Powerful shared experiences lead to deeper connections.

Where are places in your life where you set boundaries and resist and refuse? When imagining what freedom and liberation look and feel like - what comes to mind for you?

Take a moment to write down the names of 2 people you can actively lift up today? An awesome way to do this is to extend sympathetic joy for someone else's accomplishments or happiness in their lives.

Pause. Give yourself a moment of quiet.

Take a moment to reread that statement. In your daily life and interactions, what are ways that you can opt-in?

What is your definition of liberation? In what ways is your liberation tied to others liberation and humanity?

How does prejudice show up in your thoughts, actions, and beliefs? Notice where these beliefs, thoughts, or actions serve as a barrier to connection.

Consider your legacy and the legacy of your ancestors. Breathe into the stories that raised you. What story are your writing today? What will it say?

"In joy and sorrow all are equal,
Thus be guardian of all, as yourself." Shantideva

How does this statement resonate with you? Where do you feel it in your body? Read it again.

How has the system and structures of racism impacted your life personally and/or professionally.

Notice where you already practice compassion, empathy, and ethical discernment in your life. Consider what it would look like to apply those qualities to more challenging relationships and environments with conflict.

Repeat this quietly to yourself and notice any reactions you have in your body. This is a good time to grab a pen and paper to write down how you experience this meditation prompt.

What does a real apology feel like in your bones?

As Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams expresses so beautifully which helps to deepen Lama Rod Owens words, "anger is capable of pointing us back to love. It arises as a result of an offense to what we love. If we can use anger to reconnect to love, then that anger—the response that we have to injustice, pain, and suffering in the world—can be a generative force rather than a destructive one."

How does anger point you back to love?

We know how important land and place is to our sense of healing internally and within community. Take this moment to acknowledge the story of the land you stand on. Name who was there before you and who will be there after you? What story do you tell about this land?

The question isn’t how we can help or be allies. The question is, what will we give up in service of the liberation of our neighbors? How do we reorient ourselves to this world and to each other?