The Gathering: Living in Agreement
What is THE GATHERING?
It’s a 75-minute zoom meeting for our community to engage in reflection, discussion, and action for social justice. We’re meeting every three weeks on Sundays at 1:30pm.
Meetings are free and open to all. You are not obligated to stay the whole time; you are not obligated to turn your camera or microphone on. You can participate in the way that feels authentic to you.
If you identify as a person of color, a trans* person, a queer person or a disabled person, should you choose join and/or to share, your voice and experience will be uplifted.
Stay engaged with what we’re up to!
We’d like to use this blog to invite you to engage with this work between Gatherings or in lieu of the live meetings if you’re unable or uncomfortable attending. We will use it to share the self-care rituals (think meditation, mantra, approachable and quick body practices), contemplative/discussion questions, resources that get shared in meetings, calls to action, and to share upcoming topics and related info.
Let us get you up to speed…
Our first Gathering on 11/8 was encouraging (we had a great turnout!) and stimulating as we got the conversation going! We started by orienting ourselves (this is a tool from Somatic Experiencing Therapy…basically, you let your senses take in the space around you before you close your eyes and allow yourself to fully rest and relax) and then centering around our breath. Try it yourself right now!
Then, we spent time coming up with Agreements to define how we want to be with one another as a group and how to bring them alive in the space. Here are some things we considered that I invite you to consider now:
-What allows you to feel welcome and free in a space?
-What does it look and feel like to live in agreement even when we disagree?
Knowing that they will likely continue to evolve as we grow, here’s what we came up with.
Agreements for The Gathering:
we will welcome anyone to the Gathering
we will honor what is shared in this group by not recording our meetings and by keeping each other's experiences confidential
we will honor each other's time by starting and ending on time
we will listen from an open heart and welcome differences of perspective and life journeys that led there
we will uplift the voices and experiences of Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color, Trans people, Queer people, disabled people who choose to join and/or share
we will create and hold "brave space" together, knowing that we can't always guarantee that everyone will feel safe
we will practice compassion and make room for the messiness of learning and making mistakes as we grow
Call to Action
At the end of each Gathering, we’ll share a Call to Action—this could be contemplative questions to sit with, to discuss with family and friends, or it could be resources to read or listen to, organizations to support by volunteering or donating, or other physical actions like phone banking, writing cards, or taking food or coats to homeless people. Again, you get to engage with this like any other practice—in the way that is authentic to you!
Our Calls to Action from 11/8 were:
CONTEMPLATE and/or discuss with a friend or family member:
What would you change or add to the above agreements?
How does it feel to make agreements that you can live with and/or thrive in?
What agreements have you knowingly entered into? (think job contracts, relationships, parenting)
What other agreements exist that you were unaware of? In wellness spaces? In your professional field? In your family relationships or friendships?
LEARN: review these great resources that were shared about how to communicate bravely and respectfully in a group setting like The Gathering:
Brene Brown’s Glossary of Key Language, Skills, Tools, and Practices
Courageous Conversation for facilitating conversations on social justice
COLLABORATE: Click here to fill out a quick survey about the Gathering. This will help us shape this work together + you can sign up to take a leadership role in organizing or facilitating these Gatherings.
DONATE: Consider contributing to our community fund that goes to making our mark in the wellness world more equitable. We’ve already raised 2 no-cost scholarship folks for People of Color, Trans* people, Queer people, or disabled people to join our Full Moon Yin Yoga and Sound Healing event on 11/29. Now, we’re raising money to pay our teachers of color to offer FREE classes December 12 and 13 for People of Color.
SHARE: Invite folks to join this conversation. Nominate someone or claim one of our no-cost event spots. Help us reach communities of color for our Free Classes for POCs in December. Thank you for helping us grow!
When’s the next Gathering?
At our next Gathering on Sunday, 11/29 (REGISTER HERE), we'll be discussing REST. We’ll consider what it looks like to honor boundaries and self-care AND stay engaged in social justice work. We’ll also consider how privilege and rest intersect. To begin exploring the idea of "REST as RESISTANCE", click here to listen to Tricia Hersey's story of starting The Nap Ministry (hers is the first 15 minutes of this recording).
Keep the faith!
-laura (she/her)