Have you noticed how everyone (and sometimes me ☺) seems to have the ‘right’ way of being in this quarantine time? I’ve noticed there tends to be the “better yourself” people. The “pause and reflect” people. The “care for your neighbours” people and the “let’s organize and develop new systems” people. While I am grossly generalizing, I’m really glad we have all of them.
From these different perspectives, I feel of all of them right now. And I can connect with an underlying thread.
What many folks have in common is a desire for change.
There’s a desire for a new way of doing things. Whether it’s commuting, working or parenting, or housing, governing, or managing the global economy. At its heart, it speaks to our longing for the end of human suffering.
Without a doubt, the pandemic has roused us from our consumptive slumber, creating, whether we like it or not, a time of awakening. Should we choose it.
In the last week, women leaders are clear about the direction we need to go. It is through the body, that we can create a new world of sustainability and justice.
“Nothing could be worse than a return to normal”, says Indian novelist “Arundhati Roy” in a recent article.
They call for us not only to ‘see’ inequities but to really ‘feel’ them. Women are urging a more body-centered way of knowing so we can support the unfolding of a new paradigm.
As Angel Kyodo Williams said on Earth Day, “feel other people’s suffering, and if you can’t, reflect on your social location”.
For those of us with tremendous privilege and a desire for a new paradigm- here’s the bold call for a new paradigm.
Through the body, we discover that social change is a messy mélange of both inner and outer. It’s not either/or. But through mindfulness and activism we can instigate the wild ride of paradigm-shifting.
The embodied nature of mindfulness
Mindfulness and activism are often considered mutually exclusive ways into a new paradigm. And those who prefer one over the other, often harshly criticize.
In simplistic terms, those preferring activism and systems change argue mindfulness-centered folks are narcissistic and blind to their privilege. Those preferring mindfulness, argue activists and systems change agents reinforce egocentric patterns that destabilize healthy relationships and collaboration.
Both are partially true.
If we are to use this rupture as a catalyst for meaningful change, we need both mindfulness and activism.
In the realm of solitude and stillness, mindfulness is born from the inner sanctuary of the individual. It is a journey of discovery. Mindfulness is a process of becoming aware of your thinking, emotional, and somatic patterns.
By deepening mindful awareness, we begin to figure out where we obsessively place our attention and then how to let it go, over and over again. Through time, conscious choice comes online and we’re able to be more fully present to what’s live in the moment- without having to resist or change it.
Activism and Systems Change
And yet, if you only focus on sitting on the mat, setting your timer, and communing with a select group of devotees- you might be blind to the need to change the systems that continue to perpetuate inequality.
Becoming mindful and more present should be aligned with activism. If we’re privileged, this is our call. We are invited to realize how we participate and reaffirm inequities.
And this is where waking up, as a social project, is completely aligned with the waking up of our inner selves.
It can’t be one or the other.
We cannot have activism and systems change, without a generative awakening of inner seeing. We cannot have meaningful inner awakening without facing, challenging and integrating our power and privilege, and the social conditioning that accompanies it.
It’s both/and.
The global pandemic has amplified inequities and suffering everywhere. Our inner work allows us to receive and feel into this. This rupture is an invitation to awaken in a way that’s deeply personal and political.
Our bodies as the location of change
No matter how you navigate the deepening of your own inner awareness, or activism for social change, there is no right way in.
Your work on the cushion can light a fire inside to create a generous vs. a winner-takes-all’ world, as Vicky Saunders likes to say. Or, your work on the street can create moments of deep oneness and stillness, while you feel the collective energy of care and justice.
Either way, many women leaders have an inkling that a new paradigm is in part invited through the body. In relation to marginalization and suffering, Angel Kyodo Williams urges, “you need to feel it”. And if you can’t, that’s a cue that you need to get off the mat.
Eve Ensler, Angel Kyodo Williams, and Arundhati Roy all encourage a new paradigm that begins with the felt sense of connection or disconnection within our own bodies.
We can sit with the suffering of the world- those enduring violence, forced removal from homes, separation from children and parents, famine, hunger, and losing jobs. We can also celebrate and work alongside the resistance that’s rising up and becoming a radical liberator.
Practice For You: Integrating Mindfulness + Action Through the Body
Three levels of working with the body:
1. For my body to feel grounded and connected to myself and groups/communities I care about, what do I need right now?
2. What is the collective body needing? What can I see, recognize, or learn about in my team, organization, or community? Can I access what these needs feel like in my own body (through my own experience)?
3. What processes, structures, or systems are supporting or limiting my body, or the bodies of those most marginalized in my community?
What happens as you move in and out of these perspectives? Which one is easiest for you to access? How can working with your body support your own integration of mindfulness and action?
***
The world is calling for a paradigm shift in the way we live, work, play and govern. A world based on equality, sustainability, and generosity, versus a winner takes all.
How we support the emergence of this paradigm shift, is not about mindfulness or action, but the integration of the two. To get there I believe our bodies are wise and profound teachers. Listening through the body can become a daily practice.
If we want a real chance at creating a more just and sustainable world, millions of little awakenings are needed. Each a bundle of mindful activism and active mindfulness.
Jennifer
Its an important point to avoid distinguishing between the value ascribed either to mindfulness or activism. Over-emphasis on either is like a one-legged body. But I think the call to all of us – the vast array of individuals wondering how to engage the real world, both local and global – is where to start to ensure change. And I agree, if you don’t “feel that need” amidst all that is going on today, you need to take the time to discover why. The scale of one’s actions is not the issue, the first and only step necessary is to CARE. Deep down, everyone knows they have a role to play, a vital contribution to make. You don’t have to be the Prime Minister. This ranges from doing whatever we can to alleviate injustice to the simplest of actions, like how we greet others on the sidewalk. In every way we can all improve. Need to improve! Regardless of one’s spiritual or philosophical persuasion, it is worth thinking of the global community like St. Paul’s Mystical Body…if any part is in pain, we are all suffering together. We need to heal that body through all the things discussed here. We can only do this together and we need to increasingly inspire ourselves and each other to do so. And the wisdom of women is implicitly at the heart of this paradigm shift, and men need to be listening to and learning from their very timely voices.