I'm not your social justice guru
When I Slow Down, I Actually Listen.
I hear the wind in the trees, the drone of the refrigerator, the snoring dog, the longings of my beloveds, and.... the stirrings of my own heart. It's in these moments I can catch myself rushing to get somewhere on time, or rushing my thoughts to solves a problem. When I rush, I miss the still small quiet voice within me that is constantly saying, wait, pause, listen.
I recently left my non-profit post at the Center for Restorative Youth Justice (such a wonderful & dear-to-my-heart organization) to reinvest in my business, myself, and in you -- in our collective well-being. This has been a jolting year for many of us, and one of the blessings I have received is that it became impossible to continue to ignore my inner voice.
The recasting of my business is still in process, though its main characters are fixed: Equity, Integrity and Sustainability. These are the pillars of my daily practice on and off the mat. They are what drive the podcasts I listen to, the food I eat, the commitments I make, and the friends I hold most dear. As Grounded Here continues to grow, supporting your individual cultivation of self-love in a way that creates the possibility for collective wellness will be at the forefront of my work. The wisdom and leadership of Social Justice movements, Yoga and Ayurveda will be my guides.
BUT... I am NOT your social Justice guru! Don't look to me for the right answers. I implore you to keep one eye outward, and one eye inward if you want to be in integrity with yourself, and be willing to transform. If you want to walk this way with me, open your palm to mine and we can guide each other.
In this iteration of Andrea Catherine, it's most important to me to be integral. To ensure I am down with who I am, wherever I am. That I am not this way here to please these people, and that way there to please them, but that I feel full, whole, complete, alive on the path to thrive. May this wholeness be present when facilitating a circle of teens or adults navigating harm caused, in heightened personal conversations, when I'm cross country skiing nervously down a winding hill, or encouraging yoga participants to play, dance and explore their experience, unguided.
I want to bring my whole self to all these situations -- my self that seeks and promotes love within, my self advocating for prison reform, safe spaces for our LGBTQ+ community members, rights and safety for all those within our borders, antiracism, disability access, ecological healing, financial equity, and the list goes on. All of these parts of me exist and powerfully. I will no longer stretch them apart. They intermingle in my every moment and can no longer be kept in their tidy little activism email or yoga studio.
So, how's this landing? Are you on for the ride of collective wellness? The ride that requires each of us to examine where we are within the whole? How our privileges and oppression position us to support one another or keep us from feeling fully alive?
This is where we're headed in this community. Yoga, wellness coaching, and supportive communication will remain the avenues for navigating this intersection. I look forward to walking hand in hand with you on this beautiful mess of a journey, and getting in some good trouble, as John Lewis would say.
