Mindfulness practice 16,
Connecting with exclusion and empowering ourselves.
Get comfortable in a seated position.
Breathe.
With your eyes closed or gaze down,
Focus on your inhales and exhales.
Let go of any distractions that come into your awareness.
When you are ready,
Bring into your awareness a time when you have felt excluded.
What was the situation?
Who was involved?
Notice what happens to your body even as you bring up the scenario in your mind.
These situations are often triggering for people to experience.
Continue to breathe and focus on your breath as you call up the feelings associated with your experience.
Notice where in your body you feel the bulk of the discomfort associated with exclusion.
Breathe some loving air into those spaces as you exhale.
Inhale,
Notice,
Exhale,
Sense some compassion to those spaces.
See if you can soften those triggered places.
Consider that based on social identities,
Some people feel this exclusionary tension daily and have this additional challenge no matter which room they enter.
No one,
Not a single drop of water in the ocean of humanity should have to go through their life feeling this anxiety and discomfort.
The messages seep in about our own traditionally marginalized identities as well as those of others.
The system continues to reproduce these same tired messages that keep some people included and others excluded.
You have the choice to challenge exclusion when you see it and to consciously take action to make everyone feel like they belong,
To feel included.
You have the power to make a difference in this.
Inhale that sense of empowerment.
Exhale any anxiety that comes up that inhibits your willingness to feel that empowerment or to take action.
As you inhale,
See if you can straighten up in your seat a little taller.
In your chest a bit more if it is available to breathe in that feeling of empowered intention.
Sit with that empowering feeling as long as you like.
When you are ready,
Take another deep breath and flutter your eyes open.
Let your body and take a moment to transition your focus back into the room.
Welcome back.
Feel free to journal now about your experience or about any ideas or insights that arose for you.
Thank you.
