Wisdom Lab Update: October 2022
Team Tuzamurane/Hold Each Other
Wisdom Lab Update — Oct 2022
In July, Global Grassroots’ staff met with leaders, community members and partners of four of our longest-running women’s water leadership initiative teams in Jali, Rwanda.
Using Ripple Effects Mapping, a participatory research process, we collaboratively recreated a timeline of key events and documented the most salient impacts of each team’s efforts since they participated in our Women’s Academy for Conscious Change.
After 5+ years of implementation, these water ventures are still going strong! We’ll share more from this inquiry in our first Wisdom Lab report in late 2022.
CSC in Action — Principle One: Cultivate Presence
The overarching practice on the path of conscious change is learning how to be present in each moment.
Paying attention on purpose and with receptivity to the sights, sounds, smells, sensations, thoughts, and emotions that make up our experience offers a gateway to understanding ourselves and others more deeply.
As leaders seeking to bring about heart-centered and sustainable social change, we can begin to cultivate presence by paying attention to our breath.
This may be as simple as noticing throughout the day when we are holding our breath, and then gently allowing ourselves to fully exhale. Or it can be done with more formal practices like meditation or Breath-Body-Mind (BBM), created by Drs. Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg, and a foundation of our Academy for Conscious Change.
Awkward, uncomfortable, or even scary at first for some of us, paying attention to our breath can become more routine - even reassuring - with practice. It’s an invitation to remember that we are indeed alive.
With support, curiosity, and self-compassion, we can learn how to do our awareness “reps” -- as therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem calls them. Gently going deeper to ask ourselves, “What is happening?” In this moment…and the next…and the next.
GG Graduates Reflect on Practicing Breath Awareness
When I lie down and listen to my breath quietly, I can tell whether I either have difficulties in breathing or I am breathing normally. It makes me feel aware of my health and less stressed.
They trained us in breathing exercises, BBM, noticing…at first they were very strange but we did them daily and after the training they became normal.
Deep breath - this helped me to take away shyness.
It helped me to know how to manage stress. I no longer have unnecessary arguments with my husband or my children.
I used to have anger management issues and when we were taken through the breathing exercise I found out that I can now manage my emotions.
In that moment you no longer feel angry. It’s like the tide has passed and you are presented with a new mindset.
Practice Makes Presence
Breath Holding — throughout the day, begin to notice when you are holding your breath. without judgment, exhale. with full attention, breath in deeply through your nose. without any strain, allow the breath to empty fully from your body. repeat a few times if you’d like.
Eye Wandering — find a quiet and comfortable seat. relax your body. allow your tongue to rest in the middle of your mouth. slowly, without any agenda or goal, let your eyes begin to take in the space around you. let them move where they naturally go. turn your head as needed to follow your eyes’ curiosity. after a while, pause and ask yourself: how did that feel? what drew my eyes’ attention?
Next Up: CSC Principle #2 - Become Whole
Contributing to a Movement
We’re excited to share that Global Grassroots’ inner work for social change model is featured in a new report, Cultivating Inner Capacities for Regenerative Food Systems: Rationale for Action, from the UNDP-funded Conscious Food Systems Alliance (CoFSA).
Register Here to join us on October 26, 3:30-5:00pm CEST for a live webinar featuring Dr. Christine Wamsler from Lund University Center for Sustainable Studies (LUCSUS), Sweden. For more info, contact noemialtobelli@undp.org.