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Meditation Is Crucial to My Racial Justice Work
Personal awareness practices make healing possible — both individually and communally
It’s 6 a.m. on a cold morning in San Francisco, and I’ve been standing on the curb for a few minutes more than I’d like. The Uber I had called to get me to the airport for a short flight to Southern California is late. I’ve got a day of challenging conversations ahead of me, and am more than a little nervous. Waiting for the Uber is not putting me at ease.
For days, I’ve been preparing to present a speech on contemporary barriers to inclusion, and to facilitate a conversation about building community, on a college campus roiled by recent racist incidents. This could turn out to be a fiasco, and there is only one way that I know to complete my preparations for the work ahead.
I take a deep, slow breath in and a long breath out. I feel the ground beneath my feet and begin to regain a sense that the resources I draw on are not merely in my head. They are in my bones; they are who I am. In those few moments, I’ve come back home. Within minutes, I’m in the Uber. As I settle in, I’m comforted by the knowledge that whatever the day brings, I can drop anchor and tap into this inner ground, this deeper well within, through mindfulness meditation.
