Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality. SHUNRYŪ SUZUKI, Zen monk and teacher

Whether we smile inward or outward, the mind and heart respond well to kindness. The power of friendliness has an immediate impact on our body, our mind, and our nervous system. Research tells us that the feel-good neurotransmitters of endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine are all released when we smile. Friendliness and kindness are natural inner

metta practice will not make what we don’t like go away, nor will it make what we do like stay. Through this mindfulness practice, we are not trying to change what we are facing. Rather, we are freeing ourselves in the moment by loving ourselves, and we are training ourselves to embrace what is right here, right now, with friendliness and

GUIDED COMPASSION PRACTICE FOR ALL

Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and we know we cannot live within. JAMES BALDWIN, The Fire Next Time

What happens in a family, whether conscious or not, still lives in a family—the good, the bad, and the ugly. We all play a part in patterns of racial harm—the constellations—until we can acknowledge and transform them. A precious way to talk to our children about race is through personal storytelling. Storytelling can be an act of love—a way to

Do I believe this experience to be personal or permanent? How is this belief experienced in the body? • In my convictions, what’s left out of view? • As I track my changing experience, can I notice both the intensity and the moments of release? • How is what’s happening changing?

can result through the practice of mindfulness meditation: regulating the body, attuning to others, balancing emotions, being flexible in our responses, soothing fear, creating empathy, cultivating more understanding, gaining awareness of our morals, and achieving heightened intuition.

We can perhaps sense this transformative twinship from Martin Luther King Jr.’s report to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1967: “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting