Deep in there,
Always there.
So thank you.
What I'm realizing right now,
Brad will confirm.
All of us basing in through what is so beautiful.
That expansion is our expansion together and our contraction.
Us and I actually close to Mort can confirm that we are,
We're amazing.
Like we're doing way more than okay.
And us together in general allowing.
And now I have an added.
What comes up for me with peace is my soul is peace.
So I am peace.
And I've been learning to take these moments of just whatever,
How many minutes I have.
But I have a conversation with my soul.
And my soul always,
Always embraces me.
Always holds me tight.
Always tells me how safe I am.
And I truly had,
It has been,
You know,
We go all have,
We go on downward spirals.
It's just life.
Like we're humans,
But we also really here to have the most peaceful and joyful experience.
And I resonate with lighten up,
Like,
Don't take ourselves so freaking serious.
Just joy and spread that.
And I'm really grateful to be here and being able.
Latently movement,
I see it.
So thank you.
I'm super grateful.
For me,
A peaceful pause is,
It's a return.
So it's a return to my soft center.
To those beautiful whispering voices inside me.
Where I don't have to prove anything.
I don't have to hurry.
I can just sit and relax and enjoy that feeling.
It's when I remember to breathe.
And how to speak my words.
It's simple things like my tea ceremonies.
My cacao ceremonies.
To make them not a habit.
To take them as a special time in my day.
And it's my journal.
I mean,
I love my journaling.
And that's a sanctuary to me.
Not a task.
And so that creates peace for me.
It's just,
It's sitting in the sunshine.
So that my soul can sit there too.
And enjoy reading a book.
Or doing some chanting with my mama beads or whatever.
That just brings me such peace too.
To me,
It's unmasked.
It's unhurried.
It's unburdened.
You know,
It's just fabulous.
And when you do pause.
And when I find when I do pause.
And just take that little time to notice that peace.
It doesn't mean my energy stops.
It just deepens.
And my magic,
I just love magic.
Magic is all around me.
And so my magic doesn't quiet.
It just concentrates.
And my presence,
I don't disappear.
It just makes me whole.
And that's pretty much what peace means to me,
I think.
I think I had to learn that peace is not confined to particular times or places.
Lovely,
Of course,
To be on a vacation in a beautiful locale,
Surroundings.
But beauty and wonder can really be found anywhere.
So in a potted plant,
In a waiting room perhaps.
Or marveling at sort of the texture of the woodwork in a conference room or store.
I think learning that allowed me to come into an awareness of where I actually am at the present time.
And that,
For me,
Is what leads to peace.
I think that the biggest piece that I want to bring in with that is to help everyone I work with to understand that in every moment,
The option is there.
In every single moment.
And I remind myself of that all the time.
That I can be anywhere with anyone at any time.
And something can be happening or I'll be hearing something.
And in that moment,
I see if I can flip it 180 degrees.
So if it is resonating as a static energy charge,
Then I think about,
I just drop into my heart.
And I ask my beautiful heart.
So what would 180 degrees resonate as that is not the static frequency?
And that,
For me,
Is finding peace.
While the world is going crazy,
We've got all these fabulous opportunities to see the contrast and activate our free will.
Oh,
Please,
May we choose it.
So much love to you,
All my treasures.
I wrote in the chat,
For me,
Peace is being in the flow with my big why.
And if I'm in the flow with that,
It doesn't matter what's going on outside of that external to it.
I'm still at peace because I'm following that soul path.
But the other thing I wanted to mention was,
When I made this lamentation that you guys listened to,
All those quotes that were interjected into there,
Those were real quotes from real people that I had talked to.
And what struck me the most was that you don't hear peace to me as sitting on a beach or having my novel written,
Whatever it might be.
It was about a sense of safety,
A sense of connection,
A sense of belonging,
Having your boundaries respected,
Having the ability to just exist in the world as you are,
Who you are,
100%,
Without having to wear a mask,
Depending on where you're going.
And I've felt that,
As a gay woman,
That most of my life,
I've had to put on a mask depending on where I am in the world.
If I'm in Alabama,
I certainly have on a different mask than if I'm in L.
A.
And the other thing that I want to mention in that same lamentation,
When I was making that,
For me,
There's a whole process.
So there's the creative process and there's the technical process.
And then there's the final,
Where I go through and I listen to it for the first time,
And if it impacts me emotionally,
Then I know I've done a good job.
When I got to that last scene,
And there was something that made me change,
It was the African American man looking straight into the camera,
And for some reason I had to extend the clip so that it would reach to the end of the music.
That one single act that I did where it slowed down his expressions,
And he's looking directly into the camera,
And that smile that comes,
Even just talking about it,
I cry every single time.
And I kept saying,
Why am I crying at this moment?
And it's because there's,
And Violet said this because I mentioned it to her,
It was a moment where you felt like somebody looked into your soul and saw you for the first time.
And the smile was like this permission to just,
Hey,
Life is good.
Just feel it.
Just be in it.
And so if you ever go back and watch that clip,
That lamentation again,
All of you just take a moment to feel or acknowledge what you're feeling when he looks you in the eye and just that expression that comes.
And so for me,
That peace is just wrapped up in so many different packages.
And somebody said earlier,
Depending on the day,
Time.
Peace is immediate.
It's not dependent on our circumstances.
It is.
Peace is.
And if the circumstances appear without peace,
Bring it into visibility.
It is not separate from you.
Peace is immediate.
Peace is.
It is.
