Sacred Activism:

In meeting this time of great turbulence, uncertainty and loss, let’s explore conjoining these two ideas or principles that have been falsely segregated by western capitalist culture. 

How might we reclaim their true meanings to each of us, to serve as a vital compass point in navigating this time? Together, they may offer us ways to show up that are more life-affirming, resilient, and purposeful than the fractured polarity we’ve inherited. 

What if activism is just another form of leadership (a term we’re all redefining now), and one that encompasses every conscious action we engage with to care for what we love and hold most dear? How might we shed old ideas about religion or belief systems, to clarify each of our relationships to the sacred that is true for us? 

Join us to explore these relationships - and the possibilities that arise from Sacred Activism -that can shift how we relate to ourselves, each other and the Earth.

A majority of us have grown up with conditioning to avoid what’s difficult, challenging or painful. We turn away from, dismiss or ignore the tough stuff, and often don’t engage with conflict or make space to fully process uncomfortable or difficult emotions. That disengagement often emerges from or causes internal separations or trauma, and these wounds can get carried forward with a sense of grievance, disconnect, or unfairness. This deeply limits our capacity and efficacy as change agents, activists, and leaders.

But if we try reorienting ourselves, and reframing our relationship to difficulties, we may recognize that the challenges we face in life are life’s ways of honing and strengthening us. What if, as Buddhist teachings note, obstacles do not block the way, but are the way?

Consciously or not, we’ve inherited mental models of leadership that are outmoded and ineffectual. As we co-create and reinvent leadership to meet this time, how might prioritizing the quality of relationships - on every level, from within ourselves and in our most intimate circles to our work environments and civic engagement - help to harmonize and strengthen our effectiveness as change agents for our worlds? 

Centuries of ingrained biases have us elevating the principles of action, strategic thinking, winning, scale and brute force, while devaluing stillness, embodiment, cooperation, humility, relational intelligence, compassion, and listening. 

As we redefine a leadership that’s sourced more from the heart than from the head, and listens as much, or more than it speaks, let’s broaden our definition to include the leadership of our full selves. Let's appreciate leadership that encompasses being and action, attunement and productivity, and the receptive and expressive aspects of our being. 

As Fritjof Capra notes, “the shift to an eco-literate society - one that knows how to relate harmoniously with the natural world - requires a shift from amassing and counting things to mapping relationships.”  And, as we endure an epidemic of loneliness, with educational systems that have not taught or cultivated our capacities to relate well, we’ll explore some practices and principles that together may yield great benefit and improve the quality of our leadership.

“Truth-telling is like oxygen: it enlivens us. Without it we grow confused and numb. It is also a homecoming, bringing us back to powerful connection and basic authority.” - Joanna Macy

A collective ritual from Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects for honoring our anxiety, grief, anger, hope and love for the world. While our cultural norms habituate us to turning away from those strong emotions, expressing them in the brave space we co-create together in conscious community is invariably strengthening and centering. Being willing to honor and metabolize our feelings frees us from recycling them and liberates us to transmute our energies into compassionate responses. Participants will be offered detailed instructions for how to prepare for the ritual, and will be asked to remain on screen during it. Due to the sensitive nature of what may be expressed, this one session won’t be recorded.

As recipients of cultures that have biased “masculine” perspectives and have valued light over dark, doing over being, and expression over receptivity, together we’ll explore moving beyond these binaries to remember our own sacred and inherent balanced state.

As this time is invoking dramatic changes in our inner and outer worlds, having resources to integrate and find balance feels increasingly imperative. We’ll explore together how we can effectively shed conditioning that moves us toward over-extension and self-sacrifice. With so much chaos throws us off balance, how might we continually affirm centeredness and our connection to source? What might help us to chart a course of regenerative leadership and well-resourced change-making? How do we engage skillfully in responding to our world with the Buddhist wisdom of one foot in the relative world and the other in the absolute? Let’s discover together practices that strengthen the Indigenous guidance to lead from our hearts, and less from our heads. As this time can be exhausting, we’ll honor the virtues of radical rest that renews us for the long haul.

How might these practices and perspectives around Sacred Activism, Relational Mindfulness and Leadership help us each discern what’s authentically ours to do? And how to do it from presence and wisdom rather than urgency, threat or disconnect? Together, we’ll explore refining and clarifying your particular strenghts and what most calls you, exploring where we may need to seek support for actualizing your response.

Much of our cultural orientation has been to serve others’ needs till we drop. What can help us strengthen our self-awareness to cultivate a balance between care of the self and others? How is this related directly to our willingness to dissolve the illusion of self vs. other, and how can this help us shift from a ‘me’ culture to a ‘we’ culture? How might we aim towards practices of regenerativity, while valuing rest, stillness, and collaboration? Together, we invite you to refine and hone your sense of how we each may discern and respond to those calls that are truly ours to do… and how to do it each in our wisest way.