The Shakti Shine - June 1, 2020
When it comes to showing up in the world right now, it's important that we're clear about where we stand.
This week's newsletter is a call to action for the white folx in our community.
Staying silent is violence, and it is wholly neglectful to speak to well-being, growth, and/or community without addressing the systems, policies and deeply engrained behaviors that perpetuate racism, anti-blackness, and marginalized suffering.
As a yoga studio practicing the borrowed work of yoga every day, this is the yoga.
Thank you for being here.
Your presence matters, and our joint commitment and action has the potential to perpetuate seismic change.
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Shakti Love Note
The Weekly Work
inquiry corner
the duality project
Shakti Love Notes
We are always growing. I love that! And the more I grow, the more I recognize how important it is for us all to share what we're going through-- even (and especially) me.
So these Love Notes are a space for me to share with you each week-- about the studio, my life, how our community is growing.
The events of the past few weeks have made me think a lot about commitments.
You've probably heard us say 'Be a Yes' or 'What are you a yes for?' Another way to ask that is 'What are you committed to?'
This is exactly the question at hand:
What are you committed to?
What I like about the work 'commitment' is that it implies action.
What I notice about the commitments I make is that they often require me to set aside my preferences in order to take the necessary action. Usually my preferences equal my comforts, and usually that comfort gets in the way of my action. In that sense it could easily be said that:
Commitment brings forth discomfort.
'I am committed to ________.' Fill in the blank for yourself (with a new commitment) and just wait for the general uneasiness to flutter into your stomach, up into your chest and throat. Your brain might even jump straight to, 'but ______.'
What you might notice is that if you say 'I am committed to _____,' and it's something you've been committed to for a while and had time to practice putting into action there may not be that say physical response and your brain may not be as quick to interject with but's and excuses.
Which begs the next question:
Is a little discomfort worth the outcome of your commitment?
As a small business owner (selling and sharing a borrowed ancient practice), white cis-gendered woman, and yoga teacher, I've asked myself these questions a lot and with increasing frequency over the last couple of years.
The answer for me is yes.
Which sounds simple. I mean, of course. And what I've learned through yoga is that simple doesn't mean easy.
To answer that question with a simple yes requires a lot of action.
If you’ve been at Shakti for a while, you know that we take our values seriously and are committed to growth as a long-form practice on and off the mat.
We commit to making choices and taking action in ways that align with Our Values.
We commit to showing up and stepping into discomfort in order to open the closed doors that house internal biases, internalized white supremacy behaviors, racism and discrimination.
We commit to speaking publicly and educating our community about the ways in which we can all do better.
This is the yoga, and it calls Shakti into action.
We do not have the answers. And we are committed to always learning and growing.
This is what commitment looks like.
It doesn't mean you have the answers. And it means you're willing to learn and grow and be uncomfortable and move forward into something bigger.
This is about meeting our commitments with necessary action.
We’re right here with you.
This is the time and the space to learn a new way forward.
xx
Ruby
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For our white community members, today I ask you to sit with the following questions:
(inquiry 1-10 borrowed from @self-practice)
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1. Who taught you about race and culture? ⠀
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2. What do you know?
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3. What do you need to know more about? ⠀⠀⠀
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4. Who taught you how to handle conflict and difference?
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5. How do you, actually, handle conflict and difference?
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6. Are you avoidant?
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7. Are you scared of being wrong?
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8. Why is that more important than being a part of the conversation, at all?
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9. What can you do better to support POC in your community?
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10. How do you behave when you’re confronted with racist behavior?
11. What are you committed to?
The Weekly Work
This is where we bring yoga off the mat together
Take action against anti-blackness, racism,
and police brutality this week:
1. Donate to the Athens Freedom Fund
2. Take the Spiritual Activism 101 webinar with Rachel Ricketts
3. Watch the Public Address On Revolution: Revolution Now with Rachel Cargle
4. Join us at 'Justice for Black Lives' with AADM this Saturday, June 6 @ 2pm at the City Hall
June theme w/ the Duality Project:
P R E S E N C E
Presence is really just the simple art of paying kind attention. Presence is non-judgmental. Presence is open. Presence is acceptance.