For me,
I always go back.
For those of you that know me,
Know that I grew up in the church,
If you haven't noticed yet.
And there's this song that says,
In the secret,
In the quiet place,
In the stillness,
You are there.
In the secret,
In the quiet,
I will await always for you because I want to know you more.
And it is a prayer to a higher power.
But as I began my healing journey and getting to know me and looking at the messy aspects of who I've been and who I am,
It became a prayer to self.
It became a prayer to looking in the mirror and I wanted to know me more.
And even in the mess,
Even in the chaos,
Even in the stillness,
Peace was always because I was always.
So for me,
Peace is,
Is being,
Is being just as I am.
With the beautiful,
The not so beautiful,
The chaotic,
The stillness,
The meditation cushion,
The yoga mat,
The car,
The phone,
The iPad,
With all of it.
Shannon,
Coming in.
Yeah,
For,
For me,
What,
The way that I have been realizing peace recently is,
As Joy spoke to,
To take a moment each day.
Actually,
I've created a daily practice around dropping into what I call the altar of the heart.
So the practicing at the heart space,
Right.
And like really slowing down,
Pausing enough to hear that still small voice that often speaks through the heart.
And I feel like practicing at the altar of the heart allows us to let go enough,
To lighten up enough so that we might,
One,
Realize that peace is always here.
Right.
And two,
To radiate love,
To radiate,
So that it suffuses the entire world.
That's what it suffuses through,
Through time and space and includes all beings without exception.
So I started doing this practice because I noticed that I was hardening.
Like when I would see certain things happening in the world,
Certain things doing what they're doing,
I was hardening.
And I was like,
This is not the experience that I want to have right now.
Right.
And so I was like,
What can I do as a balm for myself so that I am in the energy that I choose to be in?
There's actually a teacher on here.
His name is Finbar Kennedy,
And he's offering daily meta practices twice a day for different time zones.
And I'm finding dropping into those spaces really helpful when I need some support,
When I want to be in community.
His practices have been really beautiful.
So I've been using that space at the heart to listen to that still small voice dropping in,
Communing with the earth,
Communing with nature here where I live,
Honoring the ancestors.
And the ancestors have left us blueprints.
Right.
I talk about this all the time.
I brought in Bill Hooks in this space on Inside Timer who left us a blueprint for a love ethic,
Right,
To embody a love ethic.
Peace to me really is being able to experience things like what Dakota put together today and what you've all shared with me today.
I'm very blessed to be here.
It's such a blessing to be able to witness.
I'm in America,
By the way,
So a lot of the culture is very negative.
And to see people come together and who make it a big part of their being to promote peace and to uplift people is like the greatest thing ever.
So I want to say thank you for that.
But yeah,
99 percent of my stream is really surrounded with peace.
I just like to put people to sleep.
So I want to give you something.
Violet was in my stream and heard this song and said,
Come and do the song.
So I said,
OK,
I'll be I'll show up.
So thank you for being here.
Thank you for having me.
I woke up today in paradise.
What a beautiful sight to see.
Yesterday,
I was paralyzed.
But today I am finally free.
Yesterday,
I can finally be me.
Close my eyes,
I saw everything.
All the writing on the wall.
Humankind,
We've seen better days.
And the pride,
It comes before the fall.
But I know we can rise from it all.
So please give peace a chance.
Oh,
Please give peace a chance.
Because everyone's watching,
But nobody sees.
This land was made for you and for me.
So please give peace a chance.
I woke up in a satellite.
What a beautiful place to be.
All the kings joined together as one.
And they threw all their bombs in the sea.
And the world,
It was finally free.
All the trees lifted up their hands.
And the animals cheered with glee.
Humankind's never seen days like this.
But we will if we truly believe.
And the world,
It will finally be free.
So please give peace a chance.
Everyone's watching,
But nobody sees.
This land was made for you and for me.
So please give peace a chance.
Nobody sees.
This land was made for you and for me.
So please give.
So please give peace a chance.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you,
Violet.
Just closing your eyes if you haven't yet.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose.
Release slowly through your mouth.
Let your shoulders drop,
Your jaw soften.
And let yourself be here and now.
This,
This is community.
This,
This is peace.
Just being,
Just as you are.
Not perfection.
Not only the stillness.
Not only the quiet place.
But being together as one.
So just be.
And embrace everything that you are.
And there,
In the in-between of moments.
In the sweetness of the honey.
In the singing of the birds.
The purring of your cat.
Peace is.
In the laughter of the children.
In the cooking.
There is peace.
I do have a song that I wrote about basically finding your own peace by shutting off the media.
Shutting off all that noise that exists.
So you can open up your mind and your heart to all of the blessings that the universe has for you.
And so I can do,
I think that is very peaceful.
Thank you for that beautiful.
Daylight come and daylight go.
Writing down the rodeo.
Singing songs they sound so sweet.
Swallow all my melodies.
Play your favorite song for me.
Dreamers come and dreamers leave.
Blur your worries on the screen.
I'll bring all my friends with me.
Dreamer rest your weary head.
Well I can see it in your eyes.
It gets better all the time.
No one's watching you today.
Let your heart receive the sound.
From the sky up to the ground.
Lover sing your heart away.
No one's judging you today.
Let your soul receive the key.
Swallow all my memories.
Fill my cup turn off your phone.
One more dance to one more song.
One more night and I'll be gone.
But I'll return to sing along.
Well I can see it in your eyes.
It gets better all the time.
